Honey Bear Bourbon

[ausibatla]

[quote="ShineonCrazyDiamond"]Honey Bear Bourbon

7lbs cracked corn ( or 5 lbs corn meal!)*
.5lb Honey malt
1 lb white wheat malt
1 lb red wheat malt
1lb pale malt
Handful of oyster shells

Don't know if I've done the right thing this time. I've uploaded a few photos to try and help.
When I had finished squeezing all that I could from my mash for my last batch I noticed that
the wheat's used were still full and had not burst. I haven't been able to get my SG reading down below 1010
and I thought this may have been the cause. So this time I have put the wheat through the blender
and turned it to basically a powder hoping this will help. Have I stuffed up or is this acceptable.
First photo shows the wheat after blending. The second in the packet as whole grain and the third
is a photo of my mash after squeezing all the moisture from it before the distilling. As you can see the wheats
have remained as whole grain and I can't understand how the starches can be released in that condition.
Cheers.

[ausibatla]

[quote="ShineonCrazyDiamond"]Honey Bear Bourbon


Put the corn, honey malt, and oats if using, into a 6 gallon bucket. Fill bucket up with boiling water. Wrap in blankets, stirring as frequent as you like. Mine takes about 3 or 4 hours this way to naturally hit mashing temp, so I stir 2 or 3 times during this time.

The honey malt helps the corn keep thin while gelling (except corn meal. Ain't nothing thinning that out. You are literally creating polenta), and adds a front end honey flavour. It's awesome.

Anyways, when the mix hits around 153, add your two wheat malts and pale malt. Wrap up again, for a couple hours. When done, chill the wort, add oyster shells (ph autopilot), and pitch yeast. Done.

I have always followed these instructions to the letter. Once again I have added photos to try and show what I'm doing.
Am I doing the right thing or will the boiling water cool too quickly when running from the boiler tap into the fermenter.
As soon as I have 20 liters of boiling water stirred into the corn and honey malt I wrap it in blanket. I have three of these
30 liter fermenters running at the same time as one batch.
Once again the first photo shows that the water is actually bubbling madly at the boil, the second one shows the water
running from the boiler tap into the fermenter and the last one just shows the setup I use to get the boiling water onto
the corn to be cooked. Again I ask, is this the way to go. Somebody on the site suggested my problems may be because
I haven't cooked the corn properly but I believe I am doing everything correctly.
Cheers.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

So, is the only problem that you aren't below 1.01 fg? Because not only is that normal for any all grain, it's expected when you use specialty malt. Honey malt and the rest is loaded with unfermentable sugars. It's alright, it adds to the body and sweetness of the bourbon.

If it bothers you that much, enzymes will have their way with it, and help you finish lower. Otherwise, don't sweat it. Let the bourbon create itself. My 5 gallon barrel of Honey Bear? Not one ferment went below 1.02. I learned alot about high fg levels. And it's delicious

[ausibatla]

Thanks for that info, mate. I was always under the impression that all brews should read a SG of 1000.
I've read extensively on the site and and there seems to be a lot of different views on this. Admittedly on
different types of brews. I was hoping to chuck the yeast in this morning but the temps are still up around
47 - 50 deg celsius on the 3 fermenters so have removed the blankets and am hoping that they will
be down around 25 deg. tomorrow morning. Summer is starting up in Australia and the days and nights
are warming up. Incidentley, my last batch produced 11 liters at 39.6% ABV and it tasted pretty good to me.
Cheers.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Thanks for that info, mate. I was always under the impression that all brews should read a SG of 1000.
I've read extensively on the site and and there seems to be a lot of different views on this. Admittedly on
different types of brews. I was hoping to chuck the yeast in this morning but the temps are still up around
47 - 50 deg celsius on the 3 fermenters so have removed the blankets and am hoping that they will
be down around 25 deg. tomorrow morning. Summer is starting up in Australia and the days and nights
are warming up. Incidentley, my last batch produced 11 liters at 39.6% ABV and it tasted pretty good to me.
Cheers.

Are you running it through the still twice?

[zapata]

Ausibatla, even if the starches arent getting out of your wheat, that should contribute to a low sg, not high fg. The only detail I'm not seeing is what is your temp after adding the malts and mixing? You're adding at 153 and it must drop some from adding the cool malts, maybe its a bit high for a max fermentable wort? I would guess its good, but have you measured the temp at this point?
Honestly it sounds fine, but might get ya a few more points.

[MichiganCornhusker]

... I noticed that
the wheat's used were still full and had not burst.

...As you can see the wheats have remained as whole grain and I can't understand how the starches can be released in that condition.

All of your grains must be ground before mashing.

[ausibatla]

Thanks for that info, mate. I was always under the impression that all brews should read a SG of 1000.
I've read extensively on the site and and there seems to be a lot of different views on this. Admittedly on
different types of brews. I was hoping to chuck the yeast in this morning but the temps are still up around
47 - 50 deg celsius on the 3 fermenters so have removed the blankets and am hoping that they will
be down around 25 deg. tomorrow morning. Summer is starting up in Australia and the days and nights
are warming up. Incidentley, my last batch produced 11 liters at 39.6% ABV and it tasted pretty good to me.
Cheers.

