Can I distill my own bourbon?

If you’re wondering, “can bourbon be made at home?” the answer has two parts. If you have the proper equipment and ingredients at home, it is somewhat easy to create your own bourbon. However, distilling your own liquor is illegal in the United States without proper licensing.

How do I make homebrew bourbon?

Here is the process for making bourbon:

  1. Determine the mash bill. The master distiller first determines the recipe (or mash bill) of different grains to use for the bourbon’s creation.
  2. Combine the base ingredients.
  3. Ferment.
  4. Strain the mixture.
  5. Distill.
  6. Aging and barreling.
  7. Dilute.
  8. Bottle.

How long should I mash bourbon?

Many people say you need to age the corn whiskey in an oak barrel for two years. You can always cheat this a little by letting it mature for about 9 months in an oak barrel or stored with oak chips.

How Long Does bourbon have to be aged?

Kentucky Bourbon Aging Explained Under federal standards, Kentucky Bourbon must be aged in new charred oak barrels for aging at no greater than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol-by-volume) during the distillation process and must be made of at least 51% corn. Straight Bourbon has to be aged for at least two years.

What is bourbon mash?

A bourbon whiskey mash bill is a combination of grains used in a distiller’s recipe to create the distiller’s beer. A mash bill consists of some percentage of corn, malted barley, rye, and/or wheat. Essentially, if it’s a whiskey or bourbon, it needs a mash bill to get the process started.

How much corn does it take to make bourbon?

51 percent corn
Bourbon, like all whiskeys, is distilled from a mash bill, or recipe, of fermented grains. But unlike all other whiskeys, bourbon must begin with a recipe that contains at least 51 percent corn. Kentucky distilleries make 95 percent of the world’s supply of bourbon, and consumption has been growing at a dramatic rate.

How high can bourbon be distilled?

Barrelled to not more than 125 proof It cannot go into a barrel at above 62.5 percent ABV. Since bourbon increases in proof as it ages, some distilleries may choose to barrel at a lower proof than this, as long as it isn’t above 125 proof, there is no problem.

What should the alcohol percentage of the bourbon be after the second distillation?

The distiller must be sure of when to stop distillation, as different flavour compounds boil at different levels. This is called “making the cut”. The ABV of the liquid that comes out after the second distillation is around 70%, with some distilleries such as Auchentoshan and Hazelburn going on to distil a third time.