Do you know the process of whisky making?
Learn how whisky is made in eight steps at once.
Briefly explain the steps of whisky making: germination - grinding - saccharification - fermentation - distillation - barreling - blending - bottling.
Malting.
The main raw materials of sprouted Malting whisky are barley, wheat, corn, grain, etc. After removing impurities, these selected raw materials are soaked in hot water, then heated and dried, waiting for the next stage. Only the barley will make it to the next step as sprouted malt.
It is worth mentioning that in Scotch whisky, "peat" is used in the drying process, which gives Scotch whisky its distinctive smoky peat taste. In Ireland, near Scotland, oats were used as raw materials.
2. Milling
Let it sit for about a month while the malt is ground in a special grinding machine.
3. Mashing
After grinding, put it into wort jar, and add hot water of about 60℃-70℃ to dissolve the malt powder. After the sugar of malt powder dissolves in water, it is wort. Temperature and time will affect the quality of the wort. Due to the limited sugar content in malt powder, it is necessary to rely on the amylase to convert starch into glucose and maltose. If the temperature of hot water exceeds 90℃, the activity of amylase will be destroyed, so the water temperature should not be too high.
4. Fermentation
After the wort cools, it is fermented with yeast, which converts the sugar into alcohol, which is only 7% alcohol.
5. Distillation
The fermentation liquid is put into a still for distillation, which has the effect of concentration. The distilled wine is called new wine, which is transparent, colorless and highly concentrated. Generally, whiskey must be distilled twice, and the concentration of the liquor produced after the first distillation is only 20%, but after the second distillation, the concentration of the liquor will be between 60% and 70%. Only the core is taken as whisky. But there is no limit to two distilleries, some distilleries will increase to three distilleries, to ensure the quality of the wine, but the distillation process will make the flavor of the grain itself escape, so the number of distilleries must rely on the experience and wisdom.
6. Maturing
The new wine must be loaded into oak barrels and matured for several years. In the ripening process, the ester, tree ester and "residual fragrance" produced by the inner wall of the barrel are absorbed, and then the different flavors of flower and fruit, wood, grain and honey are brought. Brandy, whiskey and rum are not the only wines that age. In recent years, gin, vodka and tequila have also used oak barrels to enhance the body itself.
7.Blending
It is up to the expertise of the distillery's bartenders to blend the concentration and taste acceptable to the public.
8. Bottling
The blended whisky is filtered again to remove impurities before it can be bottled, a process that is now mostly mechanised.
Note 1: The coal used to dry malt is peat, which will be discussed in detail in an advanced article.
Note 2: Since oak barrels are not necessarily new, they may pick up the aroma of previous wines.
Note 3: Bartender here is not a bartender as you usually hear. It's Blender.
Note 4: Heart: After distillation, the body of the liquor can be divided into first stage liquor, spirit liquor and turbid-stage liquor.
The first stage liquor contains more residues (commonly known as lees) and contains methanol. The liquor contains fusel oil, which gives it a leather-burning taste. The two parts are not drinkable, so they must be separated, and the distilled spirit is called the core, which makes up only 20% of the distilled spirit.
