2 I 2012 - Grandhotel Pupp

HOW IS IT MADE?
1 Malting
2 Fermentation
3 Distillation
4 Ageing
Continuation from the previous number
2 FERMENTATION
The sugary liquid is cooled to 22 – 24 °C and yeast changes sugar
into alcohol. This process takes place prevailingly in special wooden
containers (wash backs) whose volume is up to 700 hl and it takes
two or three days. The result of fermentation is the transformation
of the sugary liquid into a weak alcoholic solution similar to beer –
that is why it is called beer or wash.
Each distillery uses its special sorts of yeast (distiller’s or brewer’s
yeast) which it grows. The type of yeast is kept secret – it is typical
of each distillery. Huge containers are made of Oregon pine or
Siberian larch. Lately they have started being made of stainless steel
too. The smallest wash back is in Edradour (10 hl) and the biggest
one is in Tamnavulin (more than 700 hl).
3 DISTILLATION
The resulting liquid contains about 6-9% of alcohol and goes
through two stages of distillation which is controlled by a stillman.
The first stage includes heating the containers closely under the
boiling point which results into the separation of alcohol from
the remaining liquid, yeast and non-fermented parts. Steam gets
cool, condenses and low alcohol spirit is made. It is called low
wines and contains 20 to 30% of alcohol. In the second stage, the
cooled spirit continues into another, usually a smaller distillation
unit (doublingstill, spiritstill). From here it goes to what is called
alcohol safe through a cooling system. Its volume is measured in
the safe. Only the middle fraction (heart of the run or middlecut)
is always used in the proper distillation as it has the right strength
and quality. The specialist’s task is to use his experience and feeling
to tell the right moment when the best part of the distillate should
be drawn off because it is crucial for the quality of whisky. Only this
part of production is later used to age in barrels.
The beginning – foreshots and the end - feinst contain some
undesirable ingredients and are added to the following batch,
mixed with it and prepared for new distillation. Distillation units
are of different size – their volume can reach 40 hl like in Edradour
or 300 hl like in Glenfarclas.
Malt whisky is distilled with 65-80 % of alcohol (baby whisky)
in the final stage, grain whisky with up to 94 %. The maximum
is 94.8 alcohol by law, however, both sorts are diluted to about
64 % which improves the quality of the ageing process in barrels.
The whole process does not seem to be very productive from
the outside – distilled whisky creates approximately a quarter of
what you originally started to process. Scotch whisky is usually
distilled 2x, somewhere 2.5x which means that only a part of the
production is distilled for a third time to make it finer (Ardbeg,
www.pupp.cz
a THOUSand TaSTES OF WHISkY
Benrinnes, Springbank) and triple distillation is carried out only
in Auchentoshan today, it had been in the Rosebank Distillary
too before it was closed down. Some distilleries on some islands
distilled whisky even four times in the past to make it less heavy.
The distillery in Bruichladdich is trying to do the same with a part
of its production nowadays.
Grain whisky is distilled continuously in two huge units. Most
grain whisky is distilled twice, only the whisky in the most modern
distillery Girvan is distilled three times.
It is said that whisky must be in contact with copper (it removes
undesirable sulphur) during the process of distillation, otherwise
the final product will not be perfect. Jim Murray expressed it briefly:
”The more the spirit is in contact with copper, the more distinctive
the taste of the final product is and the heavier it is.”
From the Big Book about Whisky by Vladimír Kulhánek,
Dokořán (2007). To be continued.
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