Distilling The Ultimate Beginners Bourbon (Safety Net)

0:00 are you keen to make bourbon at home you're

0:03 in luck because i have a fantastic recipe and the best

0:07 part is it's pretty much fail safe how's it

0:14 going chases i hope you're having a kick-ass week

0:17 i'm jesse this is still it and i am

0:20 guessing that there is a bunch of you that are

0:23 wanting to make your own bourbon at home and maybe

0:25 you've tried it before and it didn't work out quite

0:27 the way you wanted it to maybe you've done

0:29 the sugar in essence thing and that wasn't quite what

0:31 you were expecting or hoping for perhaps the idea

0:35 of getting stuck into a all-grain mash is just a little

0:39 bit it's a little bit daunting to you i

0:41 get it trust me we're all new at some point

0:44 in time and this hobby has a insane learning curve

0:48 i think this is the best recipe i've ever made

0:50 it's going to dip your toes in the water of all grain it's going to give you all

0:54 of those benefits but you don't have to stress about

0:56 it because we've got the safety net of sugar i get

0:59 it i know sugar is a compromise but in this case

1:01 i think it's worth it and we're going

1:02 to combat all the downsides as best we can let's

1:05 talk about equipment real quick uh and spoiler alert it's

1:08 not that scary for this stuff the point

1:10 of this recipe is to be easy for new people

1:13 to the hobby so you're going to need a brew

1:14 in a bag bag this is what happens when you don't

1:20 clean it don't be like me clean your sack

1:24 all right uh you're gonna need a pot a large

1:27 pot if you have a stock pot or something similar

1:28 that is perfect uh if you don't have a dirty

1:31 grape big pot then uh multiple pots or you

1:35 can batch things that's not gonna be a problem something

1:37 to heat said pot width you're going to need something

1:42 ideally to measure abv or proof this is a refractometer

1:47 specifically used for testing abv or proof you can

1:50 of course use an alcometer like the hydrometer kind

1:53 of jobbies uh either is good and to be honest

1:57 you don't absolutely need one you're also going to need

2:00 a still this needs a clean but it's also

2:03 the still spirits boiler with the still spirits copper alembic dome

2:08 any still that is roughly this size with a large

2:12 mouth at the top that can operate in a pot

2:14 still configuration will work and lastly you're going to need

2:18 a fermenter i'm using a dirty great big 120

2:22 liter fermenter you don't necessarily need one that big

2:25 you can just use 20 liter buckets if you want

2:27 to but you're going to need enough space for 80

2:31 liters of liquid with a decent amount of head

2:34 space on each of those there's going to be more

2:37 experienced brewers and distillers watching this saying why don't you

2:40 just use a insert piece of equipment here completely agree

2:44 if you have the means to do that and the experience

2:46 to use it definitely just remember the point

2:50 of this recipe is to draw people into the world

2:52 of all grain uh it's a bit of a compromise i get that but the point is to just

