Different Fermentation Methods for Whiskey and Traditional Spirits
Malt
#01 Grinding in preparation for "pressing out" the wort
Theoretically, by mixing malt directly with water, the hydrolase will dissolve the starch in the water. Unfortunately, this process proceeds very slowly because the malt shell blocks the contact between water, starch and enzymes.
Therefore, grinding is needed at this time - that is, grinding the malt to destroy the husk of the malt and expose the starch so that the remaining water and enzymes have a larger contact area.
Ground malt
Grinding sounds like a simple grinding, but it also has certain technical difficulties. If the malt particles after grinding are too small, it will easily cause the malt to absorb too much water, turn into dough, and make it difficult to filter out the wort. If the malt particles are too large, the starch in the center of the malt particles will not have enough contact with the enzyme. Both of the above situations will reduce the distillery's utilization of sugar in malt.
The industry does not provide standards for particle size. The malt particles ground by various distilleries are large and small, and the judgment relies on years of accumulated experience and technology.
When grinding is complete, the malt is ready to enter the mashing stage. The wort extraction stage begins!
#02 Demystifying mashing
Simply put, saccharification is to convert the starch in the malt granules into fermentable sugars that are soluble in water, that is, "squeezing out" the wort that the yeast can directly use for fermentation.
Wort
Next, the second stream of water at about 70°C will continue to mix with the malt particles. This is the optimal temperature for α-amylase, and the starch in the grains will be further decomposed. The wort obtained from the above two saccharifications will be used for subsequent fermentation.
After filtering out the second wort, the third water is added again with a higher water temperature, usually between 80-90°C. Sometimes a fourth stream of water is even added to extract as much residual sugar as possible from the wheat grains. However, the sugar content in these two worts is not high and will not be used for fermentation. Instead, it will be used as the first water for the saccharification of the next batch of malt.
mash tank
There is also a semi-lauter tun that combines two types of equipment, that is, saccharification and filtration can be completed in the same equipment. In this case, water-insoluble wheat husks and other substances will be deposited at the bottom, forming a natural filter to filter the wort.
The wort that is finally filtered for fermentation is divided into turbid and clear, both of which also have a significant impact on the flavor of the final whiskey.
Generally speaking, cloudy worts will produce nutty, spicy flavors, while clear worts will produce whiskeys with fewer grains.
About grains
In fact, the grains used to make whiskey also include rye, wheat, corn, etc. Whether it's bourbon, rye or grain whiskey, malt will serve as the base ingredient and provider of flavor and enzymes. In fact, the saccharification and fermentation process of malt is roughly the same as the production of beer. It can also be understood that beer is the predecessor of whiskey liquor.
