Damaged goods here today. Foolish, but educational. My wife makes an elk dish that we serve regularly to guests that is called "Elk Jack Daniels". Grilled elk medallions covered in caramelized slivered onions with a bourbon sauce. The recipe comes from "A Taste of the Wild" which is one of AJ MacClean's (of fly-fishing fame) last published works (his obituary finally explained his amazing writing prowess (i.e.., MacClean's Fishing Encyclopedia(!))...he was a spook (CIA!) but, I digress. We have had to modify most (is not all) of our cooking here because of my long-term battle with Lyme's Disease so... Jack Daniels isn't on my safe consumption list anymore. Distillation should render every resulting alcohol gluten-free but, it doesn't actually (at least for me). Trace components of the original grains still come through the process, making the derived liquor persona non grata for folks that suffer from any wheat or grain allergies (such as yours truly). I had discovered an all-corn bourbon several years ago made in the Hudson valley that we'd used for several years (Baby Bourbon) but sadly... that option is no-longer available. Enter Koval Bourbon (made from a 51% corn and 49% millet mash) https://thewhiskeywash.com/whiskey-styles/bourbon/whiskey-review-koval-bourbon/. Did some unscientific research last night and was very pleasantly surprised. Looking forward to that next opportunity to make elk JD yet again. FWIW, there are also some sorghum-based whiskies now that need to be researched when time allows.

A. J. McLane
JR

Hey Lloyd...

If you found the all corn variety to be acceptable, I would be tempted to try a homebrew concoction made of Karo syrup and a non gluten variety of liquid smoke.

Bourbon is, after all, just corn with a little snap from a spice grain (wheat or rye), and some char and oak from the barrel.

Try a little vanilla as a substitue for the oakiness of the barrel.

JD is a fairly 'dry' corn based whiskey... they do that with a high rye mashbill and with maple adjunct from the charcoal takes the sweet edge off it. There are several spices that might give you that effect, like anise for instance. You might look for something to add 'nuttiness' too... I've alawys though Woodford tastes quite a bit like fresh roasted cashews.

Good luck. The last booze I cooked with was Jim Beam Maple. It was a gift, and proved to be undrinkable. It does, however, work pretty well in baked beans.

Also try whiskies from Cowboy County Distilling out of Wyoming. Also gluten free.

Jack Daniels is not Bourbon by their own labelling. There are several things that define a bourbon: distillation limits, max and min proof, detailed aging requirements etc. Whether JD meets all these or not I don't know. JD labels their whiskey a sour mash, as does their much superior rival George Dickle. Most bourbons, especially the premium ones, are sour mash whiskeys but they are not required to be. However all sour mash whiskys do not qualify as bourbon.

As an aside, your statement about distillation removing gluten is simply not true. Mash, being basically a water/ alcohol mix would never exceed 212 deg in the still. Even a pot still with direct firing, which no one uses industrially, would likely never approach a hot wall temperature high enough to start breaking down glutens, generally thought to be 500 deg F. If they did all break down, the liquor would probably taste and smell burnt.

The other thing is that unless especially grown on non-grains, the yeast will contain glutens. Distillaries absolutely don't use such yeasts. Most better ones use a sour mash process which is a continuous recycle and they all are protective and secretive about their own yeast, considering it a trade secret and using their own recovered on site. Even commercial ethanol facilities processing pure corn choose yeasts based on conversion efficiency and yield.

Bottomline is that any fermented drink likely contains glutens with no exception. No mater what grain is used, the yeast itself will more than likely contaminate the liquor.

I'll mention this isn't guessing. I am a retired professional chemical engineer, worked designing distillation systems my whole life including major ethanol installations and served on the technical advisory committee for one of the best known industry distillation research institutes. If you want to consume any fermented liquor in any form and avoid glutens, it is a crapshoot and simply looking t grain recipes is a non starter.

Jack Daniels could be marketed as a Bourbon if they didn't use maple for the charcoal. A 'Straight Bourbon' has additional requirements. A bonded Bourbon has even more. The 'Lincoln County Process' defines a TN whisky, and it's basically just a maple charcoal bath that gives the product a head start on aging. It results in the product beng ready for sale with less time in the barrel and less resultant 'angel's share' loss. They charge a premium for this. Go figure.

Only a small amount of fermenting distiller's beer is added back to the next fermentation vessel in moden large scale 'sour mash' operations. This stuff is 'sour mash' in name only. The distilleries have various methods of pitching their yeast cultures, the primary consideration being speed of fermentaion. They want it done quickly, so the beer isn't contamnated by airborne organisms. Typical would be 300 gallons of fresh working culture added to a 10,000 gallon fermentaion vessel. It's working like a rolling boil in a matter of a few hours. At least one major distillery uses Red Star to propagate their yeast culture and they receive it dry in big bags. It's not a trade secret. Buffalo Trace is quite open about their methods. They make great Bourbon.

Jack is fine- but if you want a straight up whiskey (not bourbon) that you don't need to "doctor" for your wild game recipes, try South Carolina "Sugar TiT" moonshine-- Wow-- that stuff is mighty potent. I like Buffalo Trace, Maker's Mark and George Dickel-all good. RWTF

AGS: Far be it from me to argue with a man who's done it for a living. All I know is what I can get away with (and what I can't). While I recognize that almost all adult beverages are likely to contain some gluten from the primary fermentation process, I have found some that are less problematic for me. It also may be less a gluten problem and more of the wheat (grain) proteins that are the challenge to my Lyme's ravaged system.....who knows? What I do know that I miss the taste of a good bourbon and am always looking for a way to replace that without all of the downsides that my prior favorites now produce for me.

Mr. Roberts, it would appear that we're both wrong. It's spelled AJ McClane on both the cookbook and on the "Practical Fly Fisherman".

Yep.
JR

I have no doubt that it is a serious problem. The point I was trying to convey is that simply shopping by grain mix is likely a very hit and miss system because the distillation will not reduce residual glutens carried over from the mash and this can occur simply from the yeast. The only definitive way to tell is try it, and that is likely not a desireable method.

Even though I am from KY, my preferences run to Scothc, Irish and Bourbon in that order, with gin and wine close seconds. Unhappily I have found that he heart medicine I now take is not compatible with any of them and it is the alcohol that is the culprit. Sadly we sometimesmhae to play the cards we are dealt. Luckily in my case, the problem is the alcohol which does cook away, so I can at least do some creative cooking to enjoy.

I appreciate that information, especially coming from a credible source. The stuff one reads anymore is all over the map (pseudo-science is everywhere it seems), which makes navigation through the resulting swamp pretty daunting. If I was smart I'd just leave booze alone but...on special occasions it is still pleasant to have the option (for either cooking or drinking), especially with a fine meal. FWIW, I haven't been able to get away with any scotch for some years now so I've conceded that fight.