Can Wheat & Barley Make A Awesome Vodka?

[@planetmoonshine6223]

Hey Jesse, my thoughts on the astringent notes are that your brains were all with husk, which is normal for lower temp mashes. Your grains were exposed to very high temps for a long long time. Astringency comes from barley husks exposed to high temps for too long. PS. I am a professional brewer so this is scientific fact not opinion.

[@TheNnooop]

Is there any evidence it comes across in the vapour though?

[@planetmoonshine6223]

@@TheNnooop according to Jesse, yes. He mentioned it and didn't know where it was coming from, which is why I commented.

[@dukiemoto8676]

I don’t distill, brew or for that matter drink all that often. That said, I never miss an episode👍

[@HahaDamn]

Yeah same, I just find it very interesting as a process

[@kevin_ninja_jones2363]

Yes me to but I wish I could because the process is interesting and sounds fun but also relaxing

[@TheParanoidWaffel]

Honestly thats pretty cool. Always admire a clean individual

[@TheParanoidWaffel]

@@kevin_ninja_jones2363 It is very relaxing, especially if you enjoy science and have the time to spare. Best enjoyed with music or maybe more episodes of Still It in my opinion lol

[@peterolsen9131]

the hobby cured my alcholism strangely and ironically enough, having litres of the stuff from raw whitedog to various liqures and bailies irish cream lying around the house [ basically a full bar stocked to throw a fairly good 21st or wedding reception at any given moment, most of the time you are like " nah, dont feel like a drink.." dont drink at all these days , but enjoy gifting my friends with social lubricant upon my visits

[@AndreiKucharavy]

To get things clear. That's how quality vodka is supposed to be made - and the best one also throws in some rye into the fermentation mix. Once distilled, it also is supposed to smell like fresh (rye) bread when spread between hands.

[@fionafiona1146]

I wasn't really aware "Korn" counted as vodka, when I first bought anything

[@marvinharms1891]

Hi Andrie! I've seen vids or from TV, can't remember, people rubbing their hands with liquor and smelling it. It's obvious by doing that, the volatile stuff or other....🤔... stuff, would be identified. Am I near right😬?

[@AndreiKucharavy]

Hi Marvin! My understanding is that you use the neutral smell of your skin to absorbe the aromatic oils and ethers from the spirit, while evaporating the alcohol proper by rubbing it. It removes the alcohol smell and puts forwards flavors that would normally remain hidden.

[@BeardedBored]

Awesome vid brother! Been wondering about all grain vodka for a while. Thanks for digging into this one🙂

[@Smeltervillain420]

Hey thx for doing what y’all do man, most of my history on here is yer stuff, Jesse’s, n Geo’s..!!!! Trifecta I swear it lol !!!!

[@MereCashmere]

I’d love to see some “series” from you. Trying to make the best Vodka you can in three recipes or so would be a fun few videos.

[@monto313]

Much respect for your fortitude of using stills relatable to most of us. You could have easily used the Genio and not had to have strained the mash but you didn’t.

[@h0mestill]

The flavor you mentioned in the end is a result of using plates vs packing to hit your vodka ABV. Remember, plates act like little thumpers as it collects and pools the impurities/flavor left behind, infusing the new vapor coming in, eventually letting a little pass on to the product. Packing micro-refluxes (comparatively speaking) which creates a more flavorless vapor. Neither are wrong, only correct to what you are trying to achieve.

[@Rubberduck-tx2bh]

Hey Jesse, an interesting comparison would be to test out the Yellow Label Angel Yeast vs enzymes. Also, wonder how rice vodka would compare... Cheers!

[@jaimeluiscantu]

The astringency its from the husk of the barley. On one hand form the temperature, if it hits above 76C th mash extract astringency and also with by pressing the grains to extract the wort.

