logo                   
Welcome Guest! To enable all features please Login or Register.

Notification

Icon
Error

Login


Options
Go to last post Go to first unread
Offline longrifle  
#1 Posted : Friday, October 01, 2010 5:30:50 AM(UTC)
longrifle


Rank: Newbie

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 10/1/2010(UTC)
Posts: 2

"Hello -
I'm just getting started and am having a difficult time finding information, hoping some here might help.

Let me explain that I am only interested in making absolutely authentic, traditional pure corn whiskey from malted grain. I want to make whiskey the way it was made in the mountains in the 18th century. This is not about quantity of output or strength or anything, it's an anthropological quest so to speak on my part. I intend to get a very traditional copper pot still and a worm and do things as authentically as possible.

I'm having a hard time finding where to start here. Most people and books lean toward making sugar whisky or using reflux stills or malt extract, etc., none of which I'm going to use. I just want corn, water, and a copper pot, and take it from there.

Is there a source of info that will start me off at ground zero? I want to make runs in the 2-3 gallon range, so I'm thinking a 5 gallon still might be a good size? I know most of the work will be malting and grinding. I can't take the malted grain to the grist mill, so what mill do you recommend I use at home for this level of output?

Many thanks for any assistance."
Offline mtnwalker2  
#2 Posted : Friday, October 01, 2010 5:58:42 AM(UTC)
mtnwalker2


Rank: Senior Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 10/22/2005(UTC)
Posts: 817

"
Originally Posted by: longrifle Go to Quoted Post
Hello -
I'm just getting started and am having a difficult time finding information, hoping some here might help.

Let me explain that I am only interested in making absolutely authentic, traditional pure corn whiskey from malted grain. I want to make whiskey the way it was made in the mountains in the 18th century. This is not about quantity of output or strength or anything, it's an anthropological quest so to speak on my part. I intend to get a very traditional copper pot still and a worm and do things as authentically as possible.

I'm having a hard time finding where to start here. Most people and books lean toward making sugar whisky or using reflux stills or malt extract, etc., none of which I'm going to use. I just want corn, water, and a copper pot, and take it from there.

Is there a source of info that will start me off at ground zero? I want to make runs in the 2-3 gallon range, so I'm thinking a 5 gallon still might be a good size? I know most of the work will be malting and grinding. I can't take the malted grain to the grist mill, so what mill do you recommend I use at home for this level of output?

Many thanks for any assistance.



Hello and welcome. My suggestion is get yourself a copy of ""More Mountain Spirits"" by Joseph Earl Dabney. He spent years interviewing the old timers and their recipes and methods. Very well written with lots of photos.

If you are truly dedicated to doing it the old way, start to finish, I would read that book and maybe another one or 2 of his before you decide on a still. IMO, you are not going to be able to downsize the mash and then the ferment to that small a scale. A lot to do with the cap and the working off with an all natural run useing wild yeasts and such. He explains dozens of types of stills that were in use, plus how they would crack their grain as they couldn't go to the mill house even more so than us. It is legal to make corn beer now. You will enjoy that book immensly."
Offline longrifle  
#3 Posted : Friday, October 01, 2010 6:17:15 AM(UTC)
longrifle


Rank: Newbie

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 10/1/2010(UTC)
Posts: 2

OK - awesome info. Thanks. I'll get that book. So I may be looking at a 20 gallon still? Hopefully not larger? I ain't that thirsty! RollEyes
Offline mtnwalker2  
#4 Posted : Friday, October 01, 2010 6:49:24 AM(UTC)
mtnwalker2


Rank: Senior Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 10/22/2005(UTC)
Posts: 817

"
Originally Posted by: longrifle Go to Quoted Post
OK - awesome info. Thanks. I'll get that book. So I may be looking at a 20 gallon still? Hopefully not larger? I ain't that thirsty! RollEyes


As you will find in that book, its not so much the size if the still as it is the mash and ferment, capturing enough wild yeasts and the cap which forms etc.

You can't use an airlock and such doing it the old way.

Also, you are taliking about a massive amount of work for each ferment. Basically the same amount for a small batch as for a bigger one. 5 gal. of pure corn malt whiskey isn't going to give you much to drink. And consider that you just may want to complete the process and age some for many months. YOu would be talking a lot of runs the old way to have enough for even a sip or w every so often. Plus if it turns out really good, you might want to share a sip with others.

Best corn whiskey of all, which was never sold, only home use, was placing tubs at the bottom of corn silos to capture the drippings as the silage fermented. It was left till the silage was fed down, then collected and distilled.

