A Willy Wonka reference seemed apropos as we'll be walking through the factory so to speak for this next part; and if anyone knows of a distillery that churns a river of scotch by waterfall...
A big reason for laying down all this groundwork so far was for my own benefit as well. "Learn by teaching", as they say. 'They' being teachers, I suppose. This next part in particular is something I wanted to research for my own benefit, because the art and science of turning a field of barley into a $64 bottle of Cragganmore, that's the part I understand the least. However, if this is where the magic happens, and why this stuff tastes so damn good to me, it's gotta be pretty important.
BARLEY
Being that every other step of scotch production requires the raw materials remain in Scotland, it may be surprising to learn that the barley itself can come from anywhere. Barley is a member of the grass family, and has been grown for thousands of years, and ranks 4th in global production behind only corn, rice, and wheat (3rd in the US after corn and sorghum). It is grown in a wide variety of climates, including here in Virginia (although places like North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho top the list in the US).
One ton of barley in the hands of a reasonably efficient distillery can yield about 400 L of spirit (105 US gallons), about two household bathtubs full. The Glenfiddich Distillery alone produces more than 10 million L of pure ethanol each year, assuming 40% ABV (80 proof US), that works out to 62,500 tons of barley (roughly 140 Boeing 747's at 'max take-off weight') every year from just this one distillery.
There are two major types of barley, two-row and six-row. I'm sure any farmer could regale you with the finer points of each, but of importance to us thirsty people is that the two-row variety is lower in protein and higher in fermentable sugars than the six-row, making it ideal for malting and eventually distilling into alcoholic beverages. These include traditional German beers, English ales, and of course, scotch whisky. Six-row is used more for animal feed and the kind of American lagers best drunk with a funnel on Spring Break at Lake Havasu.
After the grains have been separated from the barley husks, they are soaked in water to stimulate germination. This process is to "generate enzymes required to modify the grain's starches into sugars" (thanks, Wikipedia!). Once the grains sprout, the so-called green malt, the sugar content is maximized in a form that that can utilized by yeast, the process is brought to a halt by drying, whether by hot air, ovens, peat smoke, etc., This step will have a significant impact on flavor.
The process of malting barley also does not have to take place in Scotland. Most of the 109 scotch distilleries do purchase or import the malt used in their production, but I tend to look more favorably on the 7 of the those with their own malting floor on site. Here in Virginia, the Copper Fox Distillery has their own up the road in Sperryville. If you are into the whole farm-to-table ethos, the Lickinghole Creek Brewery, just outside Richmond in Goochland County, grows their own barley and malts it on site for their line of craft beers.
THE MONSTER 'MASH', 'WORTS' AND ALL
Once dried, the malt is milled into a powdery grist, to which hot water is added, beginning the mash phase. The mash is left to rest for a variable amount of time in a large vessel, often wooden or stainless steel, known as the mash tun, During this 'mash rest' period, even more starches are further converted into fermentable sugars. After the prescribed time (a few days maybe), the liquid is drained off, a solution known as wort.
The wort is transferred into a washback vessel for fermentation, so this of course is when the yeast is added. Once the yeast has worked its magic over a few more days, the result is known as the wash, usually only 7-10% ABV at this point. If any home brewers are following along out there, or any regular viewer of the show 'Brew Dogs' for that matter, you may noticed the whole process to this point is basically the same as brewing beer. However, instead of adding hops, the wash for scotch whisky meets a different fate, but we'll save that for next time...
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