Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

[SEMO]

Just finished mashing a round of this with Corn Meal instead of the usual cracked corn. Hit 1.080, usually hit 1.065 or so with cracked corn. 82lbs grain/ 28 gal water in this round. Much better access to the starch with the fine grind of corn meal. Ill be watering this down to 1.065 before I pitch yeast.

Cheers, Jimbo.

Jimbo -- does the amount (pounds) stay the same using cornmeal instead of corn? Been looking to try the meal approach. Thanks

[Jimbo]

No corn meal is much finer grind and very efficient. I do cracked corn based bourbons at 3 lbs total per gallon. And corn meal closer to 2.

[SEMO]

No corn meal is much finer grind and very efficient. I do cracked corn based bourbons at 3 lbs total per gallon. And corn meal closer to 2.

Great! Got your Sugarhead going now about ready. Wife says last batch before Christmas but then again...I got a new propane burner just itching to get out of the box!

[LBHD]

Jimbo - I got a question. I am using some cracked corn, which is a bit less efficient, but using some enzymes I am hitting my SG. I am NOT, however, getting all the liquid back out.. which is a bummer. Only getting back ~ 10 gal. Down to 8 or so after everything drops out. Do you think corn meal/ grits would drain better?

[Jimbo]

12 gal is about right for a half barrel still. How much water are you losing in how much grain?

[Jimbo]

Ok you edited, squeeze harder?

[LBHD]

Ninja edited back to 10 gallons, 8 after dropping out, must have been while you were typing. sorry about that.

Did some math - Beer absorption #s are .12-.15 gal/lb, i got about 25 lbs in about 15 gallons.. so losing 3-3.75 to absorption, I guess that is pretty close then.

I got a mop wringer but the grain still feels pretty wet in there, so I spin the bag down + squeeze after that. Maybe I will look a a better squeezin setup

[Jimbo]

I dunno. I been doing 75 lbs in 28 gal lately, which gives me 2 12.5 gal runs. 0.04 gal/lb loss. Maybe my forearms are bigger than yours?

[jedneck]

Not technically a Bourbon here. But this is my bill
4# spelt ( tried malting it but had shitty germination and picked up a lacto in the procces.
10# mix of corn,oat and barley
5.5# malted white wheat
All grain ground to course flour/fine meal. Dumped six gallons boiling water on raw grains to start gelling. Two hour later dumped another 3 gallons. Eight hours later its finally cool enuf to still in the malt. Mash smells like fresh baked bread smears with real butter. Gonna let it set for a while to convert then cool and pitch the yeast starter.
Added malt at 150°. Starting SG 1.04 gonna ferment on the grain

[jedneck]

Full conversion if I'm reading rite.

[ditchdigger89]

I have tried this recipie three times and my ferment stalls each time .Here is what I have tried .First time time i followed the recipe exactly ,i got good conversion s.g. 1070 stalled at 1030. Second time tried different yeast with same results my ph was low i thought so I ajusted it up . and this time I tried 20# corn 10# of wheat and 6 row without any backset or cal added . my conversion was low about 1040 so I add sugar to bring it up to 1.080 added a couple teaspoons of red star distillers yeast and kept it in a cooler to ferment . The ferment stopped at 1060 so I checked my ph and it was 3.2, so add some potassium bicarbonate to raise it up some . Should i add enough to get it into the 5.0 range ? my temps are at 65 -70 but it still looks like a dead sea. Would the ph being that low kill the yeast? I took some of the mash and put it in a flask and added fresh suger water to it to check the yeast but no results yet

[Jimbo]

damn ditch, thats rough. 65-70 is too cold for bakers, it likes to see 80F. Try some ale yeasts they are fine at 65-70, or maybe even EC-1118 wine yeast, its good at re-starting a stuck ferment. In general do you trust your water? I think a lot of fermentation issues are water related, iron, sodium are major anti-yeast water born contaminants often. Can you try some differnet water? You can buy water at Menards cheap, 0.67 a gallon. At least to try it once and see if thats your issue. Even the ultra low pH indicates you dont have enough minerals to buffer. Some gypsum and calcium carbonate can help ensure you have enough calcium to keep the yeast happy. Maybe even try some yeast nutrients as a last ditch to try and narrow the problem.

[ditchdigger89]

I do all grain beer all the time and all I do is run the water through a charcoal filter and never had a issue

[Jimbo]

Is your corn cracked feed corn? Are you sure its doesnt have anti-fungals on it. Proprionic acid is common on cracked corn. Try corn meal, or if you want to stick with cracked corn, rinse it in smaller buckets with warm water first before dumping it in the cooker barrel.

[Jimbo]

Another thing you could try is a hot water bath. especially if you have bakers sitting at 65. Put your ferment bucket in a bigger bucket and fill it with hot water. See if it starts up in a day. then keep it hot with fresh hot water daily until its done. I had to do that with a rum ferment once with bakers, stalled out in 60's, and fired right back up again with a warm water bath. or point a space heater at the barrel, or build a hot box with a lamp to keep the ferment temp at 80 (for bakers)

[ditchdigger89]

actually i put a aquarium heater and brought it up to 80, could the low ph killed the yeast? My flask that I set aside with some fresh sugar water and mash isnt working yet either

[Jimbo]

well water?

[ditchdigger89]

I have city water and I did fill up my grain bucket with warm water and just dumped it out . should I give it more of a wash ? it is just cracked corn from feed store

[Jimbo]

The way I been washing cracked feed corn is filling about 2/3 a bucket at a time, cover in warm water. Slosh around with your hand to rinse/scrub then drain.

