All Grain 101 For Distillers : How A All Grain Mash Works 

Hey, thanks for the shout out Jesse! I'm excited you're getting into all grain. So much fun:-)> Also, this was the best explanation of enzymes and gelatinization I've ever heard. Great video!

I have been making beer for 40 years, and I really expected that you were going to miss a few important points -- you didn't. I am proud of your synopsis. Two things I would like to point out: 1) There are two basic types of malted barley - 2 row and 6 row. The 6 row has WAAY more enzyme potential than 2 row. 2 row can convert itself and some (lets say equal weight) of cereal grain (corn). 2) You mentioned that you mash your whiskey at 50/50. It is a hair-splitting distinction, but bourbon (which is made with sour mash) requires at least 52% to be corn. That having been said, I say use 6 row it has better diastasic power. If you put some 6 row in with all your corn, and very slowly raise it to 156 it goes through a protein conversion at 122F this helps keep it soupy (and not gloppy), then boil it to gelatanize. Cool it to 145 and add the rest of your malt (I say 6 row or distillers malt), and convert your cereal mash for 90 minutes... GREAT INFORMATION...

Great video Jesse lots of good information I always ferment on the grain then filter though a straining bag which I put into a mop squeezer I bought just for this purpose when finished I have a hard dry brick of spent grain. The mop squeezer hangs right on the side of whatever bucket or drum you're using just rinse it off and keep it away from your wife until next time. Have a great day and thanks for your help.

Hi Jamie. I’m a beer brewer and really enjoy your videos. It’s great that you refer to beer as well during your videos. I watch your current stuff but went back to look at a couple of your malt, grain, mash videos as I love the science. I’m not even sure if you’ll see this comment. Thank you. Robert

Thank you, I am new to the hobby and your channel has been one of my main resources to walk through this steep learning curve. This video in specific cleared up all my confusion on grain mash. Thanks again for what you do.

As I'm new to distilling and still working my way thru old uploads, this 1 really relates. I'm getting ready to start a few all grain runs... Wheat, corn and rye mixtures, all with 6 row barley added. Ol' George, Barley and Hops, also has a great video about using alpha and beta amalase. Thanks Jesse ! Enjoying the hell out of the old vids ! Cheers 👍

Mate you inspired me last year to try an all grain with your bastard whiskey vid. I’m knocking up a hell of a corn whiskey with heavy peat smoked barley, aged on charcoal and heavy char American oak. Again got the oak ideas from yet another vid you did. Keep going, I’m keen to see a thumper in action next!

Hey Jesse, great show,I very much appreciate all the free info that I get outta still it. I can only imagine all the books that I've not had to read,thanks to you

Hi Jesse, worked my way through your back catalogue and I gotta say, you have done a fantastic job of repackaging the cluttered and tangled bits of information available on the forums and put them together into a readily comprehensible chunk. Well done. Looking forward to seeing what you continue to add to this channel.

Man I would take classes from you if you offered them and I was in NZ. Your videos are so informative for this new guy to get up the learning curve.

Great overview, well explained and simplified. I like Distillers Malt with my corn mash, I think it adds to the flavor profile more than liquid enzymes do.

Jesse, I've recently been looking into all grain mashes and trying to understand them.. Of course i found you in the process! This was a great explanation considering I had figured out what amylase was but didn't understand how to get it working or where it was coming from .... other than the packets amazon kept trying to sell me.... not sure that's the rabbit hole I wanted to go down as a new craftsman.. I can see the appeal as it would be faster but as we know faster isn't always better... thanks again Jesse big thumbs up for this vid!

Glad I discovered your channel. Great explanation thanks.

Yup, that´s about it. As a brewer I like my mash on the higher end like 67-68 for a more malty and thicker beer. Cheers

This is a great video. This was the an amazing explanation.

As always Jesse, stella video and awesome content!!

As a brewer all grain is sort of basic for me, but i imagine that for anyone that have never touched the subject before this would be very, very informative and helpfull

I know this has been up for a while but I just got to it. Bravo my friend! Well paced video on a expansive subject. BTW I posted a link but will send you a pm on HD forum.about an EXCELLENT bourbon vid. One suggestion for your next video of this type. In addition to diastatic calculations I have NO grasp of “the numbers” while you obviously do. When reading forums or watching videos I can tell some people get a “picture” of what’s happening with a mash by seeing SG/OG and FG and instantly seeing potential abv etc. Don’t know if others suffer from the same affliction as me but a video on what these numbers REALLY mean would be a BIG pain in the ass to do in my opinion but a HUGE help. Please.