He also points out that corn was not the only distillate produced in the mountains. Many brandies, split brandies from all the berries and fruits, apples, pears, peaches and such were distilled and brought a lot higher price."
Offline Arch  
#5 Posted : Saturday, October 02, 2010 1:04:53 AM(UTC)
Arch


Rank: Newbie

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/30/2010(UTC)
Posts: 6

I am also new to this distilling and one of the reasons I got into this hobby was to do some real corn whiskey. I have spent years away from my home state (upstate NY) that grows lots of corn. I was disapointed to see now, new methods of handling corn silage. Not many farms use silos anymore. I am searching however for one that still does and that will work with me to do the tub in the bottom of the silo. I have talked with a few "modern" farmers and they smile and say how much silage juice do you need (unfermented) - apparently there is a problem getting rid of it - potential pollution problem. I have ten gallons of this unfermented juce coming in to check out - I expect it to be not something practical I can use - it can't be the same as the squeezins from the bottom of a silo.
Offline mtnwalker2  
#6 Posted : Saturday, October 02, 2010 2:21:55 AM(UTC)
mtnwalker2


Rank: Senior Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 10/22/2005(UTC)
Posts: 817

"
Originally Posted by: Arch Go to Quoted Post
I am also new to this distilling and one of the reasons I got into this hobby was to do some real corn whiskey. I have spent years away from my home state (upstate NY) that grows lots of corn. I was disapointed to see now, new methods of handling corn silage. Not many farms use silos anymore. I am searching however for one that still does and that will work with me to do the tub in the bottom of the silo. I have talked with a few ""modern"" farmers and they smile and say how much silage juice do you need (unfermented) - apparently there is a problem getting rid of it - potential pollution problem. I have ten gallons of this unfermented juce coming in to check out - I expect it to be not something practical I can use - it can't be the same as the squeezins from the bottom of a silo.


Hi Arch, Thats an interesting trial. I used to make silage myself the more modern way, though i did have 2 silos. Good silage smells like a corn dessert. It is anaerobic. Where air can contact it it sours more like a kraut. When you get it, it will already be working. I would immediatly add cambden or meta and airlock it over night or perhaps boil it to pasteurize it. Then pitch a proper yeast. If its already sour when you get it, well you'll have corn vinegar.
Please let us know how it goes."
Offline Arkansashillbilly  
#7 Posted : Saturday, October 02, 2010 3:42:50 PM(UTC)
Arkansashillbilly


Rank: Newbie

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 10/2/2010(UTC)
Posts: 2

Check out the Foxfire book(#1) for info on stills and the old way of doing corn whisky. Also, check out coppermoonshinestills.com for really pretty copper moonshine stills.
Offline wendellbaker  
#8 Posted : Thursday, September 15, 2011 7:54:45 AM(UTC)
wendellbaker


Rank: Newbie

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/9/2011(UTC)
Posts: 8

"
Originally Posted by: Arkansashillbilly Go to Quoted Post
Check out the Foxfire book(#1) for info on stills and the old way of doing corn whisky. Also, check out coppermoonshinestills.com for really pretty copper moonshine stills.


Good Afternoon,

I have been scrolling through forums and books relentlessly lately. I just moved and am looking for a job, I was up until 2:30 last night reading ""The Compleat Distiller"" and have been trying not to ask questions without searching the posts. Of course, as I do that, I answer 5 other questions I have and find 10 more that need answers!

I just followed your link to coppermoonshinestills.com Very impressive. At the bottom of the page is an $85 piece called a parrot that monitors the product as it comes out. It looks like the alcoholmeter and hydrometer glass testing tube sold for $15 or so on brewhaus.com.

Has anyone ever worked with one of these before? It looks a lot like the kind used by industrial distilleries (see Alcohol Library, Archives, Videos, Seagrams Distillery's 4 part video marketing schwag, it's very brief, but it's in there).

I guess my question is twofold.

1. Worth fabricating?
2. Why would the input side have 2 ""male pieces""? My guess is so there can be airflow sort of like poking 2 holes in a can so the juice flows out faster and without the chug chug of one hole...

And may I say at this point what a pleasure it's been to have been reading all of this over the past month. I have felt kind of voyeuristic but I'm looking forward to a long relationship here.

-Wendell"
Offline LWTCS  
#9 Posted : Saturday, September 17, 2011 11:54:54 AM(UTC)
LWTCS


Rank: Senior Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/10/2009(UTC)
Posts: 519

"1. great tool yes indeed
2. yes you have it mostly,,,,,,, its a vent to minimize any hydrolic affect on the instrument.


Here is mine."
LWTCS attached the following image(s):
Parrot%201.JPG (20kb) downloaded 0 time(s).

You cannot view/download attachments. Try to login or register.
Offline LWTCS  
#10 Posted : Saturday, September 17, 2011 12:07:29 PM(UTC)
LWTCS


Rank: Senior Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/10/2009(UTC)
Posts: 519

"Dog gone it
here??"
LWTCS attached the following image(s):
Copy%20of%20Parrot%201.JPG (16kb) downloaded 0 time(s).

You cannot view/download attachments. Try to login or register.
Users browsing this topic
Guest
Forum Jump  
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.