[rad14701]

ditchdigger89, if your ferments are starting out fine and the pH is within range then the issue would most likely be wash temperature... At times, especially on subsequent generations, bakers yeast won't restart even if brought up into the optimal temperature range... Worse yet, it can shit itself as it goes dormant from the cold stress and then even new yeast won't like playing in the pool... Keep that temperature in the 75F - 85F range without fluctuations and you'll have far better luck... Generally speaking, bakers yeast doesn't handle temperature fluctuations well at all...

[MichiganCornhusker]

Worse yet, it can shit itself as it goes dormant from the cold stress and then even new yeast won't like playing in the pool...

I think I saw that video a long time ago...

[Bourbon_Greg]

>>Lately Ive been running this recipe at 3 lbs total grain to the gallon which is giving a nice consistent 1.060 SG, 8%<<

What is the current grain bill you are using to get 3lbs per gallon?

Can I use 15ml of Tartaric Acid instead of lactic acid when I have no backset?

Just curious would using a combination of wheat and rye just give you something funky?

[NattyBoh]

If I were to substitute rye for the wheat, when would I add it... With the corn at 205 degrees or when the wheat was added at 146? Thanks.

[Jimbo]

>>Lately Ive been running this recipe at 3 lbs total grain to the gallon which is giving a nice consistent 1.060 SG, 8%<<

What is the current grain bill you are using to get 3lbs per gallon?

Can I use 15ml of Tartaric Acid instead of lactic acid when I have no backset?

Just curious would using a combination of wheat and rye just give you something funky?

I use 3lbs with cracked corn, 2 lbs with corn meal.

I dont know tartaric acid, sorry. I dialed in Lactic amount by trial.

wheat and rye together are great, I use them both often in a multi grain thing I make.

Natty, if the rye is raw grain add it with the corn. If its malt add it at mash in.

[Bourbon_Greg]

Still a bit confused. The posted recipe works out like this...
17 68.00% 17 lbs cracked corn (1/3 bag feed corn, washed and drained with warm water in a bucket)
5 20.00% 5 lbs wheat malt, milled.
3 12.00% 3 lbs 6 row, milled (or 2 row)
25 TOTAL Lbs
10 Gallons
2.5 LBS per Gallon

To get the 3lbs do you scale up all three grains or just the corn?

I found a grain bill for W.L. Weller (one of my favorites) and to get to the 3 lbs per gallon you are recommending it works out like this...
3 lbs per gallon
10 Total Gallons
22.8 76.00% Cracked Corn
2.4 8.00% 6 Row Milled
4.8 16.00% Wheat Malt Milled

Do you see any problems with the above grain bill and your method?

[Jimbo]

Looks fine. Youre thinking too hard. A couple % difference in one grain or another will make zero difference in the outcome compared to the many other variables that will, like mash temp, water, yeast, ferment temp, cuts, all at the top of the list.

[MisplacedTime]

I've been reading, rereading, and making this hooch for about 3 months. Good thing you recommended the Gumballhead for something to sip on while the real stuff ages. I've kept the Wheated Bourbon under lock and key in order the keep my fellow coonasses from consuming it before it's ready. We broke down at month two , nuclear aged a fifth to speed things up, and sampled it to make sure it was aging correctly (grin). We just thought we were drinking good stuff until we sampled the Bourbon. Since then, I've started two more batches mixing the grain up a little. One with a small addition of rye and one with everything in the swamp, rye, wheat, brown rice, corn, and oatmeal. Thanks for sharing and turning me onto the red wheat malt. It made a huge difference from the old AG recipes I was using with the two row malted barley and malted corn. My brother, a big time lawyer around these parts, has a saying "People never take free advice, the only way to get them to listen is to charge them for it." You have proven him wrong. Keep on posting Brew Master. Some of us are monitoring and soaking up everything you are sharing.

The optimist sees the shot glass half full,
The pessimist sees the shot glass half empty,
The opportunist drinks the shot glass.
Keep lining em up half empty or half full and I'll keep drinking it. Especially if it Jimbo's Wheated Bourbon!

[snowman_fs]

Awesome post, Thanks Jimbo! This is shaping up to be my first recipe. Seems too easy coming from AG beer brewing?

The brewer in me has a thought fueled by the concern of contamination. If only 70% of the total water is used for the mash and a late boiling water addition of 30% is made after conversion is finished, the mash could rise from 60C to 70C+. Only a minute or two at 70C and I consider it pasteurized. This seems like a small additional step to have some protection against contamination (without a wort/wash boil). Thoughts?

[Jimbo]

You could do that. But the best thing you can do is drop from mash to pitch temp fast, wortchiller, and pitch a large starter. Yeast will generally win the race if youre good about sanitization of your equipment and get the yeast going without delay/

[CR33G3R]

After allot of reading and a little thought I have settled on this being my first A.G. attempt.
I went to the home brew shop and picked up some malted red wheat and some 6 row. I work with a guy that also farms and I am lucky enough to get all of my corn from him.
The only yeast I have on hand is some Muntons premium gold. I'm thinking this will be fine for this recipe. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I will also mash in a cooler since i am cutting this in 1/3 for my first attempt. I only run on a 30L keg so 1/2 is as big as I can go anyway.
The plan is to get it fermenting this weekend and run it by the next.