Does malted barley have the diastatic power to convert the mash to sugars for whiskey brewing?

[BangladeshBrewer]

Some of the members here kindly advanced my brewing education. I understand that material in the mash gets converted to sugars, then the yeast converts those sugars to alcohol. I can buy

I can get Amylase enzyme and/or amyloglucosidase (aka glucoamylase or just gluco) to convert starch in the mash to sugar.

If I use malted barley, which you can get for beer brewing, for my whiskey making mash how to figure out if I will benefit from adding Amylase enzyme and/or amyloglucosidas?

I have read about an interesting recipe with 80% barley 20% rolled oats. Would I assume that I need only need enzymes for the proportion of rolled oats, which I assume don't have diastatic power?

My main concern is quality and taste of the whiskey.

 

[BangladeshBrewer]

My distiller comes with a thermometer which screws into the kit depending on what you are doing, distillation or whatever.

Since brewing requires measurement of "strike temperature", and whatever else, what kind of thermometer should I get to do this?

I have a meat probe thermometer, with an analogue (not digital), dial on the end. Will that do the job? Or is something else better?

 

[Abhishek Dewan]

Usually strike temperature is around 72c depending on grain bill, you can check online calculators by inputting grain weight etc. so any thermometer until 100c will work. Malted barley at 80% as mentioned, can easily convert all starches in 60 minutes. Hold temperature steady between 63 to 67c. Meat probe will work fine. Don’t use thermometer to make distillation cuts, use smell and taste. Hope you have enough experience to do it.

 

[bracconiere]

yes malted barley will convert both itself and the oats. but if you use a different grain then oats or wheat, you'll need to do a cereal mash on the adjunct to gelenatize the starch before letting it cool down to add the malted barley to convert it.

 

[BangladeshBrewer]

Is there any benefit to adding Glucoamylase? Would that make a more a more dry whiskey?

Can it be ruined by being too dry?

 

[doug293cz]

If you use at least 50% light colored malted barley in your grain mix, you will have enough amylase enzymes to convert all of the starch to fermentable sugars and limit dextrins (which are not fermentable.) You can convert the dextrins to fermentable sugars by adding amyloglucosidase to the fermenter. This will increase the total amount of fermentable sugar and increase your yield of alcohol per kg of grain.

Starch is made up of many glucose molecules bonded together in chains. There are two different structures for the chains: linear and branched. The linear chains are amylose, and the branched chains are amylopectin. In amylose the glucose units are bonded to each other with what are called "α(1-4)" bonds, which connect the glucose molecules "end-to-end." Amylopectin is mostly made up of α(1-4) bonds, but there are occasional α(1-6) bonds which connect the end of one glucose molecule to the side of another glucose molecule (which also has two other glucose molecules connected with α(1-4) bonds. The α(1-6) bonds create branches.

Amylase enzymes can only break (technically hydrolyze) the α(1-4) bonds in amylose and amylopectin. They cannot hydrolyze the α(1-6) bonds - they cannot convert the region around a branch point to fermentable sugar. These small chunks, consisting of a branch bond and three chains, each 3 to 4 glucose units long, emanating from the branch are called limit dextrins, and they are not fermentable. Dextrins with longer chains of glucose units are not limit dextrins, because amylase can further hydrolyze the free ends of the chains into fermentable sugars.

Amyloglucosidase can hydrolyze both α(1-4) and α(1-6) bonds. Therefore it can convert the limit dextrins to fermentable sugar, resulting in more total fermentable sugar from the same amount of starch compared to amylase alone. Amyloglucosidase can also convert starch completely to fermentable sugars all by itself.

You don't need to use amyloglucosidase with malted barley, but if you do you will end up with more fermentable sugar, and more alcohol for the same amount of grain.

Brew on

 

[BangladeshBrewer]

You don't need to use amyloglucosidase with malted barley, but if you do you will end up with more fermentable sugar, and more alcohol for the same amount of grain.

Brew on

Thanks. That was very helpful.

Is the reason people don't add sugar / honey / molasses to mash that it compromises the flavour?

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks. That was very helpful.

Is the reason people don't add sugar / honey / molasses to mash that it compromises the flavour?

You're welcome.

People do add all those things to beer if they want to get some of the flavor they provide in the beer. They can also be fermented on their own. If you ferment honey, you get mead (but you usually need to add some nutrients for the yeast to get good fermentation with honey alone.) Fermenting sugar or molasses alone is usually done to make feedstock for distillation. These also need nutrients for fermentation.

Brew on

 

[bracconiere]

Amyloglucosidase can also convert starch completely to fermentable sugars all by itself.

this is kinda off-topic, but....


you mean if i'm using gluco anyway, i don't have to actually brew beer? just sorta crush the grain and add water and gluco, along with the yeast? THEN strain?

edit: i suppose it'd still need to be heated to 150f though.....or use flaked barley?

 

[doug293cz]

this is kinda off-topic, but....


you mean if i'm using gluco anyway, i don't have to actually brew beer? just sorta crush the grain and add water and gluco, along with the yeast? THEN strain?

edit: i suppose it'd still need to be heated to 150f though.....or use flaked barley?

One of the things boiling does is kill off the Lactobacillus which will sour the mash before you can distill it. It also kills off any other tramp yeast or bacteria that might be in the malt. I also don't know how well the malt would gelatinize at room temps, and the enzymes can't work until the starch is gelatinized. I did try one experiment with rice and gluco at room temp that didn't go well.

Brew on

 

[hawkwing]

You can do an iodine test. Take a few drops of your mash and add iodine. If it turns purple there is still unconverted starch.

Light malted barley should have enough enzymes to convert itself and quite a bit more other grains.