# Turning Corn Whiskey into....



## ktownskier (Aug 22, 2018)

I bought some new 2L barrels as I let my old 2L barrel dry out. (D'oh!!!)

My old 2L barrel made some great aged cocktails. I missed it a lot. Even though I didn't drink all that much, it was fun to bring to parties. 

So, in one of my new barrels, I am making a barrel aged Manhattan using 100* Knob Creek Rye. It has been in there a few weeks now and it is aging nicely. 

In town, we have a "Brew-Stillery" or in other words, a brewery and a distillery under the same roof. They are run by different groups though. The distillery makes some pretty good gin, vodka, and corn whisky. But no Bourbon. Well, they are now, but it won't be ready for a while. So, I was talking to Red, the owner and I said that I was going to make my own. He sold me 3-750 ml bottles of his Corn Whiskey so that I could use them to fill my 2L new American Oak Charred Barrel with them. 

For those who don't know, in order for Whiskey to be called Bourbon it requires 4 things:
1) The mash mixture must be at least 51% corn. 
2) The resulting mash must be distilled to no more than 160 proof
3) It must be stored in New American Oak Charred Barrels at no more than 125 proof. 
4) There can be no nothing added to the mixture other than time. 

So, I have all points covered, The Corn Whiskey is 105 proof and it is at least 51% Colorado Corn. 
It was never distilled to 160 proof. 
The barrel is brand new American Oak with a Medium Char. 
And, I have all the time in the world. 

The one thing about a half gallon barrel (2L) and a full 53 gallon barrel is that the whiskey in a small barrel ages faster than in a bigger barrel. That is due to the surface area exposed to the liquid. It is much more in a smaller barrel than a bigger barrel. 

The clear Corn Whiskey went in the barrel last Friday night and by Saturday noon it had already started to show some color. I poured two 750 ml bottles into the barrel and 2/3rds of the 3rd bottle. When I checked the color on the Bourbon on Saturday, (yes, it is now Bourbon) I topped off the barrel. It took all but 50 ml of the last bottle. The rest had been absorbed into the oak or had been lost to the Angel's Share. 

I plan on leaving the Bourbon in the Barrel for 2-3 more weeks, I will keep you fine folks updated. I have one more barrel left, I am thinking that I will either make a barrel aged old fashion in it. Or, I will do a port rinse (put some Port Wine in it for a day or so and then pour the port back into the bottle for later use and then transfer the Manhattan to the new Port rinsed barrel to let it finish in there for a week and put the Old Fashion in the Manhattan barrel. 

What do you folks think?


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Believe it or not I almost started a thread about Whiskey today. Great minds.
Did you read the article about the house that had whiskey thru-out the walls? Owned by a bootlegger 100 yrs before. I'll have to find it.

"Nick Drummond and Patrick Bakker were shocked to discover that hiding in the walls and floorboards of their house in the village of Ames, about three hours away from New York City, was more than 66 bottles of smuggled Prohibition-era whiskey, according to CNN." Nov 28, 2020
*Couple Finds Over 66 Bottles of Prohibition Whiskey in Home ...*
people.com › Human Interest









Couple finds more than 66 bottles of Prohibition-era whiskey hidden in the walls of their New York home | CNN


When a New York couple was told their over 100-year-old home was built by a notorious bootlegger, they passed it off as small town legend.




www.cnn.com


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

There is one other closely protected secret the position in the storage facility and the amount of time. The big boys actually move the barrels from one location to another. up and down the warehouse. 

The chemical composition of the water also affects it. I suspect what you are making will be good but it may not be Bourbon.


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## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

Colbyt said:


> The big boys actually move the barrels from one location to another. up and down the warehouse.


Yes I recall see a TV program about that. Jack Daniels or Jim Beam I don't remember. Likely localized weather conditions in big, tall warehouses.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

@ktownskier - Isn't it illegal? Or are you just mixing whiskeys?

"No matter what you may have seen on the Discovery Channel, home distilling in the United States remains very much illegal. ... It's perfectly legal to own a still, and you can even use it, as long as you're not making alcohol – so, you can make essential oils without a permit, or perfume, or distilled water." Nov 10, 2016

Why Is Distilling Whiskey At Home Illegal? - The Whiskey Wash


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## ktownskier (Aug 22, 2018)

All Bourbon is Whiskey, but not all Whiskey is Bourbon. To make Whiskey, you first need to brew Beer. Well, actually a beer like mixture. You take the grains that you are using to provide the flavor profile, called a mash bill, for the type of Whiskey that you want to make. 

The four major grains used in making Whiskey are Corn, Rye, Barley and Wheat. Other grains are used at times to add different flavor profiles unique to certain distillers. 

Jack Daniels is Whiskey, not Bourbon. Specifically, a Sour Mash Whiskey. Jim Beam makes Bourbon among other things. 

Not all barrels are moved in rickhouses, it all depends on the product. For example, all the barrels for a particular year of Knob Creek Single Barrel are stored in the same general area/floor. That way, they will all have a similar taste. Not the same as taste varies from barrel to barrel. but similar. 

Even though I am not distilling any whiskey, I am making Bourbon. In the same way that High West Whiskey and other Distillers who are not able to produce enough product does. There are several large Distillers spread around the country that produces large quantities of alcohol for small and large distilleries. One major player is MGP Ingredients. 

They supply a standard mash bill or custom ones depending on whatever the customer wants. To see a list of customers, click on this link. They also will age the product if the customer wants. They can supply higher proof product and then the customer can dilute it with their own water to bring it down to a drinkable level. 

