Michter's US*1 Sour Mash

Product Information

The release will coincide and commemorate the War of Regulation and the Battle of Alamance—a battle in 1771 and the last during the North Carolina uprising and the journey to becoming the United States of America. We are glad that Brown-Forman is taking her recipe and producing a whiskey based on her recipe and introducing it to a much wider audience than she would have ever reached. Dr. James C. “Jim” Crow’s Involvement Helpfully, though, yeast can survive in environments where bacteria can’t — specifically, environments that are more acidic. Which is where the “sour mashing” comes in.

Nose: Orchard fruits, butterscotch candies, and vanilla cake greet you on the nose with a hint of wooden spice.

16. Michter’s US*1 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

A whiskey maker makes sour mash whiskey by adding a portion of still-fermenting mash to the new batch of spirits. On the other hand, bourbon uses all new ingredients for each batch. It gives the bourbon a sweeter flavor profile. As a result, bourbon typically has richer color and deeper flavor than sour mash whiskey. Here’s A Closer Look Siphon off your beer and charge your still. Again, replace 3-3/4 gallons of water into your fermenter so your yeast doesn't die while you distill. Distill your first batch and set to the side. Have you ever noticed there are three “Xs” on the old moonshine jugs? That is because they have been triple distilled for purity and proof. Distilled Spirits Council Industry Review, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, February 4, 2014. On the nose, the first influences here are that of charred oak and a faint smokiness, into heavy caramel and creme brulee sweetness. I’m getting both brown sugar and browned butter, into spice evoking a little sweet aniseed and cassia. I’ll be honest: This has been influenced by the casks to such a degree that if you handed it to me blind, based purely on nosing it I would almost certainly guess it was bourbon before anything else. This of course reflects the uniqueness of the American single malt style’s use of newly charred oak, which blurs the lines between it and other categories of American whiskey, while altering so much of the flavor profile consumers may expect to find in malt whiskey from other countries such as Scotland or Japan. Probing further on the nose here, you start to get more hints of characteristics that would be more unusual for the likes of bourbon, though: Floral tones in particular, and something evoking the fruit-and-spice combination of peppercorn berries.

The slop contains no nutrients, alcohol, sugar, or living yeast. Still, it contains nutrients and the acid required to keep the next batch of mash ‘healthy’ pH levels. It inhibits other bacteria from spoiling the taste. We think Catherine was quite thrifty and innovative. To create ideal conditions for the yeast, sour mash uses a portion of the spent mash from a previous ferment to start the upcoming mash. The spent mash changes the alkalinity and pH balance of the resulting mash and provides additional nutrients for the yeast during fermentation. Sour Mash vs Bourbon: Is There Actually a Difference? Sour mash is a process that’s commonly used in the production of American whiskey, particularly bourbon. It involves using a portion of previously fermented mash, which contains live yeast, to start the fermentation process for a new batch of whiskey. This process helps to regulate bacterial growth and ensure consistency in flavor and quality from batch to batch. The pH levels need to be carefully controlled to create the optimal fermentation of the mash. Using a part of the spent mash, producers can maintain and balance the pH levels and promote consistency from batch to batch.Islamic scholars discovered the art of distillation during the pursuit of preserving fragrances. Muslim scholars were pursuing the perfect perfume. Religious edicts forbade the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The word ‘alcohol’ actually derives from the Arabic ‘al-kuhl.’ It is sometimes stated that James Crow invented the sour mash process, and this is supported by an article in an issue of the trade publication Bonfort’s Wine & Spirit Circular dated 10 January 1884:

Once the temperature has dropped below 100°F, you can pitch the turbo yeast. Your SG should be about 1.10. Don’t worry, it will actually climb as the malt does its job. Let the fermenting begin. Keep the fermentation about 70°F or better to move things along and it should take about 10-14 days to finish. As early as the 17th century Peter Shaw advocated that English distillers acidify or their washes using the juice of lemons, tamarinds or oranges to improve the taste of the resultant spirit. The use of spent wash (called dunder) was commonplace in Jamaica around 1700 for rum production. By the 19th century dunder was prepared, infected with bacteria, wild yeasts and microflora, to create new congeners, amino acids and esters. It is entirely possible that this production process is the origin of the sour mash process. Benefits of the Sour Mash processShe was a well-to-do land owner, and distilling whiskey probably supplemented her income. You can read Catherine’s sour mash recipe here, penned in a beautiful cursive hand. The final step is aging the distilled whiskey in wooden barrels for several years. During the maturation process, the barrel will interact with the whiskey inside as the barrel swells and contracts with temperature fluctuations. The whiskey inside undergoes a dramatic change, and its flavor and aroma are developed. There's some debate about when the sour mash method was created. Most accredit Dr. James C. Crow with the formal creation of sour mash bourbon in the mid-1800s.