LOVE your videos. I'm absorbing so much info about this hobby that I've never even thought about before. I'm saving up some money so that when i dive in head first I won't have to sell my car to keep chasing the craft. Thanks so much! Your passion radiates through your videos. Do you know of any processes that involve *koji* as the enzyme for gelatinized grains/starches? Sake production uses a parallel "fermentation" of yeast and koji simultaneously (essentially the enzymes work at the same time as the yeast throughout fermentation). The enzymes produced in koji are certainly not specific to rice (it's used in conjunction with everything from black beans to raw beef!). There is the concern, however, that because, the enzymes produced in koji are SO versatile, it would end up breaking down and impart your wort with undesirable proteins. Regardless, I'd be interested to see if anyone out there has experimented with a whiskey style mash --> distillate using koji. Or, really, any other type of distillate besides one that's just rice based. Cheers! Larry

Def be watching closely. I have been having the WORST conversion efficiencies with my all grain mashes. My last batch of George Washington Rye I only ended up with roughly 6% abv when I was expecting upwards of 12. Great job so far with everything so far Jesse. I'll actually be wearing my still it shirt to work tonight haha.

Great breakdown! I just put my first whisky on wood this week (made an awful video about it) and it's not exactly what I'm looking for so I'm looking forward to see how you get on with your grain mashes to pick up some tips. Great work, Jesse!

Hey everyone and love your content Jesse learning lots from you🤙🏻. I’m getting into distilling my own Canadian whiskey mash! I’m just wondering is malted and unmelted barley to completely different greens or change in state?

I believe, with 2 row barley at least, they are able to convert up to 6x their weight in grain. I’ve always used 3lbs of 2 row for every 15lbs of corn. Never had a problem, and I just used plain ole red star bread yeast.

Hey man would love to see you do a potato vodka!!! Not sure if you have tried it yet but I would love to see it done!!!!

I would so buy a still it hat. Jus sayin. Lol cheers from Corpus Christi Texas

Wort chiller or Aussie over night. On distillates it’s doesn’t matter You can also malt your corn etc. it just takes longer.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of how you do all grain mash. I have done a couple of them now. Also I have watched Bearded & Bored malting corn, really good introduction to moulting your own corn. I have also used non molted grain and have also tried using oatmeal, using alfa amilyes only. I have not been able to get the beta amylase. Never thought of adding molted barley. (thank you for the inspiration). Want to find out how to get the mash above 5%. to 7% .Alright for beer, not any good for Spirits.I had to add processed sugar each time to get gravity points to 14% to 15% . You have inspired me to do a corn and molted barley mash. I will wait till I find out how I may be able to increase the gravity points using all grain. Or reduce the quantity of processed sugar. Once again Thanks Jess for you chanel.

This is what I need really bad, cans I put alpha and Bata at the same time. I have been doing alpha at 145 to 155 for about an hour,then put Bata inn at 145 then let temp drop slow tell 77deg F. I check it with iodine, it seams to be working, this is what I need and see it done ✅👍

Jesse, I am watching older videos because I am suffering from Still-it Withdrawal Syndrome! You mashed at a temp that is below alpha enzyme conversion temperature range. Since the alpha enzyme chops up the longer chain starches into shorter chains so that the beta enzymes can do their work, it seems like you would get less fermentable sugars (lower gravity) using your suggested 62C mash temp. Why is this preferred for distilling? My source is John Palmer’s excellent book How to Brew chapter 14 (first edition). Thanks for a Stellar Channel on Chasing the Craft!

I have 10kg of corn from a stock feeds joint, waiting on amylase from ebay - gonna have a go!!

Another informative vid, thanks man. Good recap for me as a AG brewer.Just wondering about post lauter. Do you boil wort to sterilise or just chill and pitch?

Perfect timing on the video Jessie as I am currently gathering all my needs for my first grain mash. I've been doing cornflake sugar washes with great success, but it's time to move on. I'm going to cheat a little at first as I'm going to use the liquid enzymes before I move on to all grain. I'm going to use steamed flaked corn and see how that works out. My question to you and the board is "Is there a difference in the mash ABV, all other things being equal, between feed corn or using food grade corn"? Keep up the good job Jessie!

Would it be possible to use 100% malted Rye or malted Wheat in a wash/mash? Would you still need to gelatinize part of the mash/wash for it to work? I have easy access to great Rye and Wheat berries and am looking at malting it myself.

Fun question. Made an all corn mash with amazes powder. 3 days in SG went up. Is this normal?

