298 Singing Valleys 



alcohol per bushel of grain mashed. In order to get all the 

 starch content in solution, the grain must be finely ground. 



To make Bourbon whiskey, the ground corn meal is weighed 

 and dropped by gravity into the mash tub which is partially 

 filled with warm water. As the meal goes in, an "agitator' 7 keeps 

 stirring it while the temperature is raised slowly to about 

 212 F. The heat and the stirring process cause the particles of 

 meal to disintegrate. The granules of starch burst open, releas- 

 ing the starch so that this can be readily converted into the 

 fermentable sugars. 



Next, the corn mash is cooled somewhat, and a mash of 

 rye meal which has been separately prepared is added to it 

 and stirred. The starch in the rye disintegrates more readily 

 than cornstarch does. Therefore this is accomplished in a 

 short time and at no increase in temperature. 



Third, a mash of barley malt meal in cold water is added. 

 This brings the temperature of the mash to approximately 

 145 F. The combination of meals is stirred for thirty minutes 

 or so, until chemical tests indicate that the diastase in the 

 malt has converted all the starch into fermentable sugars. After 

 this, the mash is cooled and pumped into tubs for the ferment- 

 ing process. 



Yeast, water and some of the thin effluent from the stills 

 what the old distillers used to call "returns" are added to the 

 mash in the fermenters. At the end of the fermenting process, 

 the beer the name given to the product at this stage of its 

 development is discharged through a valve at the bottom of 

 the fermenting tub into a reservoir which is connected with 

 the still. 



The beer has an alcoholic content of approximately 4.5 to 

 5.5 percent by volume. In the still, this alcoholic content is 

 concentrated into whiskey. 



Most distilleries use the continuous still for the production 

 of Bourbon whiskey. As the name implies, this type of still 

 receives a continuous feed of beer, and has a continuous dis- 

 charge of alcoholic distillate and slop. 



