Home Distiller

This recipe was inspired by my need for a stronger corn flavour, and the basic recipe was based on “Traditional Sour Mash Whiskey” chapter 13 from “Making Pure Corn Whiskey”. Stillin' and aging are my main adaptations.

Recipe for 46L (12usg) wash:
60L (16usg) water
1T gypsum
2t citric acid
11Kg (24lbs) cracked corn
7Kg (15lbs) table sugar
½C baker’s yeast
2t G-A enzymes

Method:
Use chlorine and chloramine-free water (I treat my town water using Potassium Metabisulphite to to remove both chlorine and chloramines)
Add 1T gypsum, stir well and aerate for 30+ mins
Place 24lb cracked feed corn in 20usg fermenter and add water to cover
Simmer 15lbs sugar in 7.5L/2usg water for 20-30 mins (with 1T citric acid added on 1st gen. - Use backset and omit citric acid in subsequent gens)
Add to the fermenter and top up with a further ~38L/10 usg water
Check pH is 4.0+ (4.5 to 5.5 range is best) - adjust up with calcium carbonate if/when required
Aerate for 30 minutes
Ensure temperature is less than 38*C (100*F).
Stop aeration and sprinkle ½ C (125mm) bakers yeast on surface
After 15 minutes add 2t G-A enzymes and stir in.
Resume aeration for 30 mins.
Cover and fit airlock. – mine bubbles (slowly) immediately. Within 60mins the fermentation is very vigourous, and complete within 3 days (though the G-A and yeast will continue a very slow fermentation from the grain bed/lees.
Maintain heat at 27*C/80+*F throughout the fermentation.

Subsequent 3 generations:
Do not remove/replace trub
Stir up all the trub vigourously at the beginning of each new fermentation
Reuse 100% of the back-set, using calcium carbonate to maintain at least 4.0pH. in wash
Cool the backset and the inverted sugar so that 38*C/100*F is not exceeded when added to fementer with water to bring up to ~46L/12usg above the corn
After 4 (or 5 maximum) generations, remove ALL the grains and trub. Add fresh corn, gypsum, yeast and G-A …..BUT….. reuse ALL the back-set from the previous generation
Always add 4 or 5L water to fermenter after removing 45L/12usg for a strip rum
Freeze ALL back-set for future use and discard grains/trub if the fermentation will not be restarted within 2 days.
Filter wash through EZ filter into boiler
I make no cuts on my strip runs using 3000w internal elements.
On a 23L pot-still spirit run I collect fores at maybe 1 drop per second using ~250w, heads at ~2 drops per second using maybe 350w. After collecting 1L I switch to my parrot, collecting in 250ml jars down to 80%abv using maybe 500w. I then increase the power to about 1200-1500w and collect in 1L jars down to 70% abv.
I then switch to 250ml jars and collect down to 60%abv. I check all the above (except the first 1L of fores/heads which goes in the “alcohol cleaner” jar) for possible blending after 2 days under a coffee filter. Unwanted heads also go into the "alcohol cleaner" jar.
From 60% down to 40% I ramp the power up to 3000w. Nothing much I like the taste/smell of here (unless I am missing something?) - It all goes into my tails jar for future refluxing.
From 40% down to 15-10% goes into my “Corn Oils” jar for reuse in future spirit runs – much the same as Pugi’s pugirum recipe/method. Some of this smells/tastes really good to me, and I think it is a major benefit to the Corn Likker I am now producing, some 15 generations on.

I oak maybe 11L (3usg) at 65%abv on 10g light toast chips, 15g medium toast chips, 75g dark toast chips for a slightly lighter-than-average colour, opening the cork bung an swirling it around vigourously whenever I think about it. This is still being experimented on (and a barrel or two is in my future plans). After a month or two I start adding add distilled water in 0.5L stages per week to bring it down to 45-50%abv for use.

Friends, much more knowledgeable than I about corn whiskey, rate it very highly, and it has become my “drug of choice” – I never thought a good single malt Scotch (or Irish) would ever be replaced as my likker of choice.

Edited typo (from 80*C) to 27+*C/80+*F - It's the oak that's toasted, NOT the yeast!!!

Very interesting process, likkerluvver... Thanks for sharing... Several members have been attempting to get more corn flavor from their runs recently... The extra work might be worth it in the end...

Yes, interesting process LL.. I am on my 6th gen of an UJSSM using 80% backset and it really amazes me how much more of the corn flavour carries over...

Thanks for sharing...

Thanks Rad and Sam - this will be an on-going process. I certainly will be trying variations and I'm very open to advice.

Hi Odin,
I didn’t want to go too much off-topic on the UJSSM forum, so I brought this here.

Odin wrote:LL,
I read your post. Now I follow the original way UJSSM was promoted. Apart from using more backset (which I also do), what would be the main differences in your approach? Is it the water treatment, or the extra ... you put in?
Looking forward to gettin even more flavour over!
Odin.

Over recent years I found I had VERY much slower fermentations than I used to get - couldn't work out why. Check this out:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... bisulphite

The recipe I now use for Sour Mash Corn Likker uses ~twice the quantity of corn as compared to UJSSM. I have used 100% of my backset for at least 10 of my 15 generation Corn Likker. IMHO, these 2 changes have very noticeably increased the corn flavour.

At ~60% the wet cardboard taste becomes very noticeable and I used to throw everything below about 65% in my tails jar for refluxing (I DID enjoy the 95+% it produced though).