2:57 get people started with a pretty solid result i gotta

3:00 say anyway uh the next thing is to start talking

3:03 about the mash so let's talk mash ingredients first

3:05 of all corn we're going to be using good old

3:08 fashion cracked corn it's bourbon bourbon there has to be

3:12 corn in it okay simple enough you could of course

3:16 use torified flaked any of the cooked corn varieties malted

3:21 corn and that would allow you to skip the boiling

3:25 the corn stage if you want to do so

3:28 go right ahead but i'm using 4.7 kilos of cracked

3:32 corn by the way freedom units will be popping

3:34 up all over the place as i talk in metric

3:36 we do of course need enzymes to convert the starch

3:39 into sugar so 3.25 kilograms of distillers mold 2.75

3:46 for the mash and we're reserving a little bit

3:49 for uh you'll see next up wheat a bunch of bourbons

3:55 have wheat in it it's not something crazy or different

3:58 it's a standard bourbon ingredient but for this one

4:02 i would suggest using a cooked wheat so taurified wheat

4:05 flaked wheat flaked wheat any of the wheats that have

4:08 already been gelatinized for you i'm using 500 grams

4:11 or half a kilo of this stuff but remember we're

4:14 going to be using sugar and technically that's well

4:19 it's just straight up not good in terms of flavor

4:21 at the end it's a compromise so we want

4:24 to crowber in as much flavor and complexity as we can

4:28 from the beginning enter shepard's delight this stuff provides

4:35 a really amazing rich caramely flavor that bleeds over into like

4:41 dark fruit pruning kind of things almost which is very

4:44 very similar in my mind to some of the flavors

4:47 that you'll pick up in a really well aged

4:49 bourbon so we're going to use half a kilo 500

4:52 grams of this stuff and lastly grams of light

4:57 chocolate malt this stuff's gonna give funnily enough like milk

5:00 chocolate kind of vibes chocolate milky kind of vibes

5:03 and some more kind of grungy flavors as well heading

5:06 towards coffee a touch of burnt toast but mixed

5:09 with all the other sweetness we've put in here that's going

5:11 to come across kind of like sweet chocolatey espresso which

5:15 once again is flavours that i appreciate in a well-maturated

5:19 bourbon hey do you want some uh trippy astronaut

5:25 art no all right this this what about wax

5:30 stuff you into doing wax stuff what about literally

5:33 a jar full of distilling easter eggs super comfy hoodies

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5:57 10 off our first order of business is to deal

6:00 to our corn so grab your dirty grape big pot

6:03 half fill it with water and get it boiling then

6:06 we're going to keep adding in corn nice and slowly

6:09 add a little bit of corn give it a stir but only fill it up to about a little

6:14 bit over two thirds full that's important guys we're going

6:17 to keep needing to add stuff to this so

6:19 don't overfill your pots and once again if you've got

6:22 corn left over that's fine use a second pot

6:25 or do this in batches now do you remember that half

6:28 kilo of distillers malt that we put aside we're about

6:31 to use it now so sprinkle a couple of handfuls

6:34 over the pot and give it a good stirring

6:36 the enzymes in the distillers malt are going to help

6:39 stop this turning into just a thick gooey porridge

6:42 the enzymes in that malt are going to denature really

6:46 quickly at the temperatures we're cooking at so don't add

6:49 it in all at once add a couple of handfuls

6:51 every now and again throughout the next 45 minutes

6:54 just to keep it thin keep stirring over medium heat

6:57 until it gets up to a gentle simmer and this is

7:00 going to be a game of adding a little

7:02 bit more distillers every now and again adding a little

7:04 bit more water every now and again to stop

7:06 it from getting too scarily thick we want that corn

7:10 to simmer for about 45 minutes now about part

7:13 way through that 45 minutes grab a quick break

7:15 from stirring get your distillation pot and fill it

7:19 with five liters of water we want that boiling when

7:22 the corn is finished once the corn simmered for 45

7:26 minutes and the water in the pot is boiling

7:28 kill the power to the pot pop your brew in a bag bag into the pot and secure it

7:32 around the top so it doesn't fall in and add all

7:35 of the corn mixture into the brew in a bag

7:38 bag you're going to want a total volume of water

7:41 and corn mixture in this pot to reach 20 liters

7:45 that's going to be kind of important in a little

7:47 bit pro tip if you haven't done it already

7:50 it's not a horrible idea to measure out certain amounts

7:52 of liquid into it this kind of still and then

7:55 scratch on the inside with a nail or something

7:58 or a little engraving tool to to have measurement units

8:02 on the side of your pot i need to jump in real quick and say a huge thank you

8:05 to the patreons thank you team for supporting the channel

8:09 day in and day out and everyone else say

8:11 thank you to the patreons too because you guys were

8:14 the ones that uh kept asking for this video so

8:16 here we are if you're enjoying these videos and you find

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8:21 on patreon if you'd like to if you don't like

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8:26 a think about becoming a channel member right here on youtube

