There has GOT to be a better way!

[dooley]

I'm having a lot of fun making corn whiskey, but I've started to dread one step of the process: clearing the wash after fermentation. I'm doing something wrong!
Here's the basics of my "technique"
>Using feed store rolled corn, ground up in a blender to a course ground;
>Six row barley malt also ground in the blender;
> Four lbs of sugar 'cause I don't have a big enough pot to cook enough corn to make six gal of mash
> Boil 3.5 gal of water, add corn stir like crazy until its stiff as a preacher's pecker, then let it cool;
> Add the barley malt and it liquefy almost immediately; let it rest several hours (usual 3 to 4)
> Add cold water until the mash fills a six gallon pail, and pitch the yeast the next day when the temp is around 70F
> Ferment until no more out-gassing, and end up with a sour, but nice tasting wash.

But... the grain never seems to settle. It is so thick that it just clogs a racking cain, so I pour it thru a strainer - which also quickly clogs up. Usually takes an HOUR or more to get all the wash strained - and makes a big mess. Then I end up with a lot a super-fine suspended particles in the wash. Even after three or four days in the fridge, I usually end up with over a gallon of wash that is just a thin sludge. So, I start with six gallons of mash, and after removing the solids and throwing out the sludge, I end up with less than four gallons of clear wash.

I wouldn't whine so much about "losing" two+ gal of the wash if there was a less painful way to separate the mush from the juice. So what am I doing wrong?

Thanks for taking the time to read, and for all suggestions.

[rubber duck]

You could just not clear it and run it dirty. All I do is squeeze my mash through a wine press and load it into the boiler. If you heat it up gently you won't scorch it.

Assuming you don't have a wine press a paint straining bag and 2 buckets will separate the solids. Take one bucket and put about 200 small holes in the bottom and place that bucket in the one without holes. This will give you a dead space for the liquid, attach a spigot or hose to the second bucket so the liquid can flow into the boiler. Now dump the mash into the paint straining inside the buckets and squeeze the mash. Or just build a fruit press.

[Dnderhead]

first you git a lot of trub. because most corn you by is for animal feed this is bread high in protein that does not convert to sugar.
therefor you have more left in fermenter.white,indian,south western corn/maze has more starch and less protein that is why
you see in older recipes calling for it.this corn/maiz can still be had as it is used as flour but much harder to fiend.

what i have done is to place a bag into the fermenter, dump everything into it then host the bag out using a small block and tackle
then just leave it hanging until it drips out.

[dooley]

Dnderhead - Thanks for the observation that the corn I use is causing part of the problem. I hadn't thought about that - mostly, I thought abt how cheap it is compared to flaked corn from the local brew shop! Last night after ranting here, I did more searching online, and ordered a mesh bag designed to fit in a six gal bucket. It's called a sparging bag, and I'm somewhat skeptical it will just be a new way to make a big mess, but I'm gonna give it a try.

Rubber Duck - Your response surprised me a bit; I've read so much about the importance of clearing the wash. I like the idea of using a paint straining bag, and I'm game to try your idea of running it dirty, and just heating the mash slowly. Worst that could happen is I'll learn something not to do again!

Thanks you both for your insights and suggestions.

[rubber duck]

Clearing a wash depends on what your doing.

If you want a super clean neutral ya clearing the wash would be a good thing to do. If your running a electric element you should probably clear it. If your impatient you should probably clear it.

If your running whiskey you can clear the wash, but some distiller dump the whole mess corn yeast and all into their stills and run direct fire. A dirty wash isn't a problem if your gentle. A gentle makes for better whiskey anyway, it just doesn't have the harshness as when you fire it full blast to heat up the wash. I don't have any science but it just seem a slow warm up make a better product.

[Dnderhead]

with corn/maze iv never found a problem,but other grains i have. corn does not have the tannins.
tannins can give a bitter taste this is brought out more with cooking.
a very slow heat up,stiring meanwhile will greatly help.
but even so i do most off the grain,i just drain off what i can.fill the pot of spent grain with water.
then drain and use this water to cook the next batch with. with what type of corn you use will depend
on what you can git the cheapest. the "waste" can be used.for other things.
if all your mash or most of it was thick then id say you did not have a good conversion.

[blind drunk]

i just drain off what i can.fill the pot of spent grain with water. then drain and use this water to cook the next batch with.

Ah, I've been trying to remember this technique of yours and here it is. Perfect timing! Thanks.

bd.

[Dnderhead]

ya you can use hot water out of tap fill the pot with as much water as you want for the next batch.
stir this up, let it settle then drain this off, mite to some sound like a lot of work,but it takes a small
amount of time, and remember you can be distilling at the same time.cooking/ conversion/and rinse
will just take up some of those long hours of drip,drip,drip.just git it all set up side by side.similar
to what the brewers do.iv thought of making something like the dippy-dumpster,but it is getting late in the game.

[blind drunk]

iv thought of making something like the dippy-dumpster,but it is getting late in the game.

What's that?

bd

[Dnderhead]

it is a brew sculpture,basically a rack that holds the pot and has hinges so that you can dump it out.
it also has drains,for our use it would not have to be as Fancy and only one pot but you git the idea.
http://morebeer.com/search/103471" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[SuburbanStiller]

I can't speak to mashing itself, because my first and only experience was a frikken disgusting disaster. I can however say that those paint straining bags work a champ. I too had a big fat clump of corn, but the bag is plenty big enough to hold a full 6 gal mash, and has a built in stretchy cord that fits perfect around my stillin pot while I was pouring from my fermenter. I squeezed and squeezed on my corn to get every drop of juice out and the bag held up like a champ. It was two bags for $7 from Home Depot.

[dooley]

Everyone,
Thanks for the great comments and suggestions. Got a sparging bag in the mash I cooked today; if it isn't exactly what I want, I'll try the paint straining bag from home depot next time. Easy for me to heat the wash up a bit slower, so I plan to take Dnderhead's suggestion to not worry so much about filtering it till it's crystal clear. And I sure like Dnderhead's suggestion to sparg the grain (after putting the wash in the still) and use that water for the start of the next mash.

Got serious today and purchased some iodine to check that I had converted all the starch to sugar; happy to say this current wash only has speckles when I tested it. SG is 1065. Cooling off tonight, and I'll pitch the yeast in the morning. Should be ready to run by the weekend!

[Dnderhead]

the "speckles" are most likely proteins and they wont convert or ferment.

[Misflt]

Just throwing two cent in on an old thread.

You could just use a cheap white pillow case from walmart, try and find all cotton. Don't get a high quality one, they are too high thread count, they drain slow. Put the center of the pillow case down in ya bucket. Dump in mash and lift up. should drain on out. Squeeze to get most to drain out.

Also, I wouldn't think ya need to break down your grains so fine. A blender would make too much fine powder along with larger grit. the cracked stuff from the feed store is cracked enough if its about 6-8 pieces to make a kernel. Could get a grain mill if ya wanna grind your own, they ain't too spendy. That way ya don't get any powder which means less suspended sediment. There is some stuff you can buy to help clear your mash once strained, but I would think it might add off flavors after reading the active ingredients.

[bellybuster]

I'm a little surprised no one suggested to skip putting your grains through a blender. Just we'll cracked and they will release their goodness. It will also be easier to strain and clear.