First Timer Question

[By-Tor]

I have been brewing beer for about 15 years and I have a set up now to distill. Can I do a mash the way I do a beer, ferment and siphon to the still pot and go from there? Or do I ferment with all of the grains right in the carboy?

 

[bernardsmith]

I would think that you brew beer (without hops) and use that ale to distill. Same goes for wine: you make your wine and distill that.

 

[BigEd]

I have been brewing beer for about 15 years and I have a set up now to distill. Can I do a mash the way I do a beer, ferment and siphon to the still pot and go from there? Or do I ferment with all of the grains right in the carboy?

Fermenting on the grains is a friggin mess. You can do it and it is a traditional method with the old time American moonshiners but making a distiller's beer in the same manner you do a drinking beer (sparging & running off the mash) is a hell of a lot easier and cleaner. Scotch whisky is made this way. I've done one on the grains just to settle an argument with my partner and will never do another.

 

[By-Tor]

Haha! Thanks so much for the advice! I think I will do it the same way i do beer, minus the hops and Irish moss. I usually use what I call a "fermenterator" to keep my fermenting beer at around 60 degrees. Is this necessary to do with a whiskey mash or can I leave it at room temp?

 

[Birrofilo]

I usually use what I call a "fermenterator" to keep my fermenting beer at around 60 degrees. Is this necessary to do with a whiskey mash or can I leave it at room temp?

The traditional way to make whisky is to leave the wort at room temp or even higher. If you can control the temperature, some people suggest to ferment at 30°C or even 35°C. Smiley, in Making pure corn whiskey, suggests a temperature between 21 and 33 °C (70 - 90 °F).
I suppose this is due to the desirability of congeners which the yeast will produce at those temperatures, or to the fact that a wort made for distilling is probably very dense, with a relative density of 1,060 - 1,070, and yields 9 or 10 % ABV.

Also, it is common in home distillation to use simple bread yeast, which doesn't work at lower temperatures. 20 °C might even be too cold.

 

[By-Tor]

So I was going to do my mash the same way I do beer mash, what temp should I do that mash, when stiring in the grain? I know you get more abv when mashed at lower temps on the spectrum, around 149 degrees. Also! I want to do a whiskey and I have a bunch of two row barley I was going to use. Can someone shoot me a link for recipes using malts and sugars? I'm using a 10 gal still pot.

 

[Birrofilo]

I would mash for maximum fermentability because you don't need "body" in a distiller's beer. That probably means 1 hour at 63 °C or 65 °C, something like that, but don't take my advice as an expert advice.

 

[BigEd]

So I was going to do my mash the same way I do beer mash, what temp should I do that mash, when stiring in the grain? I know you get more abv when mashed at lower temps on the spectrum, around 149 degrees. Also! I want to do a whiskey and I have a bunch of two row barley I was going to use. Can someone shoot me a link for recipes using malts and sugars? I'm using a 10 gal still pot.

I mash @ 146F/63C for at least an hour. If you are an all-grain brewer there's no reason to use sugar. Use your knowledge to its advantage and make real whiskey. While sugar is wildly popular on the distilling forums the main reason is because most of those amateur shiners have no clue how to mash.

What style of whiskey do you want to make? With the malts, grains, and adjuncts available at most decent homebrew stores you can make your own version of just about any type.

 

[By-Tor]

I mash @ 146F/63C for at least an hour. If you are an all-grain brewer there's no reason to use sugar. Use your knowledge to its advantage and make real whiskey. While sugar is wildly popular on the distilling forums the main reason is because most of those amateur shiners have no clue how to mash.

What style of whiskey do you want to make? With the malts, grains, and adjuncts available at most decent homebrew stores you can make your own version of just about any type.

 

[By-Tor]

I like single malt whiskey, I love The Macallan but I also like un-aged whiskey just not sure how much to use for a 5 or 8 gal batch......

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Definitely mash low. You want fermentability. Also consider adding some glucoamylase (dry enzyme) to the fermenter to help even further with attenuation (you should get close to 1.000 FG with gluco). Ferment temp will depend on your yeast. I wouldn't recommend bread yeast for whisky (but it makes a nice rum). Specialist whisky yeasts are good and work well at higher temperatures, otherwise Nottingham is also good but keep lowish (21C or under). It also depends how much ester character you want in the finished whisky. For OG, whisky washes are commonly in the 7% region, which is lower than for rum or vodka.

 

[BigEd]

I like single malt whiskey, I love The Macallan but I also like un-aged whiskey just not sure how much to use for a 5 or 8 gal batch......

If you like Scotch whisky you can buy peat-smoked malt from your homebrew supplier. Depending on how much phenolic character you like up to 100% of the grist can be peat-smoked. Blend with a nice Scottish pale malt like Simpson's Golden Promise to make a milder product. Like Gnomebrewer said you want about 7% ABV for a whisky/whiskey wash. How much malt you need will be determined by the output efficiency of your brewing system.

 

[By-Tor]

Wow, really? I only need for my fermentation to reach 7% ABV?? I can get that with about 8 lbs of malt! What kind of proof will that give me?

 

[Birrofilo]

Wow, really? I only need for my fermentation to reach 7% ABV?? I can get that with about 8 lbs of malt! What kind of proof will that give me?

Easy calculation. If you ferment 23 litres wort at 7% you will have 1,61 anhydrous alcohols. Assuming 20% of the total alcohol is discharged (head fractions and tail fractions) you would get 1,288 litres of totally useful anhydrous alcohols. If your final product is at a strenght of 38%, your final production would be 3,4 litres of let's say whisky.

 

[BigEd]

Wow, really? I only need for my fermentation to reach 7% ABV?? I can get that with about 8 lbs of malt! What kind of proof will that give me?

Keep in mind that you're making whiskey, not fuel. I think many beginners want to make a high ABV wash because they think it's "better" and will yield more end product. The key to good flavor, if that's what you're after (I know I am), is to keep the wash ABV modest and don't use that turbo yeast crap. An inexpensive, quality, dry ale yeast like S-04 or US-05 is just fine.

The ABV is more determined by your still and Birrofilo's explanation will let you determine approximately how much output you will end up with. Something in the neighborhood of 130 proof for your overall "keeping" output is a good target. Remember that the ABV will start high and drop off as the run continues.

 

[By-Tor]

Okay, I dont need to go over 130 for sure. I am looking for flavor and to have the malt come through. I have distillers yeast that I purchased, it's not a turbo yeast, its Red Star Dady....

 

[bracconiere]

if it hasn't allready been said, i'd add some glucoamylase to the wort, because it'll ferment it dry for more alcohol, and you're going to lose most of the 'mouthfeel' anyway..

edit: i see it was...


edit 2: but i'd say mash hot if you do use the gluco, you'll get better mash effeciancy. and it will go dry no matter what.