Thanks Guys (I think - There are some good female distillers out there)

I used to really enjoy what I used to think was a good bourbon on the rock (ice). Now I question my sanity at such a thought. This is such a mistery (good thing) to me. Got started in this on a whim. Thinking it was a good hobby to start. Keeps the mind occupied, etc. But now, I wonder why I didn't get started into distilling a long time ago. I started brewing beer probably 30 years ago because I thought it was much better than what you could buy back then. Actually enjoying a Hop Devil clone right now. I have been telling friends, discretly about my distilling excursions. I will have to get some of them over and do a side by side taste test. They don't believe me that it is better by far then what you buy. I have trouble believing it myself. But its true.

BTW, placed an order today at Brewhaus for A and G amylase and some other stuff. Its good to know that the Alpha from Brewhaus converts at about 140-150 because this is near where normal 2 or 6 row barley converts. Do you know a target temp for the gluco?

I started a corn/wheat/barley mash last night. Let it cool overnight and aerated this morning. I read a discussion where someone tried 3 different yeasts side-by-side including a bread yeast, and got pretty good results from the bread yeast. Haven't been able to find some distillers AG yeast, (Brewhaus is out of stock) so I pitched some Red Star bread yeast this morning. The stuff looks really happy after about 12 hours and about an inch and a half of foam on the fermentor. If it turns out good, I got a good idea on what I will be using in the future. Normally, I use all hard water at about 45 grain of hardness. This time I used all soft water. Never stop experimenting. We'll see how this experiment turns out.

I was hoping to get my OG a little higher. I will probably only get about 7% ABV at the end of the ferment. Don't worry, be happy. If you don't have sipping whiskey avail, have a homebrew.

"

BA-100: 55 - 75 C (131 - 167 F), pH 4.5 - 7.0 (Alpha-amylase)
GA-100: 55 - 60 C (131 - 140 F), pH 2.8 - 5.5 (glucoamylase)

You can push the temps a bit. The alpha will need some Ca++, but keep it below 100 ppm. When using BA-100, I just shoot for 70 ppm Ca++ and call it a day. I never tried to apply both at the same time by getting the mash into the overlap ranges.

--JB"