[@MJIIRYU81]

Today I made the best drink I ever made ..thanks to you jessie..learn so much from you

[@PoppaLongroach]

Me and friend made beer out of malted barley while back. I used the leftover barley and malted corn to make a mash out of. Sugars and starch was already gone from the barley so I added sugar to get to 1.055 and was a really good vodka style taste. Good stuff Jesse

[@Qraze69]

I just ran rum yesterday, used only molasses and dady yeast. I got 2 and a half gallons at 86 proof/43 percent

[@grahambate3384]

How many wash did U have

[@rldays9179]

Your camera is loving that box on the shelf behind you and I pretty much missed everything you said watching the focus going in and out. But no worries I am a newbie and it all went over my head anyway. I do my sugar washes and thats about it until I learn to do my corn mash. Next on the list 80% corn 8% rye and 12% Barley. Guess what that makes.

[@sstem2169]

I really enjoyed this one, and would love to see you explore what adding a packed column would do! Is that a 3" or 4" still that you are running? Were all the plates bubble caps, or were there any perforated plates involved? I'd sure like to see what might come out of a still set up to produce a CLEAN alcohol with a hint of taste. It would also be interesting to see what flavor profiles different types of plates might throw. Hope you'll consider trying it sometime!

[@jaygodfrey788]

I'm sure it will be great thx Jesse

[@RobnKath]

I make a potato vodka that’s that smooth it makes your mixers and liqueurs taste smother and sweeter. 2.5kg barley 11.5kg potato’s 2x lemons 35L water 20g yeast ec1118 Wash and cut potato’s into 1” cubes bring it to the boil and until potato’s are soft use a masher or paint mixer to mash them up then cover them up and allow to cool to 65C add milled barley and let it rest for a couple of hours then add to fermenting barrel bump the abv up to 1080 with table sugar if needed and add lemons then add yeast once temp has dropped below 30C let it ferment out and and distill I use a jacketed boiler but I did used to use a brew bag to strain before distilling it’ll make the best vodka you have ever tasted.

[@theblobfish9614]

Btw enzymes wont stop working below the given temp on your packaging, those are just the optimal ranges, they will keep on working at room temp

[@cody9315]

new to brewing and distilling and i love the videos m8. Ive learned alot from u alone

[@cheekysaver]

When making beer step mash is a way to get the most out of your enzymes. It is relatively easy to do. Cutting the heat and giving rests at certain temps. I am nowhere near a pro… so maybe that won’t work because the barley was not malted. 🤷‍♀️

[@bryanwilbur7876]

Hey Jessy great vid. I love them all How much water in this one, container size ect. Will work ?

[@Cerevisi]

Very nice stuff Jesse! I took a distillery tour in Seattle WA about 8 years ago and had a fantastic single malted 2-row vodka from Sound Spirits, it was buttery and smooth, with a great full roundness in mouthfeel. Skip ahead and Covid took them out of the game, lame (I guess switching to making hand sanitizer didn't save them). Then while in Scotland I visited Holyrood distillery and sure enough they are selling "newmake" spirits which is essentially malted barley (while the rest is kegged in oak for aging) and they print the grains and starting gravity/yeast strains used and ferment schedule on the bottle, LOVE IT! So now I'm doing the same for my vodkas from my local maltster (Skagit Valley Malting), I'm sure it's going to be great, I have 10 gallons (38 liters) fermenting away right now, can't wait to process it!

[@michellewilt4479]

Love that experiment. Looks awesome

[@matthewrees7594]

Thank you, super enjoyed this video!

[@johnfox2709]

I made a potato vodka several years ago that was delicious - did it in a 1.5" column packed with copper scrubbies and ran it through carbon afterwards. Downside was sitting at the kitchen stove stirring two five gallon pots of mashed potatoes for an hour (this was before I learned about HTA). Had an atrocious yield (about 750 mL of 90 proof), but it was quite tasty...but I'd never do that again

[@dack4545]

Hey Jessie ,love the videos 📹 have a small tip for you maybe, a wash in the Still is like Soup in a pot if you want a lot of flavour run it on a slow boil, if you want less flavour run it faster because steam takes flavour away not Alcohol steam water steam ,Linus Tech Alco tip of the week 👍🎅🇦🇺

[@dopstjom701]

Interesting. Always thought the opposite. Still a novice distiller so will give it a try.

