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Experimenting with recipes
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:34 am
by 00Buck
Ive always just used a basic one I learned from my pawpaw.
I make a barrel and do 25-30 lb of cracked corn. I steep it about 30 min then put 50lb sugar and a gallon bag of malt corn. Thats the only way Ive ever done it.
Now Ive been interested in maybe trying to add some backset to my grain and sugar and sour mashing that. But all the sour mash recipes Ive seen use alot more grain and sugar ratio. Would what I do work? Or do I need to follow them other recipes where the ratios are higher?
Re: Experimenting with recipes
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 12:16 pm
by Bolverk
It's pretty simple... add say 10% of that water you would normally use in backset. So say you normally use 40 gals of water. Next time use 36 gals of water and 4 gals of backset or hell round it off to 35/5. As long as you're in that 10-15% backset range, you shouldn't need to do any pH corrections.
Re: Experimenting with recipes
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 12:39 pm
by SW_Shiner
Sounds like you're lookin to do UJSSM. Simple and easy to do, and there's about 160 pages of information and helpful tips in the UJSSM thread.
Re: Experimenting with recipes
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 12:59 pm
by 00Buck
SW_Shiner wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 12:39 pm
Sounds like you're lookin to do UJSSM. Simple and easy to do, and there's about 160 pages of information and helpful tips in the UJSSM thread.
Im not. Im wondering if my recipe would be sufficient to sour mash
Re: Experimenting with recipes
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 1:06 pm
by SW_Shiner
Without knowing what your recipe is, makes it hard to determine what you are trying to do.
Corn + sugar + water = UJSSM first gen. Adding backset to subsequent batches is what makes it "sour mash".
Re: Experimenting with recipes
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 1:10 pm
by SW_Shiner
Or, seeing as how your grain bill is pretty much exactly that of UJSSM, apart from the little bit of malt, following that method should work well, just adjust the corn and sugar ratios to your liking.
Re: Experimenting with recipes
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 1:27 pm
by 00Buck
SW_Shiner wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 1:06 pm
Without knowing what your recipe is, makes it hard to determine what you are trying to do.
Corn + sugar + water = UJSSM first gen. Adding backset to subsequent batches is what makes it "sour mash".
I laid it out in the original post. The reason I ask in all the other ones they are using more corn and sugar to water ratio. I use a little more than half grain and 1:1 sugar to water. I didn't know if that extra grain and sugar in those recipes served a purpose for future ferments
Re: Experimenting with recipes
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 1:47 pm
by SW_Shiner
There is no water amount given so impossible to determine the ratios. I would think the grain ratios are what they are through trial and error. Since its juts there for flavour, too much is probably just unnecessary waste and too little probably has not enough flavour. Also, with a higher amount of corn, it leaves you more "soured" corn for next batch. Unless you plan on just using backset and replacing the grain every generation. Maybe a lower amount is fine.
Re: Experimenting with recipes
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 1:59 pm
by 00Buck
SW_Shiner wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 1:47 pm
There is no water amount given so impossible to determine the ratios. I would think the grain ratios are what they are through trial and error. Since its juts there for flavour, too much is probably just unnecessary waste and too little probably has not enough flavour. Also, with a higher amount of corn, it leaves you more "soured" corn for next batch. Unless you plan on just using backset and replacing the grain every generation. Maybe a lower amount is fine.
I got you. I appreciate it. I know all this stuff is trial and error and alot but just reading the UJSSM recipe and then adjusting the numbers for the amount I made Id have to use a whole lot more than usual. I get worried to try stuff and ruin a good thing. Been wanting to add malted corn and barely to a wash together for a while but worried itll make the taste be off
Re: Experimenting with recipes
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 8:59 pm
by shadylane
00Buck wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:34 am
Ive always just used a basic one I learned from my pawpaw.
I make a barrel and do 25-30 lb of cracked corn. I steep it about 30 min then put 50lb sugar and a gallon bag of malt corn. Thats the only way Ive ever done it.
Now Ive been interested in maybe trying to add some backset to my grain and sugar and sour mashing that. But all the sour mash recipes Ive seen use alot more grain and sugar ratio. Would what I do work? Or do I need to follow them other recipes where the ratios are higher?
I'm guessing your barrel is 50 gallons.
The cracked and malted corn aren't going to supply much for sugar since it hasn't been mashed.
Mostly just nutrients for the yeast to nibble on.
I'd do a run with around 1.5 Lb of sugar per gallon and see if extra alcohol is better or worst than the 1Lb/gal.