The common use of corn in "sugar wash" fermentations

[Bobby_M]

I don't purport to know the history of moonshining or distillation but I do know most of the chemistry involved in mashing and converting starch into fermentable sugar.

What I'm curious about is the common usage of cracked or flaked corn in otherwise sugar only wash fermentations. To be clear, I know that without exogenous amylase enzymes, unmalted corn products float around in the fermenting wash and never contribute to any ethanol production. MAYBE it contributes some flavors, but I'm dubious of that as well.

My intuition tells me that a while back, someone observed a distiller making a "real mash" with malts and made some bad assumptions that got perpetuated.

When someone comes into my homebrew shop looking for corn, they almost always "found a recipe" and also had no idea that the corn wasn't contributing to the alcohol. The likely reason it perpetuates is that all the sucrose that gets added ferments just fine so it appears that the batch was a success. Shows like "Moonshiners" definitely didn't help.

 

[mac_1103]

Any historical evidence that moonshiners used malted corn?

edit - I mean, they must have, right?

 

[Bobby_M]

I have no idea if any moonshiners used malted corn, or if they knew unmalted corn didn't add any fermentable sugar, or if they ever tested whether the corn objectively influenced the taste, or if they were completely ignorant of mashing chemistry. If unmalted corn additions are as benign as I suspect they are, it's possible the traditional is just that.

Edit... Come to think of it, in modern day it seems 99% of distilling enthusiasts have no idea what the chemistry of mashing actually is so that percentage is probably accurate all the way back in time.

 

[Agent]

Any historical evidence that moonshiners used malted corn?

edit - I mean, they must have, right?

My gut feeling is that the sour mashes picked up fungi and diastacious yeasts that could readily ferment startch in the absence the enzymes we currently rely on. They usually fermented on the grains which would allow slower conversion.

 

[doug293cz]

My gut feeling is that the sour mashes picked up fungi and diastacious yeasts that could readily ferment startch in the absence the enzymes we currently rely on. They usually fermented on the grains which would allow slower conversion.

Sounds plausible.

Brew on

 

[lumpher]

Corn is more about the taste and buffering the harsh sugar burn. They knew it added very little abv. Don't ask me how i know, or why my ancestors kept running from Virginia, to North Carolina, then South Carolina, then Georgia, and finally Alabama... they didn't add yeast; wild yeast took over and did a good job of fermentation on all the available sugars.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

My hunch: 30% malted barley was the "master brewer's well-kept secret", so that not just anyone could make their own hooch. But the only authority I have on that, is that I've been day-drinkin'

 

[IAmPistolPete]

In distilling circles it's well known that cracked corn is basically a flavor adjunct to offset the "sugar bite" of common table sugar. It's too large particle size to be of any use with malt or enzymes. Flaked corn is a slightly different animal and while it's pre-gelatinized unlike cracked corn, it still needs malted grain or alpha/beta enzymes to completely break down to simple sugars. "Moonshiners" program is about as real as "Bachelor" or "Jersey Shore" or [insert political tv show of choice]

 

[Miraculix]

My hunch: 30% malted barley was the "master brewer's well-kept secret", so that not just anyone could make their own hooch. But the only authority I have on that, is that I've been day-drinkin'

And that is all the authority we need!

 

[Closet Fermenter]

I have never made any moonshine, but enjoyed reading about the culture in the Foxfire book series. I don’t recall all the details of the recipe, but I distinctly remember that they would wet sacks of whole kernel corn and put them in a warm place, such as by a wood stove and periodically turned them until the kernels sprouted. Then, after rubbing the sprouts from the kernels, they cracked the corn.

I suppose that this might convert some of the starches to fermentable sugars, but I really don’t know. Maybe someone with a little more knowledge can pick up this line and run with it.

 

[Miraculix]

I have never made any moonshine, but enjoyed reading about the culture in the Foxfire book series. I don’t recall all the details of the recipe, but I distinctly remember that they would wet sacks of whole kernel corn and put them in a warm place, such as by a wood stove and periodically turned them until the kernels sprouted. Then, after rubbing the sprouts from the kernels, they cracked the corn.

I suppose that this might convert some of the starches to fermentable sugars, but I really don’t know. Maybe someone with a little more knowledge can pick up this line and run with it.

That's basically malting what you are describing.