Are you running it through the still twice?

Yes. I run the beer, (free of any grain material) through, then
the clear (water like) through the second run. Got 10.5 liters out
of the last batch of 78 liters of mash, squeezed down to 60 liters
of beer then after putting it through once I have about 20 liters
and after the second run I had 10.5 liters at 39.6%.
Cheers.

[ausibatla]

Ausibatla, even if the starches arent getting out of your wheat, that should contribute to a low sg, not high fg. The only detail I'm not seeing is what is your temp after adding the malts and mixing? You're adding at 153 and it must drop some from adding the cool malts, maybe its a bit high for a max fermentable wort? I would guess its good, but have you measured the temp at this point?
Honestly it sounds fine, but might get ya a few more points.

I add the grains at 67 deg celsius (153 deg F) and let it cool down by it's
self to around 25 deg C. Just added the yeast, all foaming up, this
morning and the temp was 23 deg C.
Cheers.

[Grog]

I'm going to brew this tomorrow and have one question. The original recipie says to do it in a 6 gallon bucket. I think with all of the grain in there you could probably only squeeze in 5 gallons of water. I'll be doing this in a 10 gallon mash tun. How much water should I use? 5 gallons of a little more?

[OtisT]

I'm going to brew this tomorrow and have one question. The original recipie says to do it in a 6 gallon bucket. I think with all of the grain in there you could probably only squeeze in 5 gallons of water. I'll be doing this in a 10 gallon mash tun. How much water should I use? 5 gallons of a little more?

Hi Grog. The amount of water is specific to that amount of grain. 6 gallons of water are to be added into a bucket that will hold all of it, plus the grains, plus some air space. I put my 6 gallons water into a 14 gallon ferment bucket with all the ingredients and end up with about 7.5 (estimate) gallons to ferment. Hope this helps. Good luck. Love the HBB.

[ausibatla]

Has anybody tried making the HBB with 6lbs cracked corn and substituting 1lb of Rye
instead of the 1lb of rolled Oats along with the 1/2 lb Honey Malt, 1lb Red, 1lb White
and 1lb Pale wheats. The reason I ask is because I have some rye hanging around and
was wondering how to use it. I have been making it with the 7lbs corn and no Oats as
per the original recipe until now but was thinking how and if it would work out OK.
Cheers.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

I'd be nice to know Try it out and tell us about it

[ausibatla]

I'd be nice to know Try it out and tell us about it

Just added another 11 liters of HBB (at 41%) to my new 50 liter keg. It's just about full now.
Before I put down the next batch using the 1lb of rye and 6lb of corn I would like to know
should I add the rye with the corn and the Honey Bear Malt and boil it all up as normal,
or should I wait until it has cooled and add it with the wheats.
Cheers.

[bilgriss]

If it's malted rye, I suppose you could do it either way, but you'll only get the advantage of the enzymes for starch conversion if you add it at later with the other malts. If it's unmalted, add it with the corn to help free up starch for conversion.
Hope that's clear.

[ausibatla]

If it's malted rye, I suppose you could do it either way, but you'll only get the advantage of the enzymes for starch conversion if you add it at later with the other malts. If it's unmalted, add it with the corn to help free up starch for conversion.
Hope that's clear.

I used whole rye and put it through the blender and added it in with the corn.
I don't know if it's my imagination but the finished mash seems thinner than all
my other batches.
I have now used the Honey Malt that I bought back from Canada. Is there something
else that will substitute or will I just make it up with an extra 1/2 lb of corn?
If it's the Rye that's made it seem thinner, perhaps use Rye in place of the Honey Malt.
Thanks for your info and advice.
Cheers.

[Rockhead]

I used the 1 lb whole rye, crushed , instead of the oats. It came out ok to me, but i definitely prefer using the oats in the recipe as oppsed to the rye. Drinkabilty was still way up there, but the flavor did not come across as i had hoped. I will stick to the original recipe with oats from here on out. It is very difficult to improve on perfection.

[Chixter]

This recipe sounds interesting, may be next on my list. A couple of ?? if I may.

1. You who have done the original recipe and have tasted the aged product, would you describe the taste as 'sweet' more than any other flavor?

2. I take it there is no traditional cooking/boiling of the corn, the whole mess is steeped in a cooler/fermenter/mash tun adding full boiling water to the corn and grains, then adding malt grains as temp allows.?

3. I don't have a chiller, I usually let mashes done this way cool overnite some times longer. Would this be a problem?

Thank you for your continued support.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

This recipe sounds interesting, may be next on my list. A couple of ?? if I may.

1. You who have done the original recipe and have tasted the aged product, would you describe the taste as 'sweet' more than any other flavor?

2. I take it there is no traditional cooking/boiling of the corn, the whole mess is steeped in a cooler/fermenter/mash tun adding full boiling water to the corn and grains, then adding malt grains as temp allows.?