Awesome video as always jesse. Hows your big ferment of bobs rum going?

O think the easiest way to look at it is to get your corn to a simmer for 45 minutes or so. It will turn thick like porage. Add water as you go and stir. After that keep stirring and watch the temperature. When you hit the top end of the enzyme heat level 150 f. if I remember stir in your maoted barely. Let that sit, not heat and as the temperature drops the different enzymes do their job. Once it hits pitching temp add more water and pitch. Then just keep your yeast happy and away you go.

Good video. Would of liked to see the process tho. Thanks for the videos regardless.

"Malt does more than Milton can, to justify God's ways with man." Milton didn't teach me how to distill potables either, but you sure did.

I want to do a wheat whiskey like my favorite makers Mark but don't know where to begin can you do a wheat brew plz

When do we start the 101 lesson class? This was total Preparation, and no H I am still itching for some information - other than how to giggle like a Canuk

New sub! Awesome stuff! What is a fortnight?

If I had a very large still I'd be much more tempted to produce an all-grain mash, but with only a five-gallon still it seems wiser to get as much alcohol from each run as possible, so I add sugars to increase the yield as most folks do. It does not reduce the grain flavors as far as I can tell. It just doesn't make much sense to me to run a mash with a low ABV. What is your opinion of this?

Hey All, I have been a home distiller for almost 5 years. Distilling is legal in my state for personal consumption. I have a 5 gallon still but only distill 3 gallon batches at a time. My original mash was made of Corn (2lbs) and Oats (1lbs). I have had very positive feedback from this. This is my normal procedure. (Grains and/or fruit will change) This last weekend I put together a mash made of Corn Meal (1lbs), Cracked Corn (1lbs), Rye (.5lbs), Oat (.5lbs), Wheat (.5lbs), and Barley (.5lbs). All of this was ground into a meal. This was put into a 5 gallon plastic bucket along with 7lbs of white sugar. I also put 3Tbl spoons of Corn Starch, and .5tsp of Amylase. I heat 1 gallon of distilled water to 180 degrees, then pour it into the bucket and stir till the sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved I let it sit open for about 1 hour, by this time it has gotten pretty thick. Then I pour the other 2 gallons of room temp distilled water in and stir till mixed. Then I let it sit open till it cools down to approx 80 degrees. At this point I add my 1Tbl spoon of DADY, stir in and let sit open for about .5 hour. Now I will add the sealed lid and air lock to the bucket. I let this sit for 12-14 days in a room at 72 or 73 degrees. With this recipe I usually get 5 pints of very tasty Whiskey.

My question is, do you boil the wort and then cool to pitch the yeast, or, not boil after mashing? If it's a 'no boil', then sparging with cold water would bring the temperature down nice an quickly! Great vids by the way.

Is there a formula you used to figure out home much grain to use to get the gravity you want? Or are you just winging it? If so could u share that formula?

When I make my mashes ( corn, barley, rye mixes) or Scotch mix ( Braley, rye ) always do a double Decoction

Awesome man! Good things your Prime Minister is back to work after paternity leave! 😂

Make Mash, Make Beer, Make Booze!

God of home brew

So simple bro... ;)

What about using amylase instead of malt? I always find it easier and cheaper.

what if I didn't want to buy the amylase and enzymes. people did whole grain mashes before those products existed. Do you know how to do it without those products? could I spit some saliva in there to add amylase like indigenous peoples did lol and sproute some grains and pour the enzymes from the sprouting water into it?

Dude, you need a white board, or an animator, or something. Great info, love the delivery (you'd make a great narrator), etc, but I've seen your beard many times before.

Actually your water quality is very important. You need water with very little to zero iron content for healthy yeast action. In fact some say it's all about the water.

I malt my own grains. I can get a 50lb bag at the local feed store for about 15 U.S. dollars. Not that difficult. If you are married though roasting is more of a challenge because the ole lady ain't gonna let you use the oven.

Water is the FIRST thing you gotta look at! If it ain't running off the north side of the mountain, you might as well piss in it....Says great-grandpa.

Enzymes work consistently until they are dissolved, or become denatured. When enzymes denature, they are no longer active and cannot function. Extreme temperature and the wrong levels of pH -- a measure of a substance's acidity or alkalinity -- can cause enzymes to become denatured. I am not sure why 101 means low level, but given that this video is aimed at, one would presume, novices I don't understand why terms like mash and denatured are thrown about without defining them.

Your grammar is wrong. The title should read: How an all grain Mash works.