The Practical Distiller by Samuel McHarry (best book recommendations TXT) 📕

put it into a hogshead, then stir half a bushel corn into it, let it stand uncovered thirty minutes, then add sixteen gallons boiling water, stir it well, cover it close for fifteen minutes, then put in your rye and malt and stir it until there be no lumps, then cover it and stir it at intervals until your still boils, then add, eight, twelve, or sixteen gallons boiling water, or such quantity as you find from experience, to answer best—(but with most water, twelve gallons will be found to answer) stirring it well every fifteen minutes until you perceive it is scalded enough, then uncover and stir it effectually until you cool off; keeping in mind always that the more effectually you stir it, the more whiskey will be yielded. This method I have found to answer best, however, I have known it to do very well, by soaking the corn in the first place, with two gallons warm, and two gallons cold water, instead of the four gallons of cold water, mentioned above—others put in the rye, when all the boiling water is in the hogshead, but I never found it to answer a good purpose, nor indeed did I ever find much profit in distilling rye and corn in this proportion. ART. IV.

To distill one half Rye and one half Corn.

This method of distilling equal quantities of rye and corn, is more in practice, and is much better than to distill unequal proportions, for reason you can scald your corn and rye to a certainty, and the produce is equal if not more, and better whiskey, than all rye. The indian corn is cheaper, and the seed is better than if all rye. I would recommend this, as the smallest quantity of corn to be mixed with rye for distillation, as being most productive, and profitable. The following receipt I have found to answer all waters—yet there may be places where the distiller cannot follow this receipt exactly, owing to hard or soft water, (as it is generally termed) or hard flint or soft floury corn, that will either scald too much or too little—but this the attentive distiller will soon determine by experience.

Have your hogshead perfectly sweet, put into each, three gallons of cold and three of boiling water, or more or less of each, as you find will answer best—then stir in your corn—fill up your boiler, bring it briskly to a boil—then put to each hogshead twelve gallons boiling water, giving each hogshead one hundred stirs, with your mashing stick, then cover close, fill up your boiler and keep a good fire under her, to produce a speedy boil; before you add the last water, put into each hogshead one pint of salt, and a shovel full of hot coals and ashes from under your still, stir the salt and coals well, to mix it with your corn, the coal will remove any bad smell which may be in the hogshead—Should you find on trial, that rye don't scald enough, by putting it in after your last water, you may in that case put in your rye before the last water—but this should be ascertained from several experiments. I have found it to answer best to put in the rye after all the water is in the hogshead, especially if you always bring the still briskly to a boil—then on your corn put twelve or sixteen gallons boiling water, (for the last water,) then if you have not already mashed in your rye, put it in with one gallon good malt to each hogshead, carefully stirring it immediately very briskly, for fear of the water loosing its heat, and until the lumps are all broken, which you will discover by looking at your mashing stick; lumps generally stick to it. When done stirring, cover the hogshead close for half an hour, then stir it to ascertain whether your grain be sufficiently scalded, and when nearly scalded enough, uncover and stir steady until you have it cool enough to stop scalding; when you see it is scalded enough, and by stirring that the scalding is stopped, uncover your hogsheads, and stir them effectually, every fifteen minutes, until they are fit to cool off—remembering that sweet good yeast, clean sweet hogsheads, with this mode of mashing carefully, will produce you a good turn out of your grain. The quantity of corn and rye is generally two stroked half bushels of each, and one gallon malt.

ART. V. To Mash one third Rye and two thirds Corn.

This I deem the most profitable mashing that a distiller can work, and if he can get completely in the way of working corn and rye in this proportion, he will find it the easiest process of mashing. That corn has as much and as good whiskey as rye or any other grain, cannot be disputed, and the slop or pot ale is much superior to that of any other grain, for feeding or fattening either horned cattle or hogs—one gallon of corn pot ale being esteemed worth three of rye, and cattle will always eat it better—and moreover, corn is always from one to two shillings per bushel cheaper than rye, and in many places much plentier—so that by adopting this method and performing it well, the distiller will find at the close of the year, it has advantages over all other processes and mixtures of rye and corn, yielding more profit, and sustaining the flock better. Hogs fatted on this pot ale, will be found decidedly better than any fatted on the slops of any other kind of mashing.

Mash as follows.

