Tender Grain Whiskey

Grain bills and instruction for all manner of alcoholic beverages.

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oldmonk
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Tender Grain Whiskey

Post by oldmonk »

So winters are here. In my part of the world, it brings some fresh tender grains which are consumed as a fresh snack.

I tasted some tender wheat and they were incredibly sweet, smokey and earthy. I looked into the process they were made, turns out some farmers cut the hull before the grains mature and convert it's sugar into starch, then they are roasted a bit with husk on a coal fire giving them a smokey taste, they then beat them do separate the husk.
20221130_224307.jpg
This is what they look like.

I am planning on making a wheat whisky from them. They are not exactly cheap considering the manual labor involved, they go for about $4 a KG. So I'll make either a very small batch or take the cane sugar route, that's where I need some advice.

Since they are sweet, I believe I wont be required to do the scarification step them to convert starch into sugar. I'll do an iodine test. I plan on simply grinding them into water and adjust the gravity to yield 10% ABV. Question here is, do I need to and anything for flavor or am I good to go?

The other approach I am considering is steeping the muddled grains in a sugar wash neutral and let sit for a week. Filter solids, and add water to that I can charge my pot still safely and then run it. Will all the sugars from the grains make it to the fresh make? Or it will be left out in the pot.

On both the approaches I plan to use toasted oak chips for couple of weeks.
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Ben
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Re: Tender Grain Whiskey

Post by Ben »

If you have the capability to do all grain style brewing for the still I would try using them as an adjunct. Whatever base grain you want, something for saccharification and add those treating them just like you would any other grain.

If you don't have that ability it might be worth trying UJSSM replacing some or all of the grain involved in that recipe with the tender grains.

For planning I would mash up a small amount in some water and starch test it (probably a lot of starch left). Take a gravity reading and figure out what your potential sugar from them is.

Angel yeast or koji spores could also be an option if you want to stay closer to the flavor of the original product.
:)
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Twisted Brick
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Re: Tender Grain Whiskey

Post by Twisted Brick »

Ben wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 11:20 am
For planning I would mash up a small amount in some water and starch test it (probably a lot of starch left). Take a gravity reading and figure out what your potential sugar from them is.
+1

Just because it tastes sweet doesn't mean that all of the starch has been converted, nor that the entire bulk of starch/sugars are fermentable. While the roasting may have contributed a degree of 'malting' to the grain, there's no telling how many of any available enzymes may have been denatured. I agree that your best bet in determining if your wheat is practical/affordable is to conduct a stovetop mash (1lb in 1/2gal water) and do the tests Ben recommends. If you can find any 'pre-roasted' wheat, it would be interesting to see if they can be malted.
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