First Bourbon mash

[toadskin]

Well I've built my little Pot Still, although still waiting on the ferrule to arrive. I'll give it a cleaning run as soon as it's 100% ready to go.

I searched for Bourbon mashes all over the net but finally decided that this is what I would run with for a 30 litre ferment.


3.5Kg of gristed maize
1Kg of wheat milled to about 1mm size
0.5Kg light Barley malt dry extract
2kg white sugar
1/2 teaspoon of citric acid
80gms of Lowans

I wasn't sure just how to go about it so I heated 20 litres of water to 90C and stirred in the LDM, half the wheat and all of the maize. I kept it at around 75C
for about an hour and then just let it cool slowly until it was 56C. Then tipped it into the fermenter, added the rest of the wheat and the citric and sugar, topped it up to 30 litres
and left it overnight to cool.
I pitched the yeast this morning at somewhere under 30C and within minutes it was bubbling away quite happily. OSG was 1073. I haven't got the means to starch test as yet but it's on the list.

Fingers crossed that I'll get something reasonable out of it.

[tipsy]

I haven't got the means to starch test as yet but it's on the list.

Were you thinking you were going to get some conversion there?
You will need to mash some malted grain for that.

[toadskin]

How much more would you suggest tipsy?
Does LDM have the same enzymes in it that the malted grains have?

I'm guessing I got some conversions as the mixture started off quite thick but got thinner the longer it was sitting. This morning it had thinned down even more.

[tipsy]

I'd probably double the sugar.
Looks like a tasty sugar head to me.
You could add more malt extract but take into account it isn't 100% fermentable.

[hillzabilly]

I found this to be a good starting point for bourbon viewtopic.php?f=47&t=1837 well worth a read.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

[toadskin]

Thanks hilzabilly.

Apparently LDM doesn't have the enzymes in it so I guess that's why my OSG was so low. Next time I'll use crystal malt and mill it myself.

[TasSpirits]

Might pay to read up on mashing, try the thread that Hilzabilly recommended and do a bit more reading. Proper mashing requires careful temp control and proper methods. Last thing you want is to waste expensive grain, also you will need malted barley not liquid or dry malt extract. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[tipsy]

Next time I'll use crystal malt and mill it myself.

If you want to mash you'll need a base malt. Crystals are mainly used for colour and sweetness.


Some light reading