8:28 all right let's get back to it once

8:30 the corn and the water have been combined they're going

8:32 to be sitting at roughly like 85 to 95 degrees

8:36 celsius and we're going to let it sit and chill

8:38 for a half hour or three to get down

8:41 to 69 degrees celsius 69 degrees celsius is the temperature

8:45 where we want to start adding all of the rest

8:47 of the grain in on top so add a little

8:49 bit in give it a good stirring add a little

8:52 bit more give it another good stirring we don't

8:54 want to put too much in it any one time

8:56 and let it sit for too long because it will

8:58 get stuck together and things aren't going to be

9:00 as efficient once all the grains have been mashed in check

9:04 the temperature and we're hoping for a temperature of 65

9:08 to 66 degrees celsius now this recipe was specifically

9:12 designed to leave a bit of headroom in the top of our pot so if it is too hot

9:18 if it's above 60 like if it's at 67 degrees

9:20 celsius put a little bit of cold water in if

9:23 it's below put some boiling water in don't stress

9:26 about it too much guys it's not the be-all end-all

9:29 and please please add a little bit of water give

9:31 it a good stirring and check don't go just dumping

9:34 a bunch of water in there because you might

9:35 overshoot now it's time to insulate the pot up really

9:38 well and forget about it for an hour and a half

9:41 if you want to for bonus points you can pop the top at about 45 minutes give it

9:46 a really good steering and close it all back up

9:48 again the upside is that it kind of agitates everything

9:51 and just helps with efficiency in terms of making sure

9:53 that the enzymes get in contact with everything everywhere

9:56 the downside is it's going to let out a whole

9:58 lot of heat really really quickly so that's up

10:00 to you honestly uh i'd take it or leave it either

10:02 way remember at the beginning i called this bourbon

10:06 not bourbon that's because we're adding some stuff in here

10:10 that regardless of where you make this stuff you can't

10:13 technically call it bourbon white table sugar that's our safety

10:18 net so regardless of what happens with the mash

10:22 this thing's going to ferment now you could if you

10:25 want experiment with substituting out table sugar for brown sugar

10:30 it's entirely up to you if you want to try

10:32 it but we're going to need 5.8 kilograms clean

10:35 out the pot that you used for the corn add

10:38 in five liters of water get it to a boil add the sugar in stir it until it is

10:42 all dissolved and add in a teaspoon or two

10:46 of whatever acid you like really citric tartaric lemon juice

10:51 they'll all work and we're going to boil this for 45

10:54 minutes bonus points if you want to boil it

10:57 for even a little bit longer and start getting

10:59 just a little bit of color on that sugar next

11:01 up honey and i am substituting sugar for honey because

11:05 once again we're trying to crowbar in complexity and flavor

11:09 from the beginning so i'm using a local wild

11:12 honey that has some really cool dark kind of funky

11:17 flavors for honey it's got like lots of dark fruit

11:19 in it and it has dark caramel kind of flavors

11:23 once again flavors that i like to find sometimes

11:27 not all the time but sometimes in a really well

11:29 maturated bourbon once you're finished simmering the sugar kill

11:33 the heat and add in 250 grams of honey until

11:37 it's dissolved and all of that mixture can go

11:40 into the fermenter anyway now it's time to get back

11:42 to our mash once it's sat there for an hour

11:44 and a half it's time to strain the grain

11:47 from the liquid and i find the easiest way

11:49 to do this is to sling a rope over something

11:51 nice and tough above you and just use that to hoist

11:54 the grain bag up don't however hoist it all

11:58 the way out of the pot yet you'll make

12:00 a giant mess trust me ask me how i know instead

12:04 let it drain for about 15 minutes before it goes

12:07 above the top of the pot and then lift it

12:10 up quickly in one fluid motion up well above

12:12 so it can sit above the pot and drip down

12:15 into the pot once it's dripped out for a little

12:17 bit you can squeeze the bag if you want or you can twist the bag to help squeeze