[@BESHYSBEES]

@@dopstjom701 the slower distillation gives more time for the vapours to reflux and purify, giving better flavour because less volatile substances like fusel oil is carried over past the point of no return, however the column height, dephlegmator and 8 bubble plates in this setup should negate any need to slow boil.

[@jamesramey3549]

I am really enjoying your content. Also the amount of videos you are putting out. I am jealous, I am in a spot right now where I can't distill. Hopefully soon I can start back up again.

[@russtycogg324]

Yes! Old school with the advantages of experience. Great job, Jesse. Thx. :)

[@norme2681]

Several years ago a company called Bong Vodka in Florida mainly to distribute a bottle that could be made into a bong. Surprising the vodka was really good, and I suspect this was made with wheat/corn mix cause it was extremely smooth had a slightly sweet finish. I wish the contents of my bottle lasted longer cause I haven't found any since. This was at 40% alc but I would have loved to try a 50%alc version. I still have the bottle but no holes are drilled into it, lol.

[@yurydelorenzis-polezhaev2036]

Eventually in our area (Russia) the best vodka is concerned wheat vodka, without barley, anyway good video, cheers)

[@johnbritcher8561]

Could you please send me ypur recipe for Russian vodka that you make I would really lije to try making some Many Thanks John

[@yurydelorenzis-polezhaev2036]

@@johnbritcher8561 Basically you can replace barley with wheat and use the recioe Jesse has provided, but maybe this could help also: - spirit should be not distilled but rectified (column or plates still ) - you can add some sugar and or citric acid in the deluted spirit (a little bit to improve the drinking qualities) - sometimes the deluted spirit is passed through charcoal filter before spirit run) The point is to use the most neutral grains to avoid powerful aroma & taste => wheat is just fine, because barley has its own , as I'd say not-vodka-profile, but tastes differ you know))

[@natebunn9664]

Hey man! Recently started watching your videos and really enjoy them. I was wondering if potato chip vodka would be an interesting meme spirit? You'd have to decide on what type of potato chip (classic, kettle, pringle, muncho, puffed)... but thought it might be cool to consider trying :) Thanks for all the great content!

[@adammitchell3462]

Also jesse, I definitely agree on the point that ppl get way to crazy about precise measurements of recipes and even ingredients.

[@theironduke9214]

Hi Jesse I've done similar experiments but used a packed column instead of plates. In the mashes where I had added sugar I got the taste you described, so I've put it down to that. I might be wrong, but I don't believe in coincidence Really enjoying the vids.

[@luiscastaneda5481]

Might be nice to look into a fruit press throw your mash through a grain bag and squeeze the bag in the fruit press.

[@barmyarmy935]

Perhaps try half of the Vodka and run it through Carbon filtration, taste this and see if the astringent flavour has been removed, try blending the two together as you would with doing cuts to achieve an acceptable flavour profile..? Great video Jesse.. The Barmy Army

[@tectonicbrewing4168]

Great video Jessie, I have always wondered: doe boiling and fermenting barley on grains bring high astringency, if so, does astringency come through distillation. Are there publications on astringency and distillation that can be shared? Thanks

[@FrontYardGardener]

Have you ever done a partigyle? Use for the extra 4 liters is Gin!

[@robertling9872]

Thank you for again an intresting video. 👍

[@IrikanjiToys]

Hey Jesse, how do the solids affect the hydrometer? I saw you using the bucket and pressing your grains - mate, grab a 15L stainless steel hydrolic fruit press and out the grain in a fairly large micron biab bag, best investment I ever made and you can get them in eBay for about $100-$150. Also, the astringency you mentioned - instead if boiling the pearl barley, soak it over night and steam it (not in a pressure pot, in a basket steamer) this way you avoid the occasional harsher tastes that come off it when you boil it 🙂

[@Teddysad]

The enzyme would very likely have been viable at 60 to 70C ideally 66c. No need to take the grains so high and introduce the astringency from the barley.

