Home Distiller

Hey folks,

I wanted to post about my very first Bourbon. I have been hobby distilling for about 3-4 years now and always been happy just making plain old white corn whiskey. My friends love it just the way it is, but I am the kind of guy to always be improving my product and processes and decided to take this to the next level.

I am a HUGE fan of store-bought brand name bourbon like Jim Beam. I like it neat and room temp in a short tumbler glass. Sometimes I'll have it with a splash of cool spring water (depending on my mood).

I usually single run my washes on a Mile-Hi reflux in pot mode, but thought I'd try a spirit run. After stripping 36 gallons (took me 3 runs) of a corn/sugar wash in my 15 gallon keg still, I loaded it back up again with 11-12 gallons of 80 proof and did a 15-16 hour spirit run. The hearts that came out (approximately 160 proof) were the best white whiskey I had ever tasted.

A few days later after the spirit run, I blended all hearts and some higher-end tails (for flavor) and diluted to 118 proof with some store bought "spring water". The 3.15 gallons of results were not what I expected, and I was a little disappointed with the taste and assumed I had overdone it with the tails, but I continued on with the bourbon project.

When I decided to do this project, I really wanted to cut my own oak, but I knew it would need to be seasoned, and I just didn't have the patience for that (ain't nobody got time for that..lol). I went online and found some American White Oak sticks that were made for aging wine. They were pre-toasted and had a profile that increased the surface area. I ordered 4 of them. They were about 18 inches long, so I cut them into 3's which gave me 12 sticks total.

I put the sticks on the charcoal grill and went to town on them with the propane torch. Froze my ass off doing it and almost post-poned until the next day when the home store opened so I could buy a MAP gas torch. But I just stuck it out and charred them up real nice and hot.

I filled 6 half-gallon mason jars with about 1600ml (leaving room for some air and the sticks). Dropped two charred oak sticks in each one and closed the lid. I let rest for one day and then put them in the freezer for 8 hours. Took them out of the freezer, put them in a dark cupboard and left them alone. The next day the bourbon color started to develop. I pulled them out each day after that, gave them a gentle shake and returned them to the cupboard.

Today is day 9 and I am proud to say that it's looking, smelling, AND tasting amazing. The bourbon color is 95% fully developed. The taste still needs a bit more time though. I recognize I will likely not get an identical taste to my favorite store-bought, but I'm gonna do my best. The nose is also amazing. If you have ever been to Jack Daniel's distillery, I'm sure you can remember the odor of the barrell house. My whiskey smells identical.

I am so impressed! I was worried mine would end up terrible, but the outlook is hopeful. So far, the finest whiskey I have ever made and very similar to store-bought. I am expecting another 12 days or so before the whiskey comes off of the oak, but that's only something my tastebuds will determine.

Thanks to everyone at HD for all the help over the years... Have fun!

6 1/2 gallon jars, my suggestion is to leave them in a dark place for 4 months, take 2 out for drinking and leave the rest for 6-12 months you will be surprised the difference that time will make. Keep doing that until you have enough supply that all your drinking is the stuff that has aged a year or more.

Bushman wrote:6 1/2 gallon jars, my suggestion is to leave them in a dark place for 4 months, take 2 out for drinking and leave the rest for 6-12 months you will be surprised the difference that time will make. Keep doing that until you have enough supply that all your drinking is the stuff that has aged a year or more.

Is it possible to "overdo" the aging? I know whiskey with extended age is well sought-after, but I'm just curious...

About how far into the tails did you keep?

fowlmouth72 wrote:About how far into the tails did you keep?

Eh, not too much... Tails ended up being about 5 quarts. I used the first quart of that...

just asking,how do you git bourbon from a corn sugar head?

Dnderhead wrote:just asking,how do you git bourbon from a corn sugar head?

I guess you really don't if you're a NAZI about technicalities...

NO NAZI,,,,
why not call it what it is? corn sugar head or basic prohibition moon shine.
why add confusion?some one reads this and thinks this is the way to make bourbon?
NO.not close.even to be a faux bourbon you need other grains or malted grains
or possibly malt extract .
further more this simple corn/sugar recipe has been on here a dozen times.
and is the base of UJSSM,in tried and true recipes..

Dnderhead wrote:NO NAZI,,,,
why not call it what it is? corn sugar head or basic prohibition moon shine.
why add confusion?some one reads this and thinks this is the way to make bourbon?
NO.not close.even to be a faux bourbon you need other grains or malted grains
or possibly malt extract .
further more this simple corn/sugar recipe has been on here a dozen times.
and is the base of UJSSM,in tried and true recipes..