I have used “rum oils” in my Pugirum for several years and noticed the gradual improvement in complexity of flavour and nose., so I thought I’d check out the Corn likker at these percentages. There are some very nice flavours in the 40 down to 15%abv range, even though they produce slightly cloudy distillate when stripping down to this %age. Further investigation might show specific ranges within this band that are more advantageous, but I’m satisfied doing it this way – for now.

Some use ALL their tails from maybe 65-60% down in their next spirtit run and may get similar (possibly better???) effect, but I am dumping the 65-40% range directly into my tails jar for future refluxing because I have noticed no favourable flavours there. I am saving the 40% t0 15% “Corn Oils” from each spirit run for the next spirit run.

I also prefer lightly oaked/coloured final product at about 45-50%abv, and have found that a very small quantity of light toast oak and a small quantity of medium toast oak add to the complexity of the heavy/dark toast oak alone.

I never appreciated “American Corn Whiskeys” until I started on UJSSM. I only started UJSSM because everyone advised it for newB introduction to grain recipes. I must say that I like my version of Corn Likker, as do all of my corn likker-drinking friends. I am brewing up larger batches and HIDING some for a few years of aging. - Hopefully!

I was just wondering. Does the flavor stay constant across the 4 or 5 ferments you do on one grain bed? Let's say on the 6th gen you replace all the grain and yeast. By tis time you would have some good backset. Is the flavor of that 6th gen the same as the 9th or 10th gen? When its time to change it out again?

If it is different? Does it have less flavor or just a different flavor?

I've been thinking about this for a little while now. Just curious?

I've been reluctant of trying a sourmash of any kind. Because I have never found a commercial sourmash product that I could ever like. I normally am a bourbon drinker. But I know I can't gauge homemade from commercial. So I would at least like to try it for a few generations. That's why I'm curious about your flavor outcomes. Plus I have a good friend who has been bugging me for some sourmash.

"I never appreciated “American Corn Whiskeys” until I started on UJSSM. I only started UJSSM because everyone advised it for newB introduction to grain recipes. I must say that I like my version of Corn Likker, as do all of my corn likker-drinking friends."

I totally agree. I used to just drink American Whiskeys with cola and never cared which brand. Since I've begun distilling my own AG's I've developed a wholesome new relationship with American Whiskeys. At every chance I try something different and always taste them "neat." It's a great way to compare my own craftmanship to the professionals. I can now say the my own whiskey is every bit as good as the store bought stuff. It's such a feeling of accomplishment.

I recently made a corn/barley/rye mash whiskey with local feed corn. The yield was pitiful. However, the flavor was unbelievable.

Prairiepiss wrote:I was just wondering. Does the flavor stay constant across the 4 or 5 ferments you do on one grain bed? Let's say on the 6th gen you replace all the grain and yeast. By tis time you would have some good backset. Is the flavor of that 6th gen the same as the 9th or 10th gen? When its time to change it out again?
If it is different? Does it have less flavor or just a different flavor?
I've been thinking about this for a little while now. Just curious?

I have kept it to 4 fermentations before changing the grain. Smiley says it is spent after 3 fermentations, but I saw that only the top 20-25% had changed colour during the first fermentation on the grain bed. Since feed corn is inexpensive and flavour was the goal, I have replaced the corn etc. after 4 generations. Perhaps 3 generations would provide an even better taste profile?!?!?

Any variation/deterioration would be more noticeable during slow single runs as opposed to doing a spirit run using 23L of strip.
IMHO the use of 100% of back-set is what really carries the flavour through each generation - smoothing out the effect of the depleted corn??? I am certainly very happy not to be pouring all that flavour down the drain.

Prairiepiss wrote: I've been reluctant of trying a sourmash of any kind. Because I have never found a commercial sourmash product that I could ever like. I normally am a bourbon drinker. But I know I can't gauge homemade from commercial. So I would at least like to try it for a few generations. That's why I'm curious about your flavor outcomes. Plus I have a good friend who has been bugging me for some sourmash.

I know what you mean.

Now if I could only combine the “corniness” of this recipe with the smoothness of Evan Williams Single Barrel – I’d have a surefire favourite for anyone who likes corn.

Horse_Shoe wrote:"I never appreciated “American Corn Whiskeys” until I started on UJSSM. I only started UJSSM because everyone advised it for newB introduction to grain recipes. I must say that I like my version of Corn Likker, as do all of my corn likker-drinking friends."

I totally agree. I used to just drink American Whiskeys with cola and never cared which brand. Since I've begun distilling my own AG's I've developed a wholesome new relationship with American Whiskeys. At every chance I try something different and always taste them "neat." It's a great way to compare my own craftmanship to the professionals. I can now say the my own whiskey is every bit as good as the store bought stuff. It's such a feeling of accomplishment.

My thoughts exactly. - Hopefully BETTER than store bought.

Horse_Shoe wrote:I recently made a corn/barley/rye mash whiskey with local feed corn. The yield was pitiful. However, the flavor was unbelievable.

Yeah - AG done right is unbeatable.

..... But it is a lot of work, often with a disappointing yield - and this recipe is relatively easy.

Some AG purists will never agree that "sugar-head" (IMO, a derisive "snob" term) can be better. Meanwhile I'm enjoying my Corn Likker - and that's what counts - as I aim to start/improve/perfect an AG (pseudo) Scotch (and Irish).