12:21 it all of those squeezings or drippings whatever you want

12:24 to call it is going over into our fermenter as well

12:27 now you don't have to do this but once again

12:30 bonus points if you want to we can sparge

12:34 those grains obviously we're doing this in a really weird

12:37 way for people that know all grain brewing but here

12:40 we go that bag goes back into the pot you

12:42 were using or back into a different bucket top

12:44 it up with some hot water ideally at about 75

12:47 degrees celsius let it sit and steep for a little

12:49 while agitate it move it around stir it and then

12:52 do the same process again hoist the bag let

12:54 it drip squeeze it put that stuff into the fermenter

12:57 i did this twice and i think it was well

13:00 worth it well worth doing it twice after that you're

13:03 going to get really diminishing returns once again it's

13:07 not 100 necessary if you don't want to do it

13:09 now it's time to top our fermenter up to somewhere

13:12 between 80 and 90 liters in total that volume

13:17 is somewhat flexible but what you're really aiming

13:20 for at this point is 25 degrees celsius that's the temperature

13:23 we want for our yeast once you've got to that point

13:27 if you have the equipment take a gravity reading

13:29 with a hydrometer or a refractometer a rough ballpark

13:32 figure here is you want to be somewhere between 1.055

13:36 and 1.070 i don't personally think you're going to need

13:41 to add any yeast nutrient into this the grain is

13:43 taking care of that ourselves but what we do

13:45 obviously need is yeast now this is up to you

13:48 you can use whatever yeast you like i am

13:51 going to use m1 by angel because i think it

13:54 adds some really cool esters up front in a young

13:57 whiskey i enjoy that i like it but i

14:00 get that using certain kind of yeasts you know some

14:03 places you can't get them um buying other yeasts can

14:06 get really expensive especially on larger ferments like this i

14:09 understand so if you want to use baker's yeast

14:11 by all means go ahead and do so just understand

14:13 that it will it really does make a difference it's

14:16 not bad it's just going to be different in any

14:19 case you're going to need roughly 40 grams of yeast

14:21 pitch that on in there if you can keep

14:24 the temperature at a constant 25 degrees celsius and let

14:28 it do its thing my ferment fermented out completely

14:31 dry don't stress out if yours if it finishes

14:33 at 1.005 or something like that it's it's not

14:37 an issue at all don't worry about it mine took five

14:40 days to ferment and then i left it for another

14:42 three days i would suggest doing that if you

14:44 can it really can add some extra flavor now

14:47 this recipe was specifically designed with the t500 in mind when

14:51 it comes to volume so it'll fit three pretty

14:54 much perfect stripping runs into the t500 what that means

14:57 is you fill the pot up with roughly 20 liters

14:59 you can probably squeeze a little bit more in there

15:01 if you want to and you distill it in pot

15:04 mode we're not worrying about cuts we're not worrying

15:06 about taking four shots none of that will deal

15:08 with that later run plenty of water through the condenser

15:11 at the beginning after about 15 minutes you can drop

15:14 that back down a little bit to sort of a trickle

15:16 ideally you want the spirit to be coming out

15:19 the spout at about 20 degrees celsius and the water

15:23 coming out of the condenser to be quite warm

15:26 run all the way until the spirit coming off

15:29 the end of the spout drops down to about 10

15:31 percent collect all of that stuff that's called low wines

15:35 then empty is still out fill it back up

15:38 again from the fermenters and rinse and repeat you're going

15:41 to do this three times in total the stuff

15:43 that you've collected from those distillations is generally called low wines

15:48 clean the pot out put it back into the pot

15:51 and start distillation again now we're doing the spirit run

15:54 if you can at this stage i would highly recommend

15:58 dropping the power going into the still i ran mine

16:01 at around about 60 power for this if you're not able to do so and you just have

