We have been making our standard corn mash consisting of 80% corn flour, wheat, and malt for about 6-years. It's real consistent - 200-gallons, starting Brix at 20 and finishes dry in less than 4-days. Temp peaks at about 90*F in 24-hours and gradually drops as the ferment progresses.
A couple weeks ago we got some corn from a local farm to try out. Was milled more like cornmeal so a little less fine than normal. Last week in 24-hours temps spiked to 96*F - and with that ferments was complete in about 48-hours. Stripped out with typical yields and flavor of the spirit run was also normal.
We mashed again two days ago and the same thing - spiked temps and fermented dry in 48-hours.
At first glance seems like a good thing. Any downsides, concerns from that hot and that fast of a ferment?
Thanks in advance for any input!
Reply:
If it tastes the same with same yields it sounds like all's good. The red flags would be funky flavors.
Reply:
Ester development in the fast ferment will not be as complex as the slow ferment. Every extra day of fermentation provides the opportunity for thousands of esters to trans esterify- which is a cascading reaction of newly produced carboxylic acids and alcohol molecules interacting with preexisting or newly formed carboxylic acid groups and alcohols. Often allowing a ferment to rest for a day post fermentation can increase ester complexity as well. Im not saying you aren't gonna pull this off and can't sell the bottle, im just saying it might not be the same profile 6-8 years down the line.