Have sweet hogsheads, good yeast and clean water in your boiler; when the water is sharp, warm, or half boiling, put into every hogshead you mean to mash at the same time, six, eight or as many gallons of the half boiling water, as will completely wet one bushel corn meal—add then one bushel chopped corn, stir it with your mashing stick till your corn is all wet; it is better to put in a less quantity of water first, and so add as you may find necessary, until completely wet (be careful in all mashings, that your mashing stick be clean), this is called soaking the corn. Then fill up your boiler, bring her quickly to a boil, when effectually boiling, put into every hogshead, twelve gallons boiling water, stirring it well after putting in each bucket, until the lumps are quite broken—cover the hogsheads close, after a complete stirring—fill up your boiler, bring her quickly to boil for the last mashing—stir the corn in the hogshead every fifteen minutes, till your last water is boiling—put into each hogshead one pint salt, and a shovel full of red hot coals, stirring it well—then put in each hogshead sixteen gallons of boiling water, stir it well—cover it close for twenty-five minutes—then put into each hogshead one half bushel rye meal, and one gallon good chopped malt, stirring it until the lumps are all broken, then cover it close, stir it every half hour, until you perceive it sufficiently scalded—then uncover it and stir it as often as your other business will permit, until ready to cool off.

In this and every other mashing you must use sweet vessels only and good yeast, or your labor will be in vain; and in all kinds of mashing you cannot stir too much.

ART. VI. To Mash Corn.

This is an unprofitable and unproductive mode of mashing, but there may be some times when the distiller is out of rye, on account of the mill being stopped, bad roads, bad weather, or some other cause; and to avoid the necessity of feeding raw grain to the hogs or cattle, (presuming every distillery to be depended on for supplying a stock of some kind, and often as a great reliance for a large stock of cattle and hogs,) in cold weather I have found it answer very well, but in warm weather it will not do. Those who may be compelled then from the above causes, or led to it by fancy, may try the following method. To one hogshead, put twelve gallons boiling water, and one and an half bushels corn, stir it well, then when your water boils, add twelve gallons more, (boiling hot,) stir it well, and cover it close, until the still boils the third time, then put in each hogshead, one quart of salt, and sixteen gallons boiling water, stir it effectually, cover it close until you perceive it nearly scalded enough, then put in two, or three gallons cold water, (as you will find to answer best,) and two gallons malt, or more if it can be spared—stir it well, then cover it for half an hour, then uncover and stir it well, until cold enough to cool off.

ART. VII. To make four gallons from the bushel.

This is a method of mashing that I much approve of, and recommend to all whiskey distillers to try it—it is easy in process, and is very little more trouble than the common method, and may be done in every way of mashing, as well with corn or rye, as also a mixture of each, for eight months in the year; and for the other four is worth the trouble of following. I do not mean to say that the quantity of four gallons can be made at an average, in every distillery, with every sort of grain, and water, or during every vicissitude of weather, and by every distiller, but this far I will venture to say, that a still house that is kept in complete order, with good water, grain well chopped, good malt, hops, and above all good yeast; together with an apt, careful and industrious distiller, cannot fail to produce at an average for eight months in the year, three and three quarter gallons from the bushel at a moderate calculation. I have known it sometimes produce four and an half gallons to the bushel, for two or three days, and sometimes for as many weeks, when perhaps, the third or fourth day, or week, it would scarcely yield three gallons; a change we must account for, in a change of weather, the water or the neglect or ignorance of the distiller. For instance, we know that four gallons of whiskey is in the bushel of rye or corn—certain, that this quantity has been made from the bushel; then why not always? Because, is the answer, there is something wrong, sour yeast or hogsheads, neglect of duty in the distiller, change of grain, or change of weather—then of course it is the duty of the distiller to guard against all these causes as near as he can. The following method, if it does not produce in every distillery the quantity above mentioned, will certainly produce more whiskey from the bushel, than any other mode I have ever known pursued.

Mash your grain in the method that you find will yield you most whiskey—the day before you intend mashing, have a clean hogshead set in a convenient part of the distillery; when your singling still is run off, take the head off and fill her up with clean water, let her stand half an hour, to let the thick part settle to the bottom, which it will do when settled, dip out with a gallon or pail, and fill the clean hogshead half full, let the hogshead stand until it cools a little, so that when you fill it up with cool water, it will be about milk-warm, then yeast it off with the yeast for making 4 gallons to the bushel, then