I have, I think, successfully made my first sugar run. (After spilling ALL the creamed corn run) BUT...I love corn likker. What would you recommend trying first...The malted (sprouted) corn, the corn flake recipe, or corn meal recipe for a novice pot still guy? I am using the practice run neutrals for strawberry pants dropper & Maraschino cherry soaking. I have a liquid malt ferment ready to run next (a whiskey recipe)...but want to get into
C O R N Likker. Thanks so much
best method to make first corn likker
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Cornbread
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best method to make first corn likker
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Usge
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Re: best method to make first corn likker
I would recommend the UJSM (in recipes) — Uncle Jessie's Sour Mash. It's a sugar/corn recipe that requires no cooking/mashing. It's pretty easy to do and you can keep it going (cycle it). After you get that down, you can always experiment by substituting different grain, etc. But, probably best/easiest to start out with standard recipe so you have something to relate to.
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Cornbread
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Re: best method to make first corn likker
Thanks so much.....That entered my feeble brain, but always thought it was a little complicated (probably cause it took so long to read)...Thanks again...will do ( I thought it would probably be delicious also). I even had to look up what "backset" was. I knew what a front set was on a woman, just didn't know what a backset was in this business!Usge wrote:I would recommend the UJSM (in recipes) — Uncle Jessie's Sour Mash. It's a sugar/corn recipe that requires no cooking/mashing. It's pretty easy to do and you can keep it going (cycle it). After you get that down, you can always experiment by substituting different grain, etc. But, probably best/easiest to start out with standard recipe so you have something to relate to.
Moonshine ain't nothing but lots of love and goodness distilled into liquid. It will love you like a big woman wearing a straw hat
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Usge
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Re: best method to make first corn likker
5 gals water
7lbs cracked corn
7lbs sugar (heat up some of your 5gal water and dissolve it good)
let it cool to room temp
pitch yeast. (I like WD Distillers Yeast with AG. Get it from brewhaus.com)
After it ferments, siphon or dip out the "beer/wash" down to where the corn is. Leave what's in the bottom covering your corn. Load up your still and run it hard (strip run) and save everything but the first 100-150ml). What is left in the still pot from this run is your backins/slops. Put another 7lbs of sugar in a bucket. Drain off 1 gallon of slops/backins from your stills pot and pour that in the bucket to melt the sugar. Stir it up good and cool it with water so you don't kill your yeast. Pour that into your fermenter and and fill with cool water to 5gals. No need to add more yeast, there's plenty in the bottom of your fermenter. It will kick off again by itself.
Repeat the above process till you have 4 or 5 gals of low-wines (single runs) saved up. Then do a spirit run on that. Take the cuts from that, water it down with distilled water to 120 proof and put it on oak.
After 3 or 4 cycles of ferments (or 1 complete cycle of a spirit run...which ever way you want to look at it), you can either stop, or scoop out some of the spent corn and replace it with fresh/new (the spent corn changes color and settles on the bottom.) and keep it going. If you are gonna stop, sterilize a mason jar, and scoop some of the very bottom lees (the white stuff) into it before you throw everything out. Keep it in the fridge. When you are ready to start up a new ferment of UJSM, let the jar come to room temp and toss the lees in your fermenter in place of yeast. Dont' need to add any new yeast in that case and the flavor will be better (at least in my experience it has been).
7lbs cracked corn
7lbs sugar (heat up some of your 5gal water and dissolve it good)
let it cool to room temp
pitch yeast. (I like WD Distillers Yeast with AG. Get it from brewhaus.com)
After it ferments, siphon or dip out the "beer/wash" down to where the corn is. Leave what's in the bottom covering your corn. Load up your still and run it hard (strip run) and save everything but the first 100-150ml). What is left in the still pot from this run is your backins/slops. Put another 7lbs of sugar in a bucket. Drain off 1 gallon of slops/backins from your stills pot and pour that in the bucket to melt the sugar. Stir it up good and cool it with water so you don't kill your yeast. Pour that into your fermenter and and fill with cool water to 5gals. No need to add more yeast, there's plenty in the bottom of your fermenter. It will kick off again by itself.
Repeat the above process till you have 4 or 5 gals of low-wines (single runs) saved up. Then do a spirit run on that. Take the cuts from that, water it down with distilled water to 120 proof and put it on oak.
After 3 or 4 cycles of ferments (or 1 complete cycle of a spirit run...which ever way you want to look at it), you can either stop, or scoop out some of the spent corn and replace it with fresh/new (the spent corn changes color and settles on the bottom.) and keep it going. If you are gonna stop, sterilize a mason jar, and scoop some of the very bottom lees (the white stuff) into it before you throw everything out. Keep it in the fridge. When you are ready to start up a new ferment of UJSM, let the jar come to room temp and toss the lees in your fermenter in place of yeast. Dont' need to add any new yeast in that case and the flavor will be better (at least in my experience it has been).
Last edited by Usge on Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Hawke
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Re: best method to make first corn likker
Quote "the spent corn turns darker"
I have found it to be just the opposite. The spent corn turns white and settles on the top of the lees. (During ferment, the portion that is getting used up is the portion that is getting floated)
I have found it to be just the opposite. The spent corn turns white and settles on the top of the lees. (During ferment, the portion that is getting used up is the portion that is getting floated)
It is the very things that we think we know, that keep us from learning what we should know.
Valved Reflux, 3"x54" Bok 'mini', 2 liebig based pots and the 'Blockhead' 60K btu propane heat
Valved Reflux, 3"x54" Bok 'mini', 2 liebig based pots and the 'Blockhead' 60K btu propane heat
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Ayay
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Re: best method to make first corn likker
That's why I like UJSSM...everything is recycled including the heat (when dissolving a new lot of sugar in the dunder/slops/backins for the next run). The only thing to add for each successive brew is the sugar for up to 4 brews/runs, then start looking at replacing the spent corn. Replacing the spent corn every cycle is the best method but there is room for laziness/efficiancy.
UJSSM will keep you on your toes. When the brew stops bubblin you better run it through the still, and when the still is finished runnin then you better use the backins/backset/what's-left-in-the-boiler while it's hot and get the sugar dissolved for your next brew. Then in 7-14 days depending on the climate you'll be doing it all again.
Not to mention the taste/character of this here sourmash cornsugar UJSSM likker...very nice accordin to my tastes
UJSSM will keep you on your toes. When the brew stops bubblin you better run it through the still, and when the still is finished runnin then you better use the backins/backset/what's-left-in-the-boiler while it's hot and get the sugar dissolved for your next brew. Then in 7-14 days depending on the climate you'll be doing it all again.
Not to mention the taste/character of this here sourmash cornsugar UJSSM likker...very nice accordin to my tastes
Last edited by Ayay on Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
cornflakes...stripped and refluxed
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Cornbread
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Re: best method to make first corn likker
WOW.........thanx so much......so very much ! 
Moonshine ain't nothing but lots of love and goodness distilled into liquid. It will love you like a big woman wearing a straw hat
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Usge
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Re: best method to make first corn likker
Edited my post to reflect that it's a color difference...without specifying dark/light.Hawke wrote:Quote "the spent corn turns darker"
I have found it to be just the opposite. The spent corn turns white and settles on the top of the lees. (During ferment, the portion that is getting used up is the portion that is getting floated)