[@andersenglund502]

The bitterness/astringency could be a bit of amyl alcohol coming through. That's one of the most difficult things to get rid of as home distillers since it appears as a bigass smudge across the plates. Along with a higher number of plates, most NGS distilleries will have a separate column specifically for removing amyl alcohol from their distillate.

[@theworldisastage1984]

The only thing that I made that I haven't noticed it in is my straight corn whiskey

[@glleon80517]

Great video, Jesse. Nice to see the still making an appearance. I would love to see a video where you explain how to balance your column. You may have covered this, but why raw grain rather than malted?

[@scottbatty8017]

might be a silly question, if you've mashed your grain to extract sugar do you need to add your grain to the ferment or would you just discard it?

[@vegoil]

Cool experiment!

[@liamhamm8591]

Barrel it. Aged vodka is becoming increasingly popular and I hear it’s quite delightful

[@BanksBuilt]

I’ve been wanting to make a wheat vodka, guess this is my sign. Im thinking of trying kveik yeast since it’s so fast and clean.

[@theworldisastage1984]

Starting a 50 gallon wash today of wheat

[@dopstjom701]

Would suggest you use a kveik strain that gives off less esters like lutra or oslo etc (the ones home brewers use to make pseudo lagers)

[@MischaU77]

love this.

[@semdevisser5227]

I've done vodka with raw barley and i came to the same conclusion. Cooking barley husks imparts a harshness that's not there with oats, corn or even malted barley (not cooked). Also adding sucrose is never a completely free gravity bump!

[@jacobdeslattes3519]

50/50 rice and malted white wheat. No sugar added is my go to vodka recipe.

[@silveraven1]

Great video, Jesse. However, I’m wondering about inverted sugar. If you can make a smooth vodka without converting the sugar, why bother for other spirits?. Is it worth it?

[@lazyplumber1616]

I appreciate how you call out the "Freedom Units" for the less precise. When you say "let us know" who is "US" exactly?

[@nicholaskarako5701]

This is kind of like an Irish Poitin which is traditionally made with varying ingredients of either barley, sugar beet, molasses and potatoes.

[@w00dyalien]

did I get it correct? 30kg grains for 100 liters batch?

[@jekobe11]

Hey Jessie, how big is your pot you’re utilising for cooking mate?

[@jfbri9665]

Nice video Jesse. Do you think your SG have change after adding gluco amylase ?

[@totoarteaga4176]

Hey Jesse, I am new to the destilation game. I want to make my first batch of vodka. Any tips or things I need to know before starting my first fermentation batch?

[@garrymcgaw4745]

Nice one Jesse 👍.

[@grahambate3384]

Russian drink their vodka cold, here in Australia they keep it in the freezer. The best vodka I had was medical spirit, my neighbour brought it back from Russia. It was 96% and he watered it down 50 50. So smooth with no taste.

[@Teddysad]

That is not how a good vodka should be

[@BankStreetBrewery]

What do you think the difference would be if you used malted barley and wheat instead of unmarked? 2:26

[@mohammedabushoog4898]

Should I grind the wheat and unmelted barely?

[@pierresteyn3500]

Hey , at wat abv did it came of the still, running 8 plates.

[@Ansis99]

In this year I grow super sweet corn and it is the best product (vodka) I have until now. Of course I cheating, because of sugar add. But the taste is like apple vodka.

[@joshuagoodsell9330]

I've made some sugar wash vodkas in the past that had what I thought was a sugar bite and a cloying sweetness, even when making really tight cuts, distilling to 95%, and doing everything "right" in fermentation. Then I made an all grain wheat vodka with no sugar and it's very smooth but still has a cloying sweetness to it. Does anyone know why this is? I know ethanol is a little sweet but I've never had a commercial vodka with this sweetness. Anyone experienced this before? It's otherwise very smooth and has very little flavor other than sweetness. Maybe I shouldn't complain 😂

[@RiggerBrew]

I've got a 100% malted white wheat fermenting currently off grain, only have 4 plates... might have to run it through 2x

[@z135210]

i get 190 off 4 plates but i do stripping runs first

[@ride5600]

I make my easy home distilled vodka from wheat bix. Comes out awesome.

