Traditional Appalachian Sweet Mash Corn Whiskey Discussion

[Linny]

He is in Newcastle nsw, but ships pretty much everywhere and has tonnes of stock .... literally

http://www.ubrew.com.au/web/index.asp

I just used malted rye and ale barely... hope it helps :handgestures-thumbupleft:

You can also select what type of grist you want

[emptyglass]

I went to the home brew shop, got 10kg rye meal and 5kg of malted barley, whole. Cost about $45 for both. I got the better part of a bushel of cracked corn and a sack of sugar on hand.
I'll be dumping the leftover plum scum, freeing up a 180 litre barrel.

The old duck in the brew shop grinds barley by hand up to a kilo or so, she didn't appreciate my remark about buying it just so I could watch her mill it up.

So next is to mill the barley. I de-handled the little grister and replaced the handle with a cordless drill. I gave it a little go, and its a pissa, just got the other 4.5 kg to do now. The size of the crack is variable, from just broken open down to corse flour.

Appalachian whiskey, here I come.

[bt1]

Howdy,

good luck EG just keep an eye on the old syphoning hose.. wish I did... :oops:

Drunk I went a low EB malted barely for taste reasons ..I can't say with any certainty for this wash however I can say plain un malted barely in the Irish's I've done is bloody pointless... it turns up heady and very bitey. MM said barely malt ...for the enzyme sugar conversion...without a malt you go no enzyme activity.

For rye used a malted rye.. could just use a ground rye =meal your choice I reckon.

Beerbelly down at Prospect Rd for the grains...can't go wrong.

bt1

[emptyglass]

The brew shop here doubles as a home bread making shop too. I walk in there, they have single row, double row, 6 row, caramel malt, pilsner, and heaps of others. I just asked for plain malted barley.

I'll follow the recipie, then start varying it from there, but at least that should give me a base line to know what to expect.

The fella in the shop raised an eyebrow when I asked for the rye meal. "Are you sure?" he asked. They had it in the bread making section in 5kg bags, so I got 2 bags.

I dragged my 18 gal keg out, that should give me 68 odd litres or so of boiled water capacity. I'm working on an imperial gallon conversion, I hope thats right, that gets me close enough to the 75 litres, allowing for my 180 litre fermenter. I'm doing 20 litres less than the recipie, so I just knocked the top off all the quantitys, not getting too scientific about it though.

[Kal]

how hard is it to malt your own barley?

Can buy a 30Kg bag for under 17 bucks here in NSW from horse feed places. If it's just a simple soak in water, let it germinate, then dry it out it would save alot of money!

[emptyglass]

From what I read, its not hard, but you need space to let it germinate, a kiln of sorts to stop the germination, and some way to rotate the grain during germination so it dosn't go moldy.

I'd like to give it a go one day, but not tonight. Or tomorrow, or probably this year.

[MtnMoonshiner]

how hard is it to malt your own barley?

Can buy a 30Kg bag for under 17 bucks here in NSW from horse feed places. If it's just a simple soak in water, let it germinate, then dry it out it would save alot of money!

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3327

It's pretty easy. Just takes a little time. Just need some time and a burlap sack or paper bag

[halfbaked]

Mount Shine where do you get your grain/malt and what does you have to pay for it? Do you make all your malts or buy some?

[washington]

Hey, mtn!
Quick question. Would it be alright to use malted corn instead of cracked corn?

Thanks!
Wash

[BackyardBrewer]

Unless I'm reading it wrong the corn has to be malted then cracked? It's not just cracked corn kernels is it?

[washington]

Unless I'm reading it wrong the corn has to be malted then cracked? It's not just cracked corn kernels is it?

You must be right! I'm a bit thick, sorry!

Wash

[bt1]

I read it the other way

-22kg(50lbs) of dried cracked yellow corn. The kind without any additives or other grains, that you'd buy at a feed store to feed chickens.

bt1

[emptyglass]

Some final points. The barley and rye are optional but add a fantastic flavor in my opinion...However, you can use just straight corn(I recommend trying just corn eventually and seeing which you like best).

You can use corn malt, or barley malt. It doesn't matter which, but you need to use some kind of malt, because it aids the yeast in breaking down the sugars into alcohol. If you decide to use corn malt, just subtract the amount of barley malt from the total amount of corn. for example, 50lbs of corn total, but if I don't use barley malt I would use 13lbs of malted corn, with 37lbs of unmalted corn for a total of 50lbs. And then add unmalted barley and rye in their prescribed amounts.

:D

[washington]

Some final points. The barley and rye are optional but add a fantastic flavor in my opinion...However, you can use just straight corn(I recommend trying just corn eventually and seeing which you like best).

You can use corn malt, or barley malt. It doesn't matter which, but you need to use some kind of malt, because it aids the yeast in breaking down the sugars into alcohol. If you decide to use corn malt, just subtract the amount of barley malt from the total amount of corn. for example, 50lbs of corn total, but if I don't use barley malt I would use 13lbs of malted corn, with 37lbs of unmalted corn for a total of 50lbs. And then add unmalted barley and rye in their prescribed amounts.

:D

Haha, I know... I've said it before, I'm not the brightest! :oops: But my question was more along the lines of - Could we do the original recipe, except with All Malt - malted corn, malted barley, and malted rye? I would think it would provide maximum sugars and more toasty malt flavour.

thanks,
Wash

[bt1]

fair point EG,

haven't read that far :oops:

Geez it would add more costs but... btw blended cuts real well.

bt1

[halfbaked]

It is malt and then crack most def.

[MtnMoonshiner]

Unless I'm reading it wrong the corn has to be malted then cracked? It's not just cracked corn kernels is it?

It is malt and then crack most def.

As far as using all malted grain, I don't know. I've never tried or even thought about it to be honest. If you give it a shot, let me know how it comes out.

As for the malted/cracked corn questions. I actually malt whole corn, and then grind it into meal. If I'm not using corn malt, I use the cracked corn without grinding it. I always have plenty of it on hand in either form.

I buy my corn at several locations, depending on who has enough. A lot of times I just buy it at a feed store. a 50lb sack of cracked or whole colonel corn costs about $30. Rye and Barley both cost about $50 per 50lb sack. I always malt my own grain, simply because pre malted is more expensive, and I don't always use a particular grain in a malted form. So it don't make much sense for me to buy malted and un malted, when I can buy one for cheaper and turn it into both.

[washington]

Thanks, mtn! I reckon i'm not as dumb as I thought! It may take me a while to get to it, but I'll try it in your original proportions with all malt and see how it comes out.

wash

[MtnMoonshiner]

Have at it. I'd recommend malting your own grain just cause of the cost. Let me know how it turns out!

[halfbaked]

MMS Thanks I was hopn you had a local place you could pick up some malted. Its not hard but a pain in the A--. If you have the right equipment is is no problem. If you are going to do it it is worth doing in big batches. I have never used it without drying it but understand it is ok to do as long as you take the sprouts off. Do you have any experience with using it wet? I also understand that there is a grain you don't want to malt because if you do it wrong it can be poisonous. Is this true and if so which one is it? What grains do you malt? Do you get most of your grains from a mom and pop feed store or like a Southern States or Tractor supply type chain store. Where I am I get cracked corn for way less than $1lb, more like $15 for 50lb.