16:06 to run it at full noise that's fine don't worry

16:08 about it it's still going to work but i would

16:10 suggest getting the ability to control power is probably

16:14 the first upgrade you want to look at in any

16:17 case 60 power i like to distill with four

16:20 or five glasses i call this rolling cuts and it just

16:22 gives you the ability to go back in time basically

16:26 and not be pressured to make cuts on the spot

16:29 whole different topic there's a video in the description

16:31 down below if you want to check it out

16:32 the first order of business is to take our four

16:35 shots now you're going to want to take around about

16:37 100 mils of this stuff we're not going to use

16:38 it we're not going to reuse it chuck it out

16:41 or use it as fire later that's what i

16:43 do next up we're going to collect the heads

16:45 and this is where things start to get a little

16:48 bit artsy and the reason being is that your process

16:51 and your ferment is going to be slightly different

16:53 to mine so we are probably going to end up

16:55 with different optimal cut points i'm going to give you

16:59 some pointers though so first of all i would collect around

17:03 about 400 mils off the still and then once

17:06 you get to that mark start tasting what's coming off

17:09 the still if you're not used to tasting at high

17:12 abv be very very careful with this because you can

17:14 blow your palate out instantly you won't be able

17:17 to taste anything for hours proof it down to 40

17:19 before you taste it what you're looking for is

17:21 the spirit to start subtly changing it's going to start losing

17:25 that fake floral like cleaning product uh often like

17:31 really weird fake apple all of those sort of aromas

17:34 are gonna start disappearing it's gonna stop feeling so

17:37 volatile in your mouth and it's gonna be less prickly

17:39 on the side of your tongue when that starts

17:41 to happen it's a pretty good indication that you're starting

17:43 to head into hearts but like i said i am

17:46 going to give you some numbers as guidelines definitely get

17:49 to 400 mils don't take less than that i

17:51 ended up cutting from heads to hearts at 650 mils

17:55 that is not a magic number it's not a magic

17:57 bullet by any means necessary that's actually slightly less heads

18:01 than i thought i was going to take

18:02 but on that run i just it just seemed to be right

18:06 if you want to when you know you're into hearts

18:09 you can switch over to a larger vessel if you

18:10 want so you're not juggling the smaller jars if

18:12 you've only run the still a few times it's not

18:15 a horrible idea just to have a butt load

18:17 of jars laid out so you can just keep collecting

18:20 and sort of sampling and not be rushing it's time

18:22 to kick back and let the still do its thing

18:24 at this point in time i will often bump

18:27 the power up just a little bit and move from kind

18:29 of a drip drip drip up to a drip

18:31 drip spurt if that makes sense and at this point

18:34 in time i do actually use the thermometer

18:36 on the top of the still not to alter things not

18:39 to change how it's running nothing like that i use

18:42 it simply to give me an indication of when i

18:45 should start looking for tails to show up so

18:47 as soon as i hit 90 degrees celsius i know it's

18:49 time for me to be on my game especially

18:51 with a run like this because we're hoping to age

18:54 this a lot faster if you want to age

18:56 this for two or three years then maybe you want

18:58 to go a little deeper into the tails but i'm

19:01 going to cut this pretty clean once again there's

19:03 no magic bullet here the best way to do it

19:05 is with your senses unless you're making exactly the same

19:08 thing over and over and over again then you

19:10 can distill by the numbers but for tails there's going

19:13 to be a very subtle but definite change between fun

19:18 flavors and nasty flavors the more grungy grainy stuff is

19:23 cool that smell of like when you open up

19:25 a bag of corn and stick your head in and smell

19:27 it that's nice i think in a whiskey the darker

19:30 chocolates and coffees and stuff like that can shop

19:32 near the tails as well but they're actually very

19:35 close when you think about it to flavors like wet

19:38 cardboard or maybe even like stinky wet dog in the car

19:41 on the way home you don't want that stuff

19:44 so make sure you're on your game and watching

19:47 things at this time of the run once again

19:50 this isn't a magic bullet i decided to cut

19:52 at 56 abv coming off the spout you can if you

19:56 want keep running the still all the way down

19:58 to about 10 coming off the spout and collect all

20:00 of those tails combine them with the heads that we

20:02 had before called them faints and save them up

20:06 to use for your next run not necessary and it's

20:10 not going to affect this product at all it's just

20:12 going to potentially make stuff in the future a little

20:14 bit better and give you a little bit more product

20:17 in the future outside the scope of this video

