grain volumes for whiskey and vodka

[singh]

Hi fellas,

Kinda new here, very new to distilling to be honest, which would be more clearer from my questions, I just request you to bare with me and help me out here

If i am to make whiskey from corn, rye, malted barley or wheat, how much grain would i need to make 1 liter of whiskey using only one grain at a time, i.e.if i had to make 1 liter of whiskey(40 proof) from only corn, how much corn would i need to make that 1 liter of whiskey. similarly for other grains, how much grain would i need to make 1 liter of whiskey if it was to be made exclusively from

1.wheat, 2. Malted Barley, 3. Rye

I understand that grain based vodka is best when flavorless, so it's basically ethanol distilled a few no. of times, so my questions above kinda repeats itself here, if i was to make 1 litre of 80 proof vodka from corn, how much corn or how much ethanol would i need.

Is there any formulae to calculate this,

Thanks for your help

Amit

(P.S., I have no access to books, so if you are referring to a reading material, please tell me the ones which are available online, thanks)

[Cutty]

You'll probably use 1.5-2.0-lbs grain per gallon of water for your mash, and assume you will yield around 2-gallons of 190proof ethanol per bushel of grain, I think the theoretical max is around 2.9-gal/bushel, but 2.0-gal/bushel should be a reasonable number to reach. Look into purchasing the Alcohol Text Book.

[Whiskey&Revelry]

Find out the starch content of each of the grains you would be using. Then you need to determine your conversion success. This depends on a variety of things like grist size, enzyme activity, mashing technique, etc.. Because of this, it's almost impossible to give a number. At theoretical maximum(which you'll never achieve), assuming the starch % above, you would get in the neighborhood of 1gal 95% EtOH per 13lbs.

[JohninWV]

Posts 2 and 3 show a big difference in yield. Cutty has 3.8 PG per 56 pounds (roughly) and Whiskey& Revelry is getting 8.4 PG per 56 pounds (roughly). That's a big difference.

[Whiskey&Revelry]

Posts 2 and 3 show a big difference in yield. Cutty has 3.8 PG per 56 pounds (roughly) and Whiskey& Revelry is getting 8.4 PG per 56 pounds (roughly). That's a big difference.

'Theoretical maximum' as total ethanol potential calculated by mass.. 13lbs of pure glucose is 1gal pure EtOH. Of course, fermentation isn't straight material balance, so we tend to see you only actually get about half of that(~26lbs.)

With basic whiskey yeast in a single malt mash(2:1 lb grain/gal water ratio, no added enzymes, grist size of about <600um, and 4 step mashing protocol), 1gal 100% EtOH per ~30lbs is pretty standard. That's right on with Cutty's numbers.