3. I don't have a chiller, I usually let mashes done this way cool overnite some times longer. Would this be a problem?

Thank you for your continued support.

I'll give it a go

I definitely see this as a sweet bourbon. It's wheated, so already sweet like makers mark, but then the addition of honey malt, and a slightly higher mash temp. This creates a sweet, thick, full mouth taste.

Yes, the traditional boiling of corn is forgone here and the focus is longer steep time, rather than a shorter boil time. There are 3 crucial points in this process, that will determine your efficiency. 1) first and foremost, insulation. No matter how much you have, get more. Don't forget under the mashtun. 2) Finer the corn crack, the better the sg. Its a trade off of mash vs. straining ease. I find corn meal the perfect medium. 3) Your water needs to be a full rolling boil. You pull it at a cute simmering boil, you're going to miss the mark.

Stir a lot to cool it after mashing time is done. I have mashed from boil to pitch and taken 3 days to do it. Make a big starter.

[Chixter]

I definitely see this as a sweet bourbon.

Hmm. The 'S' word. For the sake of gaining experience, I may give a try to a small batch. Plus I have 30# of CC to utilize somewhere. Worse case scenario, I'll keep it stored with my USMJ for all my sweeter bourbon gulping buddies and leave my spicy ryes and single malts for me. I like these kind of recipes, where yer not standin over a baylen pot for a couple of hours. Like smoking a brisket on a BGE....leave it and let it do it's thing. Thanx for the info & recipe.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Replace the 1lb of white wheat with 1 lb rye. Add malt at 149. I have heard allot off people that have used honey malt with rye recipes, and it knocked the edge of while keeping the spice.

[RedwoodHillBilly]

Replace the 1lb of white wheat with 1 lb rye. Add malt at 149. I have heard allot off people that have used honey malt with rye recipes, and it knocked the edge of while keeping the spice.

I don't know if I would describe it as "knocking the edge off".

My bourbons are pretty standard at 75% corn, 12.5% barley malt and 12.5% either wheat or rye malt. i.e. 1.5 bags corn, 1/4 bag barley malt, and 1/4 bag wheat or rye malt. I started to add 1/8 bag (actually 6.25#) of honey malt to the standard recipe.

This tends to add a bit of the malty sweetness to the product, but lets the original recipe shine through. I'm going to try adding the leftover 5# of HM to an enzyme converted all corn mash in hopes of getting a better white "corn moonshine".

I tried the original HBB recipe, while it isn't bad, I thought that it was a bit wheat heavy (too light for my tastes).

While I've tried many specialty malts when I was brewing beer, I haven't come across the G. honey malt. Thanks for turning me on to it, it has a definite place in my distillers beer. I do like the extra malt note.

RHB

[Still Life]

Picked up some Simpson's peated malt to add to this next batch today.
It has the most pleasant earthy, grassy smell.
Will cook ½ pound with the corn, oats, and honey malt.
Then mash in another ½ pound with the red, pale, & white.

Peat has been on my mind lately. Have never used it before, so why not try it with one of the best recipes out there.
Give me a couple weeks and I'll report on this.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

If peat don't do it for ya, maybe cherrywood smoked will

[ausibatla]

I've been reading through the blogs and Google Search for info on adding Vanilla beans to my HBB.
I find a lot about adding cut pieces to bottles and half a bean to a 5 liter keg etc, etc. I want to
chuck some beans into my 50 liter charred American Oak keg but I can find nothing anywhere that
can tell me how many beans to drop in or for how long. I was guessing that maybe I would put about
three beans in a gauze bag on a piece of string and hang them in the keg until I notice a satisfactory
taste then withdraw the bag. Any advice or (sensible ) suggestions.
Cheers.

[still_stirrin]

....I want to chuck some beans into my 50 liter charred American Oak keg but I can find nothing anywhere that can tell me how many beans to drop in or for how long.

I was guessing that maybe I would put about three beans in a gauze bag on a piece of string and hang them in the keg until I notice a satisfactory taste then withdraw the bag.

Any advice or suggestions.

Why not let the barrel add the flavors? The wood itself will impart vanillin flavors to your whiskey. And adding vanilla bean will change the malty quality of the HBB.

This recipe is new to the T&T forum and as such, it hasn’t been adultered a whole lot yet. If you want to experiment...go for it. But most here prefer the flavor of the HBB as outlined in the recipe.
ss

[ausibatla]

Thanks for the input, cobber.

[Sourwood]

New guy here, so sorry if this is obvious to some, but what exactly do Oyster shells do? I'm headed to NC soon and could pick some up if they're useful

[jon1163]

New guy here, so sorry if this is obvious to some, but what exactly do Oyster shells do? I'm headed to NC soon and could pick some up if they're useful

They relgulate ph of a mash

[zapata]

Well that and down in NC they also pave the driveway, don't have much gravel down east. Just throw an oyster roast every year and spread your shells on your dirt path. Might take a couple of parties but eventually it'll be as good as the rich folks gravel roads, heck almost as good as the filthy rich's paved drives!