If you see a label that stresses the water being local, there is a good chance that the base product may have come from MGP or one of their competitors. 

So, as I stated earlier, I am making Bourbon. I bought my distillate from another source. I don't have to distill it myself. The distillate is made with at least 51% corn. It was distilled below 160 proof and entered the New American Oak Charred Barrel at 105 proof, Well below the 125 proof maximum and above the 80 proof minimum. It could even be considered Bottled In Bond as it will be about 100 proof but I am not a Government bonded warehouse.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

Nik333 said:


> @ktownskier - Isn't it illegal? Or are you just mixing whiskeys?
> 
> "No matter what you may have seen on the Discovery Channel, home distilling in the United States remains very much illegal. ... It's perfectly legal to own a still, and you can even use it, as long as you're not making alcohol – so, you can make essential oils without a permit, or perfume, or distilled water." Nov 10, 2016
> 
> Why Is Distilling Whiskey At Home Illegal? - The Whiskey Wash



The OP is not distilling anything. He is using tax paid goods adding flavor and age.

You can buy charred wood strips to age and flavor the stuff in the bottle with zero loss. All 100% legal.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Colbyt said:


> The OP is not distilling anything. He is using tax paid goods adding flavor and age.
> 
> You can buy charred wood strips to age and flavor the stuff in the bottle with zero loss. All 100% legal.


Never doubt this man's ability to do the unexpected! 🤣

I just recently asked a man in the Walmart parking lot why he was buying so much sugar & he happily replied "I'm making Whiskey!"


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## ktownskier (Aug 22, 2018)

Hopefully you are talking about me @Nik333!! And if so, many thanks!!

You don't need sugar to make Whiskey. The sugar comes from the cooked grains. Now, if he were making simple syrup using in making Whiskey Cocktails, like Old Fashion's, Whiskey Sour's and so on... then you can go through a lot of sugar. 

There are the steps to making alcohol:

Choosing the grains for your final product. It should be a mix otherwise you will get a single note or very limited nose/tasting product. If you want to make Bourbon, make sure at least 51% of the product is Corn. Rye adds Zing, Wheat brings smoothness, Barley adds a good base. Other grains add complexity. You will need 10 pounds of grain for a 5 gallon (20L) barrel
One thing to keep in mind, cleanliness is key. Sterilize everything. Sanitize as you go along. Once you get to fermentation, you need to keep bad bugs out, After Fermentation, just make sure that the transfer buckets are clean as well as the filter screens. 

You need to cook your grains to bring out the sugars. It requires very high heat. It is recommended to buy a beer brewing kit as the first few steps are similar. BTW the liquid is called Wort. Not worf!
Mashing and Fermenting. You need to mash the grains, A rolling pin works great and then you put it in buckets and add brewer's yeast. Again, the beer brewer's kit helps extremely well. Depending on the yeast, you can make beer or whiskey. 
Completing the fermentation process. Taste it all the time. It should go from being very sweet to very sour. That means the yeast has converted the sugar into alcohol. 
You should also have made friends with local distillers by now, or at least not enemies by pestering them with a lot of questions. Most distillers are really cool when you ask a lot of questions. I have been invited back to the deep secret areas and have learned a lot of secrets and been shown a lot. Some have even asked if I want to come work with them. So COOL!!!
Also, if you bought a Beer making kit, it probably came with Hops, if you want to make beer instead, it will tell you when you should add them. 

Now comes the VERY DANGEROUS PART, Distilling. And, of course very illegal, unless you live in New Zeeland. Well, actually this part is not dangerous or illegal, you are just filtering your mash and putting it into a still. You have a still don't you? There are places to buy small home stills, and it is perfectly legal to buy stills. 
Now comes the illegal, distilling to make ethanol. You will need to bring the mash liquid to 80* Celsius. This is the temperature that alcohol is separated from water. 
Turning the vapor back into liquid. You know that coil of copper you see in moonshine spots in movies? That is what is turning the vapor back into liquid. It's called a condenser and in modern stills, it has cold water constantly circulating though it to quickly shock the vapor back into liquid and then into a sterile container. 
Keep your alcohol safe, and yes, you have made alcohol. The first 100ml should be tossed as it has bad ketones and it also isn't safe to drink. It probably has methanol in it. After that treat it like you would brewing coffee. What comes out first is like coffee. Rich, strong, full of flavor this is because it is pulling out all of the flavor compounds. And like coffee, the longer you go, the weaker the flavor coming from the still is. But, not the alcohol. 
Now, depending on what you to make you have a couple of options. If you want to make brown alcohol like whiskey, you will need to put it in a barrel. If you want to make clear alcohol, like vodka, you can actually distill it again, and again, and again. But, keep in mind that each time you distill it, you will lose flavor but get a cleaner alcohol flavor. Some Vodkas are distilled up to 6 times (if not more).


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## ktownskier (Aug 22, 2018)

God, I am such a geek!!


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I was just reading a Moonshiner's thread & apparently, some are not purists and want more bottles by putting in sugar and no, I won't give the link! 🙊😊

Whenever we visited relatives in Virginia, my dad would sample my uncle's FIL's White Lightning. Mr. Charlie lived a long time. His daughter is 104, now, but, I don't think she tippled.









White Lightning: What Was, What Is, What Really Isn't


Yes, TV shows like “Moonshiners” and now "Hatfields & McCoys: White Lightning" are fun and entertaining. But their relationship to the realities of illicit liquor-making is tenuous at best.




blueridgecountry.com


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