Men Stuff Approved delved deep into the world of whiskey malting to find out exactly how it is made. Some sampling may have taken place along the way – for research purposes of course! This is what we discovered.
The Archie Rose Distillery in Sydney begun business over 160 years ago crafting spirits such as whisky, vodka and gin. Visitors to the distillery can also enjoy a peak into the process from the very first step through to bottling the product.
The malting process begins with a grain such as barley, corn or rye. Archie Rose use barley and the starch in the barley is transformed into sugars to make the alcohol.
The Barley goes through a germination process called ‘malting’ which sees the barley soaked in water for 3 days and then dried. Once the barley starts to sprout it is now ‘malt’ which is powdered down to release the starch.
The malt is added to hot water, converting the starch into sugar which will ferment. This is known as the ‘mash’. It’s then poured into a mash tun and mixed. This can be done by hand or mechanically. If by hand two hours of stirring per day is needed to ensure the majority of the starch is transformed into sugars. It’s then strained off and we are left with a sweet liquid known as ‘wort’. We now have our base for making whiskey!
The wort then goes into fermentation tanks and yeast is added. The yeast eat the sugar and convert it to alcohol and CO2. This is a very similar process to fermenting beer. This step takes no more than 3 days and teh liquid produced is around 8-9%.
The flavours are down to the esters created by the yeast and many distilleries are very particular about what sort of yeast they use. Archie Rose favour brewers yeast which they believe to be a wonderful flavour.
Now the alcohol needs to be distracted from the liquid to make it more concentrated. This is done in the distillation process. The liquid is tipped into copper pots. Copper is often used for extracting impurities and results in a purer and more clean product.
At Archie Rose the huge pots have huge steam rings which heat the liquid to the point of vaporisation. It rises up the pipe and cooler water runs down the arm to turn it back into liquid form. Now our product is at 25-28%.
The size and shape of the pot is imperative and very much effects the whiskey’s flavour. A column that is too tall would produce a lighter spirit with impurities struggling to make it over the neck. A shorter one would make it easier so you would have a more rich spirit.
They are then put into a small still and the process is replicated. Now we have our whiskey which is diluted from 75% to 63%!
Finally the spirits are placed in charred casks to mature. Charred wood adds yet more flavour. When the barrels heat up the wood pulled the liquid through the caramelised layers and when it cools the liquid is pushed back out. leaving it with a sweet flavour. This is often repeated for years.
Did you know that whiskey is actually clear before it goes into the barrels. The colour is born from the wood and indeed much of the flavour comes from the wood too.
The entire process can can take anywhere between 5-7 years. All things good come to those who wait.
