Corn Cob Bourbon

[Bob9863]

This is a simple mash I make based on an old corn cob beer recipe.

I use 2 35lt fermenters, so it's based on this volume per fermenter.
You need,
5kg corn on the cob
500gm coopers light dry malt
6kg sugar
Whiskey yeast (can use Bakers yeast or a vegetable wine yeast like CL29)

Optional
1tsp of Diamonim phosphate

The recipe is pretty simple boil your corn on the cob until cooked, remove the cobs and cut the corn off with a knife (just roughly)
Add it all back into the pot and boil for 30min.
Add to the fermenter, add a little water until it gets under 70° and then stir in the malt.

start heating water for the sugar, stir it in along with a DAP (if you have it) let it get to just under 70° just add some water, if you took the water off the boil then added the suger it should have dropped fairly close anyway.
Then add to the fermenter.

You can just add it all in at once as everything is pretty much there just for flavour, but I think doing it this way makes it better.
Now you can add your yeast as per instructions on the packet, or start some Bakers yeast off and then add.

This originally was made with just the corn cobs and no corn, sugar and some horehound with Bakers yeast in many a farm house. Horehound and whiskey don't really go together so much so I switched it for the light malt.

I let mine age for 6 months at least in some big 5lt jars with a few chared oak pieces. The corn cob adds a very distinctive taste that ages really well but is just a bit to strong in the beginning.
It takes about a month of aging to tame the corn cob flavour but it settles brown really well and provides a backbone to this particular whiskeys flavour.

[The Stig]

What do you do with the cob ? Leave while or smash them up ?
Cheers

[Bob9863]

Leave them whole, you can or rather are supposed to use only the cob when you make the beer.
You could snash it but I've never felt the need to.

[bluc]

Have you done it with and without cob? Does the cob add much volume to finished spirit?
Is the flavour it adds green grassy type flavour?

Look interesting I will have to give it a go :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Bob9863]

I make a similar one using ground corn, rye and light malt.
Very different and yet very similar flavours, the rye adds its flavour to one but the corn cob tastes like a less spicy rye but still bold.
It's definitely a bold earthy kind of taste, initially overpowering but after aging it settles down very nicely.
I'm not sure I'd call it grassy so much as a bamboo shoot flavour maybe, or even I'd say more of an oat flavour if you have even eaten a green oat.

It's a nice easy bourbon style to make that let's you use sugar but not loose any flavour.
I might even try one with some rye in it sometime.

[chipboy]

Add angel yeast and convert that starch into sugars, keeps the corn flavour too, just sipping my corn moonshine made in a similar fashion. Best of all worlds

[The Stig]

Apparently the cob does have a lot of starch in it that could be converted

[bluc]

I have only seen mention of using the cob maybe 3 times. Would wonder why go to trouble of shelling it when cob is useable also. Maybe i will do a side by side :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Bob9863]

Apparently the cob does have a lot of starch in it that could be converted

It also contains pectin, so I throw in some Pectinases too in mine, but it's not needed although I think it draws out some extra flavour.

[bluc]

Bold and earthy is how some describe malted corn sounds interesting. I would throw grassy in with malt though :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[RC Al]

Had crossed my mind while shopping the other day if you could use whole corn, didn't get to googling it lols.
Well i ant going to fit a whole corn cob in my grinder :think:

Going to be labour intensive to do an AG without some sort of industrial blender.

I wonder how much flavour is in a cob before it gets boiled with the kernels?

[Bob9863]

You could just cut the cob up into thin slices, I didn't but I'm thinking I might next time around.
Any corn is secondary to the cob, it's the flavour of the cob that you want.

If you got really serious about it then a small garden mulcher would be awesome at it. But I only do one run a year of various things, next year I might change things up a bit but I will definitely be making a big 90lt batch this one again.
Although I kind of want to try it with rye too.

[The Stig]

Yea , Mark and Digger used a 2 stroke garden mulched to smash the cobs a few Season back

[Bob9863]

I've got to catch up on the last 3 seasons, but I guess it would work then with a little electric one.
But hacking them up with a meat clever still works for me, you don't need it too fine, just boil it really well.

Do you know what episode that was I might look it up for any ideas, although I'm never really impressed by how they make their mash. I prefer watching Still It on YouTube for ideas.
Or the old traditional ideas they used to make back home, I'd love to make a batch of damson plum brandy or stewing pear brandy, but I just can't find any of those fruit trees any more.
You only find them on old farms.

[The Stig]

Sorry no idea what ep it was