"Once the grain has been converted into starch, won't the enzymes convert the starch into alcohol?"

What enzymes are you referring to please???

Yes enzymes convert the starch into sugar but that must happen before you add the yeast. I see that you know that yeast needs the sugur to produce the alcohol.

Also, how have you determined the 8 to 10% alcohol. :)

My guess is that you need not boil the flour but simply mash it at about 160 degrees fot 90 minutes with some malt to get the conversion before you pitch. I see that i mis read and you do not actually intend to boil---SORRY

"

I found this chart online. http://homedistiller.org...pic.php?f=34&t=16799 Is this similar to what you have? What happens when you cook the grain too long and gelatinization has already occurred? Bitter taste? No taste? Mush?



What is the difference between using a malted grain and enzymes that I can buy from Brewhaus (the alpha and gluco enyzmes)?
If you use a malted grain, does the grain already contain the alpha and gluco enzymes naturally through the malting process?



Great example of the wood and wood chipper. Makes perfect visual sense!

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Thanks!"

Didn't he say he was using Whiskey Yeasy with AG?

Great stuff!!! More questions for ya!

1) Is the only purpose of a malted grain to add the necessary enzymes to the mash to convert the starch to sugar? Does a malted grain help with the overall flavor?
2) Do you need to add additional enzymes, such as alpha and gluco, to help the conversion or are the malted grains enough for the conversion?
3) Does a malted grain have the necessary enzymes to create a 'distillable' mash? (Enough ABV to extract the alcohol for a drinkable spirit?)

As far as the spirit I'm trying to create, I do not want to use a Malted Barley for my malt. Everyone seems to use this. I am trying to think outside the box and that is why I am asking all these questions. So, I'm thinking about malting my own grain from something different from what is the 'norm.' Maybe a malted sorghum, millet, rice... I don't know yet. I've been investigating different ways to malt grains because I can't find a malt like these.

As far as my recipe, I'll be honest in that I don't have a specific recipe. Originally, I was thinking an all sorghum grain, but might need another source to help modify the overall flavor. What would you recommend as a source of malt?

a) rice
b) millet
c) quinoa
d) buckwheat
e) something else?

Scotty, thanks for your help! I will post pictures of my original recipe once I find a good one!

-the cletus

As Scotty pointed out, a good recipe should have this all worked out. If you're coming up with your own grain bill, you'll have to do a little bit of math to determine your average diastatic power (DP). I haven't come across any "standard" average DP, but I've found several recommendations that it should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 - 50 degrees Lintner (°L). [COLOR="#FF0000"]Maybe some of our experienced AG members can comment on this??[/COLOR]

You can think of the DP as the enzymatic power of a malt. A malt with a DP around 35 °L can convert itself. So you'll need at least another 35 °L per pound of unmalted grain in your grain bill. The 40 - 50 °L mentioned above accounts for the "fudge factor."

So figure out how much unmalted grain you want to use (say, 10 pounds), and the malt you want to use (say American 2 Row Pale Malt:
DP: 140 °L). Now you can figure out how much malt you need in your grain bill. Assume that you want an average DP that's in at the top of the recommended range (50 °L).

Unmalted grain: 10 lbs x 50 = 500
Malted grain: 500/(140 - 50) = 5.5 lbs

So if you use about 5.5 lbs of 2 Row Pale Malt (DP 140 °L) and 10 pounds of unmalted grain, you'll end up with an average DP of around 50 °L.

I'm not sure if I understand the question either. Are you asking if the malt has the different types of enzymes needed to covert the starches to glucose? That is, the enzymes that would behave the same as a powdered alpha and gluco?

--JB

Wow. Scientific stuff here going on. Great stuff! I am going to look up the "diastatic power" of the grains I would like to use and then post after I do some math. Thanks for the help!

As far as the other question.... just ignore that. I was confused at the moment, but now I realize that it was a dumb question.

"I want to add my .02$ on this issue. When you use a DME(dry malt extract) in beer making its mostly for the added sugar which of course boosts the alcohol. You CAN use it for the taste but there's not much there unless you kinda overdose the wash in it. Now with a LME (liquid malt extract) that also boost the sugar but really adds the flavor component of the malt it's made from. You could use the term --base malt for flavor-- because it does that too.
I read that someone wanted to make a likker wash with LME and that would indeed work but you still have to add sugar to boost the etoh and prolly still need to use some added enzymes and nutrients for the best results. Although the malts extracts have enzymes, the DME just by the nature of construction have been denatured and are pretty minimal in effect. You can most certainly use both in a wash but I think you will still need the extra enzymes and nut's for healthy yeast. Again ----just my .02$."