Michter's US*1 Sour Mash

Product Information

A mash is mixing ground grains (typically rye, corn, malted barley, and wheat) with water and yeast. The mixture will go through the fermentation process to produce alcohol.

This recipe is still citrus-forward and many bourbons do have a sweet side, even if it’s just on the finish. This recipe takes the best of both worlds and creates a new experience. As a bonus, you can skip the extra step of a traditional sidecar’s sugar rim because sweet isn’t the focus here.

Distill your whiskey in the same manner you did during your first run, being conservative with your cuts until you gain more skill. Anything collected under 80% ABV on this run is considered a Sour Mash whiskey. Congratulations! This spirit is a palatable moonshine when collected directly out of the still. The ‘sour’ in ‘sour mash’ might describe some of the flavor compounds excreted by yeast and other microorganisms during extended fermentation. Dr. Crow was trained as a chemist and physician in Scotland before moving to the U.S. in 1820. He worked for several distilleries before Oscar Pepper hired him at the Oscar Pepper Distillery. One issue Crow and many other distilleries were facing at the time was maintaining the consistency of flavors from one batch to the next. By introducing this method, Dr. Crow was able to ensure that every batch produced by the distillery had the same great taste. James C. Crow is credited with developing the sour mashing process in the early 1800s. He discovered that he could easily control the fermentation process by using a portion of mash from the last batch of spirit. The sour mash refers to the process where the previously fermented mash is used for new batches, just like the starter in sourdough bread.

The first person to have a recorded recipe for the sour mash process was Catherine Carpenter in 1818. Like bourbon and Tennessee whiskey distilleries, almost all American whiskey use sour mashing during their whiskey production process.Sour mash is a term thrown around in the whiskey world more often than a football gets thrown by Tom Brady. Smith, Max (March 14, 2014). "Liquor Giants Battle Over Tennessee Whiskey, Barrels". The Tennessean. USA Today . Retrieved October 29, 2014. a b Zandona, Eric. "Tennessee Whiskey Gets a Legal Definition". EZdrinking . Retrieved January 11, 2014.