Geek-Out Warning: Green Corn Malt.

This whiskey enthusiasm can get very geeky. How geeky? Keep reading.

I've had several conversations with people over the years about malting corn. (I warned you.) Malt is the natural way to make the enzymes that turn starch into sugar. Sugar is what you need to make alcohol.

Any grain will malt. If corn is all you have, you can malt it. Though that's not commonly done today, we know it was done in the past.

I also had heard that malted corn often was not heated to stop germination, as is the conventional practice when you malt barley. It was simply sprouted, ground, and used immediately to make a whiskey mash.

I learned today that Finger Lakes Distilling in Burdett, New York, is now making the mash for their excellent Glen Thunder Corn Whiskey with green corn malt. They tell all about it in the March issue of their email newsletter. To get on the list, go to their web site here.