The Melaniff Family Cookbook

Corn Liquor

Age on charred white oak to create Bourbon, replace corn with pumpernickel to create Rye, reuse still remains to create Sour Mash. Filter with charcoal before aging to create a Tennessee Whisky

Distill

Siphon the beer out of the carboy with a racking cane into a stainless steel keg, do not disturb the sediment on the bottom of the carboy. Add any Heads or Tails from previous distills.

Leave enough room in the keg so that it wont foam over into the column. Maximum 10 gallons beer in a 15.5 gallon keg.

Assemble the still being sure that the water flow on the condenser travels up the condenser.

Light the burner.

When the column starts to heat up, turn on the water to the condenser.

When the beer reaches 174ºF liquor will come out of the condenser.

Adjust the burner and the water flow so that it is running at 2 to 3 drops per second.

If the condenser is ‘huffing’, reduce the water flow.

Ingredients

5 gallons water

18 oz Kellogg’s corn flakes (crushed)

8 Lbs sugar

1/2 C Red Star dry active yeast

Making Cuts

Distillate will come out in 4 stages. Foreshots, Heads, Hearts, and Tails.

The Hearts are what you drink. Discard the Foreshots, but save the Heads and Tails.

If the still runs to fast the cuts will smear making it impossible to tell the difference in the stages.

Foreshots: Always discard the first cup of distillate, this contains methanol and must be discarded.

Heads are next. It will have a very sweet strong taste with a very high proof.

Then will come the Hearts of the run. This is very clean and what is drank.

Tails at the end will have a wet cardboard smell and be a lower proof.

Process

Collect in clean 16 oz glass jars. Number each jar as it comes out of the still.

With a hydrometer, measure the percentage of alcohol of each.

Example of number your jars.

1  2  3 4  5  6  7  8  9  10

The red would indicate Heads, the blue would be Hearts, and the orange is Tails.

Let distill “air out” for 24 hours. leaving off the lid and covered with a coffee filter.

After airing out, the Hearts may be drank clear.

Keep the heads and tails. Put them in a jar together. Add this to the next run.

Make the Beer

In a large pot, combine 1 gallon of water, sugar, and corn flakes. Boil for 30 minutes.

Let cool until 80ºF and stir in yeast, let rise 5 minutes

Pour mixture into a clean 5 gallon glass carboy, add 3 gallons of warm water, stir, seal with an air lock.

Ferment until the airlock has stopped bubbling and the corn has settled. Allow several days to clear.

Do not remove the air lock, this can sit in a cool place for several weeks until ready to distill.

Bourbon

Mix the Hearts together. Add distilled water to knock down to 60% ABV (120 proof) if needed.

Fill 1/4 of a 32 oz canning jar with Jack Daniel's Whiskey Barrel Smoking Chips.

Fill 3/4 of the jar with liquor and let sit in an area with temperature variations for at least one month.

Fill the jar with distilled water to knock down to 40% ABV (80 proof)

Filter out chips.

Bourbon aged over two years is referred to as ‘Straight Bourbon’

 On www.melaniff.com since 2014

Sour Mash

After the distill is completed, from what remains in the still, set aside 2 gallons.

Store in an air tight glass container.

Use this as replacement for water when making the beer.

Tennessee Whiskey

Requires the Lincoln County Process where the corn liquor is filtered through, or steeped in, sugar maple charcoal before aging on charred white oak.

Rye

Replace Corn Flakes with 500 grams of preservative free Pumpernickel Bread, cut into small cubes.

Boil Water and Sugar until cleared, and then add Bread and boil 5 minutes

Crush a multi-vitamin and add to the carboy with the yeast.

Follow Bourbon steps to age.