getTing started:
Before jumping in and getting started brewing you have to know what kind of spirit you want to make. Theirs a varying amounts of different types of alcohol that can be made using a variety of fruits and grains. Whiskey is made with a variety of grains and is composed of corn, rye, and wheat. Vodka is based on using starch from potatoes and Rum uses sugar cane as its base material. For beginners, it’s better to start with something that doesn’t cost much to make. This is so any mistakes that are made during the process are fixable and it’s easy to make another batch. For this site, I want to focus on the three spirits previously mentioned and how they are made. Before starting to brew, a clean environment is required to work in. This reduces the risk of the spirit getting contaminated with unwanted bacteria that could mess up the fermentation process later.
Once You decide on the liquor you want to make, then a Mash might have to be made. This depends on what source of sugars are being used. If a type of carbohydrates like potatoes or wheat is going to be used to make vodka or whiskey then a mash is made before starting the fermentation process.
We will first discuss making a "mash" to be fermented. The mash is made also has to be in a clean environment. A regular saucepan can complete this because making the mash is fairly simple for Whisky, Vodka or Rum. I will go into further detail about how to make the mash for each of the three liquors.
Making the Mash
For making any mash we are going to require a stove pot, wheat/potatoes for sugar source, some malted barley, and either spring water or distilled water. The reasons behind needing the spring water and malted barley are because the spring water helps maintain a clean environment. The malted barley is going to be used to help assist in breaking up the carbohydrates from the grain or potatoes into more simple sugar molecules for the fermentation process. Starting a general mash you can heat distilled water to about 160 F. Once heated add in the starch to the water. Time for cooking depends on what you want from your spirit. You can cook it from about 1.5 hours to however long you want. Be aware if you cook the mash long enough it can end up becoming a thicker starchy mixture. After the allocated amount of time has passed for cooking the grain we can remove the heat and let it cool slightly before adding the malted barley. Don’t let it cool too much otherwise, the liquid will thicken slightly depending on the amount of time it was on the stove. We also want the liquid to start and make a gel. Gel present will show us that carbohydrates have been extracted from the wheat or potatoes and are ready to be converted into simple sugars. Adding the malted barley will convert the carbohydrates in the solution into simpler sugar molecules that the yeast can convert into alcohol. Now the mash is completed yeast can be added and the fermentation process can start.
Mash for Whiskey
There are a variety of methods to making a mash for whiskey and since it’s very diverse in taste and grains it’s almost impossible to list every variation of mash. Since corn is relatively cheap and available I want to focus on a corn mash for whiskey. For making corn mash its recommend to heat 8.5 distilled water to about 160 F, once heated up turn off the heat and add about 6.5 pounds of corn to the water and stir the solution for about 2-3 minutes. The solution will start to thicken into a gel, this indicates that the corn is being degraded and releasing its starches into the solution the malted barley is added for the enzymes in the barley that convert the carbohydrates from corn into simple sugars for fermentation.
Mash for Vodka
Vodka mash is widely known to use potatoes as a base. The same process is implemented by using potatoes instead of corn. The potatoes are placed in hot water for about an hour or more to extract the carbohydrates from the potatoes. Malted barley is going to be used just like for whiskey.
Mash for Rum
Rum mash is different from the mash for whiskey and vodka. Unlike whiskey and vodka malted barley isn’t used due to the absence of carbohydrates in the mash mixture. The main ingredients for the mash are raw sugar cane, distilled water, and un-sulfured molasses. Water is heated up to about 120 F. Sugar is added steadily along with molasses, while making sure that the mixture of sugar and molasses doesn’t burn.
Starting Without a Mash
For those who don't wish to go through making a mash, they can take a shortcut. A mash isn't needed if simple sugars are already present in the solution. This is recommended if you want to make liquor from a fruit juice that already contains a high concentration of simple sugar molecules like grape juice or apple juice. This method avoids the need to make a mash. Malted barley can still be added if you want to attempt and convert more of the complex sugars present into simple sugars. Another method is to use already fermented wine. With using a wine you don't have to go through making mash or fermentation. In my opinion, if you wanted to skip straight to distillation then this is a good option.