messing around with infusion whiskey

[greywolf]

I made a chicken scratch sugar wash. Its ok as white goes but lacking in character. I added some munich dark, a pinch of english roasted barley for color to the jar along with some oak. Whole grains not milled. Sometimes a scant handfull of raisins or a slice of apple or peach. I like the result. Much more malt character( seems obvious doesn't it.) I have found that milled grain will give up too much starch, About a week on grain, strain and put back on oak as long as you can stand it.

So---have any of you tried something like this?

These are after a week on grain.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

I don't distill anything, but saw this on Latest posts, and thought, wow, that seems pretty cool! While still not interested in distilling, it seems like it might be a way to turn dirt-cheap vodka into something much more interesting! Oughta be easy & cheap enough to test out at a few ounces at a time...

 

[pdxal]

I just tried it with cheap vodka and a handful of unmilled C75 based on your post. After only a couple of days it had whiskey color and a nice slightly sweet caramel flavor. Seems like it would add a nice element to oaked clear spirits.

 

[Agent]

Sugar washes usually don't create a complex product, but certainly gives you a nice canvas to work with.

I can't say I've thought about soaking malt in my spirits before, but it certainly doesn't seem out of place. I enjoy adding spirits to fresh wort, so why not cold steep? Man, honey malt would be an interesting one to try...

 

[Nerd Brewing]

Have you done a sour mash, like the UJSSM? I found the white to be bland, but once I got up to Gen 4 or so, I have a lot more flavor due to the backset. Put that on Oak for a while and you can get something that is decent bourbon like.

At that point you can also add some sweet feed, oats, or other grains into the fermentation bucket and play with the recipe. I haven't tried cold-steeping grains yet, but will most likely just do a full all-grain mash. I already do that for beer, so doing a good all-grain run for distilling isn't a big step. I just need to go bigger, so may do one of Jesse's "Safety Net" recipes where I can add some extra sugar to boost the ABV a bit.

So many options to try!

 

[greywolf]

My chicken scratch has a graininess already. I tried the munich to add some missing malty flavors. Definitely cheaper to add a handful of malt to the distillate that lose 90% when putting it in the mash. I find it works. Just don't go more than a few days or the flavor becomes weird.

 

[BowAholic]

I made a chicken scratch sugar wash. Its ok as white goes but lacking in character. I added some munich dark, a pinch of english roasted barley for color to the jar along with some oak. Whole grains not milled. Sometimes a scant handfull of raisins or a slice of apple or peach. I like the result. Much more malt character( seems obvious doesn't it.) I have found that milled grain will give up too much starch, About a week on grain, strain and put back on oak as long as you can stand it.

So---have any of you tried something like this?

These are after a week on grain.

This seems like a great idea, and I've never heard of anyone else doing it. I will try some of my leftover roasted barley... Have you made any changes in your routine since posting? Thanks.

 

[greywolf]

Glad to see someone else willing to try it.

Rise the whole grains in a colander. The adhering dust makes it cloudy. Currently drinking some with munich, 1/2 that amount of c60 and 10 raisins. 5 days. Definitly better than the white dog. Haven't tried a little rye yet. I keep forgetting to order it, Put in some charred oak too. Leave the oak in after you pull the grains out. I really want to try special B for complexity. The last batch was done at 100 proof.
I'd go easy on the roasted barley. I did try a LITTLE midnite wheat and roast barley in with the munich. Made it darker with a red cast. Looked perfect but not a lot of the flavors that I was looking for.

Its all in spirit of experimentation. Try some and let me know.

 

[pdxal]

I've found that C40 or C75 seem to work well for adding a malt character and flavor note. About a week.
-Thinking about starting another infusion thread on other infusions like oak, etc.

 

[leedspointbrew]

Thanks to this thread - had no idea that infusion whiskey like this was a thing, even though it makes perfect sense. I now know what to do with some leftover honey malt that I really don't want to use in a recipe.
My question would be : ratio of grain to spirits? 1 to 3? 1 to 4?

 

[Miraculix]

Anybody tried adding boiled down wort syrup? Unhopped would probably be best for this.

 

[doug293cz]

Anybody tried adding boiled down wort syrup? Unhopped would probably be best for this.

Are you wanting to sweeten the spirit? That would be the result, along with adding some malt flavors. Using un-crushed grains will give you some malt flavor, without adding much if any sweetness.

Brew on

 

[Miraculix]

Are you wanting to sweeten the spirit? That would be the result, along with adding some malt flavors. Using un-crushed grains will give you some malt flavor, without adding much if any sweetness.

Brew on

A bit of sweetness can be a good thing! I think this should work.

 

[pdxal]

I've used a handful of malt in a mason jar and gotten nice malt caramel malty flavor to go with the oak.

 

[greywolf]

I don't think it's a thing. Or they just don't talk about it. It does seem pretty oblivous doesn't it? Its a thing for me now. Just look at the flavor palette that we can use. Tonight I'm doing rye with some cherry smoked on some chicken scratch white dog. In a week we'll know how it works.

 

[greywolf]

tapped it. Maybe 5 days is enough. Decent maltiness. Used 1# dark munich, !/4# oak smoked, 1/4# honey malt in 5 gal of 109 proof. Added some oak. Pulled grains at 6 days. Left the oak. I can tell that munich is enough, oak smoked is not really present, honey may contribute to some sweetness but not much. Munich has the most influence. It's good straight, awesome in a whiskey and coke.