Messed up whiskey ferment
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 5:46 pm
I'm not sure what happened, but there is no alcohol in my ferment.
Here's what I used:
10 gallons water
5 lbs. corn meal
5 lbs. barley
8 lbs. rye
8 lbs. corn syrup
I cooked the grains to 158°, added amylase, and let sit for two hours(stirring every 15 minutes) at which time it was at 152°. I strained the grains out and was left with a nice syrupy liquid and added the corn syrup. I allowed it to cool and added the yeast and stuck it in the garage. It barely bubbled! Thinking it might be too hot in the garage, I brought it inside the house and added new yeast. After two weeks I ran it through and didn't get any alcohol until it hit 190°. After 2 oz. I stopped the still.
Could something in it be killing the yeast before it ferments? I've used a very similar recipe and procedure before and had great results. At the least, even if I totally botched cooking it, I should have gotten a fair amount of alcohol from the corn syrup.
Here's what I used:
10 gallons water
5 lbs. corn meal
5 lbs. barley
8 lbs. rye
8 lbs. corn syrup
I cooked the grains to 158°, added amylase, and let sit for two hours(stirring every 15 minutes) at which time it was at 152°. I strained the grains out and was left with a nice syrupy liquid and added the corn syrup. I allowed it to cool and added the yeast and stuck it in the garage. It barely bubbled! Thinking it might be too hot in the garage, I brought it inside the house and added new yeast. After two weeks I ran it through and didn't get any alcohol until it hit 190°. After 2 oz. I stopped the still.
Could something in it be killing the yeast before it ferments? I've used a very similar recipe and procedure before and had great results. At the least, even if I totally botched cooking it, I should have gotten a fair amount of alcohol from the corn syrup.