Making Single Malt at Home / A Video Guide

[stephenkentucky]

Here is a link to a video I have made to demystify the processes involved in making all grain whiskey at home... This is the first time I have attempted anything quite like this...It is done without any assistance..so you may find some mistakes...but I do try to be accurate....When I started making all grain whiskey I looked for guidance, while I found a lot of information on distilling at an industrial level...there was little about all grain at an amateur level...that is now changing as more people adopt all grain, I hope that this video helps to promote all grain as a viable alternative to HBS/turbo types who want to expand their horizons.
I would appreciate positive input to improve future videos....This is the first episode of two... this episode covers brewing the wash and fermentation...the next episode is on the two distillations and ageing.

http://youtu.be/xptvVFoZ_pE

Regards
Stephen

[YHB]

involved in making all grain whiskey at home.

This is a great video, a tremendous set-up - and puts my one and only 5 gallon fermenter in the shade.

Looking forward to Episode 2!!!!

[Almanac]

Brilliant SK, just brilliant, and a very smooth, professional production.

Like YHB I can't wait for Episode 2

AM

[stephenkentucky]

Thank you for the encouragement guys.

[alan]

excellent video
alan

[Capt-Cudellez]

Very good video, and the production quality is excellent.

Round these parts we pronounce Islay not as is-lay but eye-la, I'm sure you have some tricky ones round your way too

Do you do 2 cubes for a wash, and (sorry if I missed it) how long do you mash for?

CC - from the land where the peat is free

[stephenkentucky]

Hi Captain I do apologise for my clumsy pronunciation I do hope no one is offended...my bad!.... Thank you to you and the others for the kind encouragement...
To answer your questions I do 2 cubes for a brew...I then do a quick and dirty stripping run and halve my wash so that the contents of 4 cubes of beer after strip and rack of grub. Are reduced to a 50 liters of low wines for the spirit run.
The mash schedule is as follows
50 degree mash in 10 minutes
63 degree starch conversion 90 minutes
78 degree mash out hold 10 minutes
boil 15 minutes rolling boil
cube
I hope this helps if you have any other questions or need clarification..just ask.

[Almanac]

Sorry SK, I'm a bit thick when it comes to AG but I'm trying to learn in a way that will stay in my leaky head .

50 degree mash in 10 minutes - this is to extract the starches from the grains - yes?
63 degree starch conversion 90 minutes - this is where the enzymes convert all the starches (hopefully) to fermentable sugars - yes?
78 degree mash out hold 10 minutes - this one has me muggled!
boil 15 minutes rolling boil - this is to pasteurise the wort - yes?

Your video and posts contain soooo much essential and clear information that you have re-enthused me about AG following a recent failure. In this case your moving picture was worth a thousand words.

Something else I picked up from your video was that some of us here, me in particular, have been guilty, in the past, of trying to find a way to get a gallon of Whiskey from a gallon of sugar wash and I'm now re-examining my brewing/distilling setup with a view to re-organising to cater for high volume/lower ABV brews than I've been used to.

I'm not seeking to make the perfect Single Malt but I have come to realise that making better spirits will ultimately be based on my ability to manage good AG brewing to create the spirits I want to make.

Thanks again and I'm still looking forward to the next installment.

AM

[stephenkentucky]

Aidanmac the mash schedule owes a lot to my brewing experience...where brewing beer relies on often stepped complex mashing schedules...I see no reason to make whiskey
washes any more complex than necessary ...with whisky the main temperature consideration is that we encourage Beta Amylase conversion of the starch to sugar. Amylase is an enzyme that catalyses the conversion of starch. That is why I concentrate the vast bulk of the mash in the temperature range of 63 - 65 degrees for 90 minutes...this is the optimum temp for Beta Amylase to do its magic. The mash in is less important to conversion and the boil is not at all necessary ...it is a way of pasteurising the wort enabling me to store wort till I can do large volume ferments and stripping runs...I do think it is a good technique ( search the Home brew sites and forums for "no Chill") To be honest you could achieve most of what I achieve by placing a cheesecloth bag of grain into a large cooler of water heated to 68 degrees Celsius...leave for 2hours then rinse the bag with 80 degree water...The thing is great whiskey can be made with incredibly simple equipment...imagination will find answers to most distilling problems.
If I can help in any way...I am happy to

[Almanac]

Got it! Thanks for that.

I'm already making some changes to my equipment setup to allow me make better beer for storing and later stripping.

AM

[Admiral Toad]

Stephen

Just got back from hols (5 distilleries visited ) and watched episode one

Well done brilliant effort

But malt whisky poured over ice..... its sacrilege man !!!

[Capt-Cudellez]

But malt whisky poured over ice..... its sacrilege man !!!

Hey! Each to their own, no ice is certainly the way we do it in Scotland but Australia is located 3/4 of a mile form the surface of the sun, I bet it doesn't stay cold for long

We also like to deep fry everything, and have a penchant for intravenous drugs and stabbing each other, so not all our cultural traits are adventitious.

That's not even mentioning the skirt wearing.......

[stephenkentucky]

Captain...LOL you are a wag sir.... I have no problem with a whiskey over ice ...even water added does not bother...soft drinks are where I believe we totally lose the plot...but hey each to their own... I use Ice though mostly for the photographic effect. In the context of the videos...it just looks better...so sorry if i offend.... as for the skirt wearing...well!

[Admiral Toad]

None taken. anyway what would a Geordie know about whisky we are just Scotsmen with our brains kicked in

Mind a wee drip of water goes down well but only a wee drop

[stephenkentucky]

agreed