Experimental Juice ideas

[3274mike]

Here goes, time to do a freezer clean out wine, I have lots of fozen sweet corn it really sweet sweetcorn, go figure. It's really good but family had too much of it. So sweet corn wine it is. Not sure the exact amount I'm guessing 10 to 15 lbs corn maybe some zucchini and a few things I picked up Carmel malt and dark wheat malt. So here is where the questions are, it's not liquid malt so I know I have to open the malt plan on running through antique grain mill I have then put in a straining bag to steep. Do I cold soak it or heat it for extraction. If it's a heated extraction does it need to just cool to room temperature or cool fast like beer makers do it. Also adding a couple bannana and some medium toast oak. I'm guessing this will end up tasting like flat beer or low alchol liquor. Anyways looking for advise on the malt.

Not planning on using any process except general winemaking and not using the process that we are not to speak of.... just an experimental juice we shall call it. Thanks to any that respond

 

[BernardSmith]

Not answers but some thoughts and observations. Grains contain sugars but the sugars that they contain are not sugars that yeast can ferment in any simple way. They are far too complex for the yeast. If you want to ferment the sugars in the grains you will need to find some way to enable the yeast to process the sugars. Brewers use the enzymes in the grains.
Even if you are not fermenting the sugars in the grains you can still use the grains as the flavor source and not the sugar source. Many , many years ago I made what I might call wheat wine and rice wine - didn't taste like flat beer.
Grains are both a source and a target of bacteria and if you heat the grains but don't cool those grains very rapidly you will very likely encourage a colony of souring bacteria that will out-manoeuvre your yeast leading to a sour wine . This may or may not be a problem...

 

[3274mike]

Thanks I read some things on grains and different extraction went with a cold soak. And plan on adding sugar due to the difficulty of processing the grain sugars as you stated. Will soak for the night and then introduce corn tomorrow. Hope the aroma come with the grain smells amazing. But will update on process as I continue

 

[BernardSmith]

For the record, your LHBS may sell amylase. That's an enzyme that can break down the sugars in grains without any need for malting (allowing the grains to begin growing activates their own enzymes while the heat process that stops the grains from developing prevents the embryonic plants from consuming all the sugars as their source of nutrition and food) and mashing (mashing is what brings the enzymes into contact with the sugars and so transforms the complex carbohydrates into simpler sugars that yeast can ferment).

 

[Noontime]

This sounds really interesting, and hope you post about the results. I've never heard of anyone making corn wine before.

 

[3274mike]

Update just racked Carmel,sweet corn, wheat juice experiment. Still cloudy, which I expect a long clearing time, very dark in carboy, golden wheat color in clear hose. Doesn't really taste like wine, not a beer flavor, the wife says I taste like some sort of cider. Has a Carmel wheat fragrance. So far I like it will try to take some pictures when I transfer it again.