Saved a Corn Mash

[Jo Diesel]

I am doing a 50% cracked corn 25lb and 50% sweet feed 25lb. Put corn in my mash tun added 5 gal backset at flame out from the still. Let sit 2 hours then boiled 5 gal water and added sweet feed and water. Let sit over night
.Sweet feed seemed fine and scooped out first as it was on top Evidently corn was not hot enough as it did not convert at all. Put 8 gall water in pot and boiled. Poured over corn, crap only 150, so I stirred then let settle for a couple of min then scooped off liquid and brought to boil then poured back in. Still not hot enough so I repeated twice more to get to 200 then covered and let sit overnight.
This worked really well as it let the yeast get going on the sweet feed but cooled down to 50. When I dumped the warm mashed corn on top the yeast really picked up and was bubbling away nicely.

[MitchyBourbon]

I think you still have a problem. You don't have any malted grain. Without malted grain or commercial enzymes all you will have is starch. Yeast cannot ferment starch.

[Jo Diesel]

Forgot to mention, as I do not consider it, I also put in 25.lb of my spent grain from a batch of beer which should have about 20% sugars still in it. I try not to waste anything

[thatguy1313]

Id be interested in trying that grain bill Booner's style with liquid enzymes. Mitchy is right. You released the starch from the corn but then didn't add anything to convert the starch to sugars. The spent grain and the molasses in the sweet feed seem to be the only sugar sources.

[bellybuster]

you have a mash tun that can hold 75 lbs of grain????? The spent grain should have more than enough enzymes to convert

[thatguy1313]

Aaahhhh. Missed the part where the spent grain was from beer brewing. Should be good then. Did you do a strch test or a hydrometer reading?

[BayouShine]

I'm trying to make sure that I'm reading this correctly. You have 25lbs of corn, 25lbs of sweet feed, 25 pounds of spent grains, 5 gal backset and 5 gal of water? So 75lbs/10gal?

[MitchyBourbon]

I hope I'm wrong, but I still think my statement stands. Most of the enzymes would have been washed away with your beer. There wouldn't be enough enzymes to convert 50 lbs more. I brew beer too, and spent beer grain is mostly hulls. Then there is the mash out, if you rinsed the grain with the customary 170° F water those enzymes that were left would be denatured. Either way you have little or no enzymes.

[Jo Diesel]

It is split into 2 20 gal open top barrels. Then topped up with water. 75 lb grain with 10 gal liquid would not work