Help with starting a whiskey

[Joeluka]

For my Birthday I recieved a glass distiller from the Wine Enthusiast. I can distill wine and beer it says to make Brandy, Eau de Vin, Grappa and Whiskey.
I need to make bourbon, so is there a way I can put togeter a mashbill and ferment it here at my home????? If anybody can help with this, hit me with the know-how.

Also can somebody help me with a small barrel to age this stuff in?????


Joe

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bourbonv]

A glass still - very interesting. To make good whiskey you want to put some copper in the process somewhere along the line. Copper wool in the still might work. The copper helps take the sulfer out of the whiskey, preventing a "Skunk" smell on the nose.

Mike Veach

[Strayed]

A couple pieces of 3/4" copper tubing (elbows would be best) would work better. I'd be afraid the "copper" wool used for scub pads might have other stuff in them to aid in cleaning. And you can clean and re-use the plumbing parts -- which could be a real factor if that still is really small. Some of those grappa stills are designed to produce product almost by the glass, like the expresso things. Since your bourbon will need to be aged you'll need to make several gallons, and the still will need to be cleaned each run.

By the way, you DON'T have to age ALL of it for bourbon; new make white dog is really REALLY good just the way is!!

[kbuzbee]

But none of these answer the origional question. How do you get the mash??? As an additional thought.... Could you use regular beer??? I know it wouldn't be Bourbon but it might be very good. Maybe a Hefeweizen would make something akin to Bernheim??

I've seen those glass things too and wondered the same thing.


Ken

[bourbonv]

How about a mash bill of 60% white corn meal, 15% rye meal, and 25% barley malt meal. Make your own yeast and put a little hops in the yeast dona. Let it ferment for 5 to 7 days. Do not char your barrel too heavily since you are using such a small barrel otherwise you will get a lot of color quick but you will also get a lot of bitter wood smoke. I would say simply blacken the staves but try to toast them before charring. Store the barrel in a place that will get the extremes of heat and cold and be sure to go out and rotate it at least once a week.

Mike Veach

[kbuzbee]

This brings up another question....

Isn't it illegal to distill your own alcohol??? I know you can brew your own beer and ferment your own wine (up to a certain quantity) but for some reason I just have it in my head that Uncle Sam doesn't want home distilling in any quantity. True??

Ken

[Bourbon Joe]

True.
Joe

[Joeluka]

It was the WineEnthusiast.com website that sold the distiller so I would hope so.


Joe

[MikeK]

Me thinks the reason that distilling is illegal without a license is (1) because the govt can't collect its taxes, and (2) because you create some nasty chemicals at the head and tail of the process and if you don't know what you are doing you could poison yourself.

But I could be wrong.

Mike