Whiskey or Whisky is a distilled beverage produced by distillation of grains, regularly different varieties are used including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Nevertheless, the product differs widely depending on the base product used, alcoholic content, and quality. The typical unifying characteristics of the different classes and types are the fermentation of grains, distillation, and aging in wooden barrels.
The simplest standard distillation equipment is commonly known as a pot still, consisting of a single heated chamber and a vessel. Pot stills operate on a batch distillation. Traditionally constructed from copper, pot stills are made in a range of shapes and sizes depending on the quantity and style of spirit desired. Nowadays by law, cognac, Irish and Scotch malt whiskies, and single pot still whiskey must be distilled using a pot still. (more…)
ABV is the abbreviation for “Alcohol by volume”. Actually, it is the measurement of the percentage volume of alcohol by volume of the beverages (beer, liquor, wine, spirits…). Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc./vol.) is a standard measure, it is defined as the number of millilitres (ml) of pure ethanol present in 100 ml of solution at 20 °C (68 °F). (more…)
The liquid resulting from the fermentation (Wash) are limited to a maximum alcohol content of about 20% ABV, as most yeasts cannot reproduce when the concentration of alcohol is above this level; as a consequence, fermentation ceases at that point. If we boil the wash, then the alcohol on it evaporates first due to its boiling point (78.3°C/172.94°F) and the water is leaving behind.
(more…)
Wort is the malty liquid that contains the fermentable sugars that are produced by the mashing process. The wort is filtered, boiled and cooled before yeast is added to initiate the process of fermentation.
In brewing and distilling, mashing is the process of combining a mix of milled and cracked grain (typically malted barley with supplementary grains such as corn, rye or wheat), known as the “grain bill“, and water while being heated. (more…)
Malt are germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as “malting”. More precisely, malting is a general term used for a process of converting barley or other cereal grains into malt, for use in brewing, distilling, or in foods. These grains soaked and drained to initiate the germination of the plant and takes place sometimes called a malthouse, or a malting floor. (more…)
Hops are the flowers of the hop plant (Humulus lupulus). The plant is a dioecious, climbing, herbaceous, perennial, usually trained to grow up strings in a field called a hopfield, hop garden or hop yard. There are many different varieties of hops around the world and production is concentrated in moist temperate climates. Hops are usually dried in an oast house before they are used in the brewing process. (more…)
Yeasts are single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. They are more than 1,500 species currently identified. The word “yeast” comes from Old English gist, gyst, and from the Indo-European root yes, meaning “boil”, “foam”, or “bubble”. (more…)
Is a chemical process by which glucose (sugar) is transformed in ethanol anaerobically (the absence of oxygen). This process was not identified until the 19th century by a French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur used the term fermentation to describe the changes brought about by yeasts and other microorganisms growing in the absence of air (it means, fermentation was caused by living cells!); he also recognized that alcohol and carbon dioxide are not the only products of fermentation.
ALCHEMIXING 