[@MinersMoonshine1977]

Jessie, What size of fermentation vessel did you use for this as I have a 50 gallon or 190 litre plastic barrel for fermenting

[@thomashafner2224]

Did you charcoal filter it after distillation? I’ve yet to attempt vodka but it’s my understanding that many commercial vodka distilleries charcoal filter the vodka before bottling

[@jamesramey3549]

I was thinking this to but the charcoal will pull out the good flavors with the bad.

[@collinheble709]

"in metric and freedom units." My man!!

[@CraigLYoung]

Thanks for sharing 👍

[@roycesjourney37]

I’m so jealous that I home distilling is legal where you’re at, but I’m sure you’ve heard that a lot. You may or may not be looking for another project, but if you’re going to be doing more and more all grain stuff, have you ever considered building a steam wand? You can mash right in your fermentation vessel…

[@warmen123321]

What HTA brand do you use, and where do you buy it? I can't find it on Amazon. Thanks!

[@trenthammel4717]

As you said yourself when walking down the grocery isle, you notice things that could be used for distilling. I’d love to see you do a cornflake and weetbix mash. Or even a crunchy nut corn flake mash to possibly make a honey bourbon. Love what your doing mate

[@ride5600]

Wheatbix works really well

[@BeastOfTraal]

There is a distillery in Louisiana that makes a rice vodka.

[@deankundrata2300]

What size is your blue barrel you use for fermentation?

[@user-pt9gr3fe1p]

hey, did you end up doing the packing over plates? I have a 500mm packed section of spp and 3 bubble plates (4" column), i am really interested to know if packing over plates works well or not.

[@danchaplin2911]

I did this last week. I had six 2" plates --> 1.5m packed column --> dephlegmator (this setup was literally 3.5 meters tall including the boiler). Everything was going smoothly until out of nowhere wash started to spew out of the condenser into my collection jar. It was a torrent of liquid, had to stop the still. This happened I believe toward the end of the hearts, I lost a lot of product. I think what happened was that with all the extra reflux in the column it was flooding the plates, so much so that the column actually started filling with distillate until it shot out the other side. Next time I'll be putting the plates ABOVE the column.

[@RDLondon2023]

Hi can i also use 20% malted barley instead of the alpha amylase?

[@the_whiskeyshaman]

I have found that corn gives a sweetness and less bitterness.

[@mohammedabushoog4898]

If I don’t have enzymes, what’s the solution?

[@nickhope9563]

How.did tounfind your rice spirit as comparison to the barley wheat vodka?

[@4wdinsanity496]

i was wondering could you do the same process and get a similar result without putting grain into the fermenter

[@4wdinsanity496]

i have 2 50l conical fermentors

[@williamarmstrong7199]

what about useing the angel yellow yeast rhat has the emzymes in it that work from cold?

[@josefchesney3477]

Is it typical for distillers to ferment on the grain vs. pulling the wort off as is done in homebrewing?

[@jasonlahti7211]

Yes! That was one of the differences I noticed right away and asked the same question. It is a pretty common practice as it can increase efficiency, flavor, and yeast health.

[@joshuarogers7029]

Shiiiii.... That's creepy Jesse! I literally just did *exactly* this. I followed Ian Smiley's recipe/method. Soft (low protein) wheat, alpha and gluco, ferment on grain, turbo500 SPP column for strip, proofed with shop bought filtered spring water to 30% for carbon filter then restilled with alambic for spirit run, proofed again with shop/filtered water to 40%. The finished product was on a different planet to anything I've done before. To me, it tastes like buttered popcorn. Constructive criticism, I was at 1.04 so I'll add about 4kg of sugar next time. Also, seperating grain from ferment was a b*tch! Was fun cause I've been a turbo/sugar bro up until that point so this was a first time doing grain mash. Will be doing again for sure!!!