20:19 but if you want to save it to learn about

20:20 it in the future there's an option now it's time

20:24 to proof your hearts down to maturation abv or maturation

20:28 proof i am personally going to do this at 55

20:32 abv or 110 proof if you want to follow

20:35 along exactly i would suggest you do the same

20:37 if you like a little bit more spice and pepper

20:40 in your whiskey you could go a little bit

20:41 higher maybe 60 120 proof if you like a really

20:46 smooth mellow easy bourbon maybe you want to go down

20:50 closer to 50 abv or 100 proof if you're making

20:55 bourbon then you don't really have a choice you're going

20:57 to use virgin american white oak i strongly strongly suggest

21:04 that you use seasoned oak six months out on the elements

21:08 at least ideally 18 months or more this stuff

21:11 that i've got has actually been seasoned for four

21:13 years and i would suggest toasting this in your oven

21:17 at 320 degrees fahrenheit or 160 degrees celsius for 45

21:23 minutes and then putting a light char on it once

21:27 again if you really like the sweeter side of things

21:29 maybe toast and char a little bit lighter if

21:32 you really like the more grungy spicy out there almondies

21:35 sort of almost accurate flavors in bourbon toast and char

21:38 a little bit heavier that's up to you that's

21:41 up to you but if you're just not sure follow

21:42 along with the recipe it's going to do you

21:44 great i know people use all sorts of other products

21:47 for this these are the things that i found the absolute

21:50 best results with much better than chips or the spirals

21:53 or anything like that it just does a really

21:55 really good job if you're wanting to age this really

21:58 quickly i would suggest using probably one of these staves

22:01 per liter maybe two liters of whiskey you can

22:04 split these sort of things really easy with an axe

22:06 or something like that it's not going to be

22:07 a problem if you're wanting to age for three

22:10 to six months i'd suggest one of these for two

22:13 to three liters of whiskey or if you're wanting

22:16 to age it for a decent amount of time one

22:18 of these for like five to six liters of whiskey

22:21 now i am kind of in the mood to experiment

22:24 with this and see what happens when you age

22:26 it for a decent amount of time even though i

22:29 made it specifically for you guys to age relatively quickly

22:31 so i've put this into a bad mode barrel thank

22:35 you thank you very much badmo barrels for sending me

22:38 this i absolutely freaking love these things i i'm gonna

22:42 do a video on these soon but the general

22:44 breakdown is that with a barrel like this it's really

22:47 hard to age it for ages because the the ratio

22:50 of wood to liquid is so high that you just have to get it out of the barrel

22:54 relatively quickly this because it's wood on the front metal

22:58 around the outsides it's kind of the best of both

23:00 worlds it's actually a barrel there's actually breathing action going

23:03 on through the wood but you can you can age

23:06 it for a long ass time so that's my plan

23:09 but in addition to that i also have this here

23:12 which i'm going to age a lot faster i'm

23:14 going to age aim for three months for this one

23:18 and i did a wii sample where i uh held

23:22 it at 66 degrees celsius with a piece of the exact

23:25 wood treated in the exact way that i'm suggesting

23:27 you guys do it and i have a couple of samples here to taste so this sample is

23:34 at 43 abv and this one is at 55 still

23:39 so let me taste this the first thing i know

23:43 right off the bat is corn slightly caramelly and chocolatey

23:49 but with dark fruits like kind of plums prunes

23:54 dates maybe a little bit of fig and almost none

23:58 of that piercing cutting like sugar bowliness because it's all

24:03 covered up with those sweet flavors that you don't normally

24:07 get in a sugar head i'll be real with you

24:11 at 55 percent it's still a bit brash which

24:15 is why i proofed this down to 43 and i've let it sit for a couple of hours just

24:21 to mellow out as well you lose the nose that's

24:25 just what happens with lower proof whiskies it's not

24:28 as uh in your face and bold in terms of flavors

24:32 but now the full flavor palette is coming out

24:36 a little bit better because it's not so jaggy i

24:39 gotta tell you i think i nailed the specialty malts

24:41 and the honey in this you can get little pieces

24:44 of them and they contribute aged barrel-like flavors

24:48 to the whiskey but you kind of can't tell that it's

24:52 honey in here does that make sense i don't know

24:55 anyway i really hope you guys try this one i

24:58 think it's one of my best recipes i've ever

24:59 made if you do try it make sure to come

25:01 back and drop a comment here and let me know

25:03 how you did so if you've enjoyed this video guys

25:05 please please please do all the youtubey things and help

25:07 me out like comment share subscribe so on and so

25:10 forth but more important than all of that i'll see

25:13 you next time keep on chasing the craft see ya