I meant no confusion DNDER. But THANKS for making sure you pointed it out. I sure do appreciate it. You are wrong about needing other grains to be a faux bourbon. As long as the grain bill is at least 51% corn, it qualifies which means even a bill with 100% corn could be bourbon. There is no recipe here, only a description of what I did to age mine on oak. What I really don't understand is how the double-standards on technical variations are so widely accepted throughout these forums yet unacceptable in this post.

And because it is so important to DNDERHEAD that there be absolutely no confusion on these forums, let me be very clear:

I varied the legal definition of bourbon in two manners. The first is that I used some sugar in my wash to help with my volume/ABV. The primary souce of sugar was from the corn. The second is that instead of using a barrell to age my bourbon. I used a glass jar as the vessel and 6"x1"x1/2" sticks of new deep-charred American White Oak.

"even a bill with 100% corn could be bourbon"
no as 80% or more corn is corn whiskey.

I appreciate you using my post to hash out the definition of bourbon. I'll be on my way now, and not sure I'll be back either... have fun with your trolling....

Dnderhead is far from trolling. He just likes to call things what they are. And I would agree with him. This could be cornfusing to some. And I'm not real sure why you got upset about someone correcting you correctly. I've never seen Dnderhead correct anyone incorrectly. Is that even possible?

putting all regulations aside ,all corn liquor has little flavor after any aging.
it looses it "corn" flavor over time and becomes a bit "sweet" almost like drinking vodka.so if you were to make a all corn whiskey and aged in wood you would have a woody flavored vodka.that's why they go threw all the trouble of making up recipes.

but ttb says Bourbon is at least 51% corn and the rest made up of other grain.then aged in new chard oak for at least 2 years.
so it can be 51% corn and 49% other grain or it can be 80% corn and other grain or any place between.

corn whiskey ,,can be unaged,aged in glass/stainless,aged in new unchard barrels or in used barrels.

now i talked to one from ADI that is making a all corn aged in new chard oak and they had to call it by a diferant name,because it does not fit either bourbon or corn whiskey (he is aging in chard barrels),if i remember right it was Ozark whiskey? ,not sure on that.

I did manage to find:

27 CFR 5.22 (2):

(2) “Whisky distilled from bourbon (rye, wheat, malt, or rye malt) mash” is whisky produced in the United States at not exceeding 160° proof from a fermented mash of not less than 51 percent corn, rye, wheat, malted barley, or malted rye grain, respectively, and stored in used oak containers; and also includes mixtures of such whiskies of the same type. Whisky conforming to the standard of identity for corn whisky must be designated corn whisky.

So yes you are right 100% corn is corn whiskey, but need I remind anyone of what we do here?

We also have the issue of the "source of confusion":

"Bourbon must be made of a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn."

Baffles me how this will go without objection or further clarification until a board user such as myself describes his grain bill as 100% corn. WHOA WAIT NOW THERE IS A PROBLEM:

Bourbon must not be made from a grain bill of any more than 80% corn. Otherwise, it's corn whiskey.

The truth is I wanted to share my excitement for what I thought could reasonably be called a bourbon, that it was the best I had ever made and thought it would be celebrated. That's what I thought these forums were (in part) for. Instead I was greeted with a less-than-desirable and sarcastic remark about how you "git" bourbon from a corn/sugar head. I guess now you can imagine the disappointment.

just sayin ............All of you seem to be reasonable people, just getting your quills up, relax we are all here to enjoy a rewarding hobby. its a shame there is context in these forums, text does not let the intention through. missunderstanding is unavoidable.

i share your exitement, splitting hairs is not what i'm about, dont really think the other contributors meant to shi@ on you.

Hwy419 calm yourself down son. Dnder is one of the most knowledgeable members on this forum. There is a reason he corrected your post, and a very good reason at that. Yes there are posts that slip through the cracks here, and some info that is not caught by the mentors, but when they do see errors, they correct them. There are new members joining everyday, and when they read info on here that is not accurate and go out and try and make a "bourbon" from a sugar head, it does nothing more than create confusion, and degrades the integrity of what we are trying to do on here.

So in simple terms, you made a mistake in your post and were corrected. Suck it up. It was not an attack on you personally.

I had an argument with a guy not to long ago. He was arguing that whiskey was made from sugar and not grains. Really he claimed all spirits were made from regular sugar and just flavored after it was distilled. He had been under this assumption for as long as he had been distilling. Like 10 years or so. I couldn't convince him otherwise. He had been sucked in by the misinformation given out by many homebrew shops to sell crappy product. I told him good luck. And left it at that.

Correct info should be provided as much as possible. If that guy would realize how wrong he is. He mite end up making a good drink. But until he does. He will be making a subpar product. It was horrid by the way.

Now Congrats on you finding something you can be proud of. Didn't mean to take away from that.

for many this forum is like going to school.
and is intended to promote safe,correct way to make,ferment and distill.
I dont care if you ferment ,distill swamp water,just label it as such.
so others know.