[@rldays9179]

How long do you sit your spirits for before tasting? And why didn't you stick a bottle in the freezer over night to test your theory? I have found that even though I am currently just doing sugar washes, there is a chemically aftertaste that makes you pull away and not want to finish that glass of bourbon or whatever. But I found if it sits for a week or so that green taste tends to go away and you are left with the flavour you are after. Also sticking some glycerine in helps which I am guessing is because it is just a sugar wash. It is really hard because I have only ever done sugar washes and my interpretation compared to your interpretation compared to someone elses will be totally different. I know you don't like saying chemical taste because well der, everything is a chemical but I like to think of it like Distortion in music (As a musician) There is distortion which you don't want and there is musical distortion that you do want. Obviously if there is distortion on a channel that is unwanted it is the same as a chemical taste in your spirit that you dont want. So go ahead and use it as a term of reference. Honestly when you say things like Astringent I have no idea what that means.

[@michaelcogan3016]

If limestone water makes the "best whiskeys" then why? Doesn't the minerals stay behind in the boiler after distillation? And if it did truly make it better then why? And could other minerals such as various other beer salts used to improve the final beer impact the final spirit either prior to distilling or after in proofing water?

[@rohanlorange3660]

My favourite vodka, Finlandia is made from barley

[@Finwolven]

How about trying rye and wheat, or maybe even the traditional vodka ingredient, poe-tay-to? Boil'em, mash'em, stick'em in a stew?

[@Teddysad]

Actually potato is not a usual traditional ingredient. Only in those few regions wheat does not grow, and is far from efficient

[@robertbarnes9005]

He already did a Potato vodka. Check the video history.

[@Finwolven]

@@robertbarnes9005 Yes, but now his technique is advanced!

[@Finwolven]

@@Teddysad Umm... You do realize Vodka is made also in regions that are far too Arctic for wheat to really grow, and is a traditional drink there, too? Potato is a traditional ingredient, it's not the _only_ traditional ingredient.

[@stevemeiners2226]

If you use plates and packing which goes on top?

[@brandaddy5150]

I have lots of unmalted wheat, oats, and barley! I wanted to do a whisky but not sure how the unmalted grain will turn out?

[@brandaddy5150]

Been trying to research mashing unmalted grains but cant find much. Thank you for the video!

[@makhloufdahmani9019]

Hi Jesse iam makhlouf from Algéria thank you you are my hero

[@1014p]

Forgotten Weapons guy?

[@dukethebeagle120]

Wheat and barley gelatanize ar way less the boiling. You can get it to gelatenize without boiling it

[@jasonlahti7211]

I apologize if I missed something, but was there a reason that the mashing in wasn't done at something low temp like 148f at the beginning for an extended time using the natural enzymes in the malted wheat instead of using that added enzymes? Thanks!

[@McNuggets88]

Both the wheat and the barley were non-malted, so he needed to the add enzymes

[@jasonlahti7211]

@@McNuggets88 ah. Yup, I missed that. Thank you for pointing that out!

[@andy1982222]

Where are you getting your high temp alpha struggling to find a supplier

[@TheNumbers400]

Malted barley would probably fix the bitterness. Or some of the chemical enzymes are contributing to the off flavors. Malted barley would fix that as well. No need to go that hot with a traditional all grain mash

[@darkonedbc]

What about sweet potato( kumera)?

[@bolverker]

Larry with stilldragon recommends at least 10 plates for a neutral

[@BeerWineandShine]

I like the recipe videos the most. Not enough of that out there. At least not good ones. On a side note. You should seriously get more stuff in your shop bro. Personally i would like some wall art or stuff to decorate my bar and still area like a "Still It" sign. Be badass. Just a suggestion.

[@elementaryFlame]

I wonder what any old sugar wash low wines with 15L of wheat/barley wash would end up like.

[@henrymiley1318]

One way to stop bitterness use torrified wheat and whole wheat leave out the barley

[@PhyleXTension82]

Hmmmm, a good trial for Angel Yellow methinks... Remove the high temps and possible astringency perhaps?

[@Teddysad]

It works well. I have a few KZbin videos up on it

[@PhyleXTension82]

@@Teddysad I've actually been watching some of your vids on it recently!

[@joshwilliams8765]

Please review the blicmann engineering hellfire burner. 😆