This week I had a unique opportunity to visit Simpson’s Malt plant at Berwick Upon Tweed (England). This facility malts about 6 different varietals of 2-row barley for the distilling industry. Other Simpson’s locations do malting for the beer industry.

The annual intake into this facility is something like 8 million bushels per year. In a word – HUGE!

When we were there on site, trucks were coming in fast and furious loaded with barley.

Each incoming truck was sampled by the receiver technician. He was examining his collected samples for evidence of bugs and other debris.

Received barley is stored in huge silos until needed. When a quantity is needed for malting, it is washed to remove dust and debris. The wetted barley is then moved to massive steeping tanks. The general approach is to wet the barley for 8 hrs, drain and let rest for 10 hrs, wet for 8 hrs and rest for 10 hrs. Through it all, the barley is periodically stirred and wetted to control temperature.

What was interesting was the fact that not all distillers want the usual malted barley. Some of the barley at this Simpson’s plant was passed through rotating drums where the grains were wetted and air rested alternately. After sprouting, the so called “green malt” was loaded onto trucks and hauled away to the North British distillery near Edinburgh. By accepting non-dried / non-kilned malt, North British is saving $$$$ a lot of money. This is important because North British is simply making the grain alcohol that comprises the bulk of blended Whiskies (such as Johnny Walker).

For the rest of the barley, after the wetting routine, it is transferred by conveyor to the germination / kilning vessels (GKV’s). Here the grain is allowed to develop its root and shoot (acrospire) over a 96 hr span of time. Once the acrospire is about 2/3 the length of the kernel, heat is applied to the GKV vessel to halt any further progression of the acrospire. The moisture level of the grain is reduced to about 4%. It is then sent via truckload to distillers across Scotland.

We also learned that some distillers request peated barley. To accomplish this, Simpson’s takes some of the dried barley malt and loads it into a separate vessel where peat smoke at ambient temperature is allowed to filter through the grain for a set period. The longer the time, the more ppm phenol content of the barley. I was surprised to learn that the barley need not be wetted prior to smoke exposure.

This was an amazing trip. If you ever have a chance to visit a malt plant, I suggest you jump at the opportunity. You will be amazed….

We had a very nice visit to Arbikie Distillery near Dundee, Scotland. I highly recommend a visit here if your travels take you near Dundee.

Arbikie is situated on a 2500 hectare farm. Equipment has been sourced form German still maker Carl – and we are taking some BIG equipment.

Whisky wash runs and spirit runs are done on the pot stills. When making Vodka, distillate vapor stream is diverted through 2 columns with 20 donut & disc type plates. What I failed to photograph was the de-methylization column with its partial reboiler.

The Potato Vodka was exquisite. When I sip Potato Vodka I look for the elegant silky texture on the tongue and Arbikie’s product delivered that texture in large measure. The Gin made from this Vodka was by far and away the best Gin I have had in the UK on this trip.

Add Arbikie to your travel list. You will enjoy it.

We had a fantastic visit to the Diageo copper works in Alloa the other day. This facility is dedicated to ensuring the copper stills at all of Diageo’s European distilleries are kept in good working order.

We learned that it takes 4 years of apprentice time to qualify as a coppersmith.

There was a point in time when copper stills were made by the hot rivet method as this photo of an old still section shows.

Today, the 6 mm copper sheeting is oxy-acetylene welded with copper rod. At the time of welding, two welders work in tandem. One person welds the top side of the seam while his co-worker does the underside. Take this bit of trivia seriously. If a stillmaker tries to tell you that he cannot offer you 6 mm copper because it is too light to weld, you are dealing with the wrong supplier. Find a stillmaker who can do oxy-acetylene welding on 6 mm copper.

We also learned that copper is essential in removing sulfides from the material being distilled. A visit to the Scotch Whisky Research Institute has confirmed this. What’s more, we learned that people who are using a stainless steel pot and a copper column will make OK spirits, but to make exceptional spirits, a full copper system is needed. Sadly, I am seeing a lot of suppliers providing craft distillers with stainless pots and copper columns or sacrificial copper in the column. Why would a person opt for stainless so they can make just OK spirits. If you are getting into the craft business, why not aim to make the best possible product ?

Here are 3 copper still destined for Ireland. Why 3 you ask? That’s because Irish Whisky is triple pot distilled.

Here is a shell-in-tube condenser. Diageo has 9 distilleries that use the worm tub type condensers. All their other operations use shell in tube. We learned that the lesser surface area of a worm tub will give a distillate that is heavier and potentially with more sulfur notes than shell in tube.

And lastly – what happens when you weld copper? Yep – it gets hot all over because copper is a heat conductor. This heat anneals the grain structure. We learned that soft copper will be prone to erosion from stripping runs. At Diageo copper, all copper sections are hand hammered to “work harden” the copper grain structure. This prolongs the life of the still. If you are ordering a copper pot, ask the supplier if they have hammered the surfaces to harden the copper structure. If they look perplexed at that question, you are dealing with the wrong supplier.

Take caution if you are shopping for stills. There is a lot more to the structure of the metal than I ever imagined.

In the course of my studies here at Heriot Watt, I stumbled upon some Journal articles that referred to Japanese Whisky and how the Japanese are adding Lactobacillus bacteria to the latter stages of their ferments. The precise science, I am still trying to learn but as I understand it, the bacteria create lactic acid which decarboxylates the COOH end of fatty acids. Alcohol molecules then append themselves to this severed end and the next result is an ester.

One of the Japanese whiskies I had while at the Highlander Inn in Craigellachie was Yamazaki Distillers Reserve. Every sip of this nectar was fruity and elegant thanks to the esters.

Prior to coming to Scotland in late July, I did a series of mashes using my Bourbon recipe involving Malt Rye. I obtained some Lactobacillus bacteria from yeast company Lallemand. I conducted a mash and double pot distillation of a batch with no bacteria. I conducted a similar run where I added bacteria for a set amount of time. Lastly, I did a third run where the becteria had been added for a longer time. I can tell you that the new make coming off my pot still for the 3rd batch (longest bacterial residence time) was fruity and wonderful. I am now a firm believer in adding bacteria to the ferments. My hope now is that I can find some craft distillers that are curious enough to try this technique.

I first was introduced to McCallan way back in 1990, so when I had a chance to visit the Distillery just recently in early August 2018, I bought the 15 Pound ticket.

In a word – stunning! Edrington Group has spent 140 million Pounds to create what is without doubt the most elegant visitor experience I have ever encountered.

From the collection of old bottles on the walls to the building itself that has been designed to blend into the hillside to the herd of Scottish long-haired cattle, this is a great way to spend a day. You will learn some new technical details, especially about wooden casks. You will emerge a wiser Scotch Whisky consumer.

Today, I did a VIP Tour of Speyside Cooperage. This company is owned by French multinational TFF and in fact here is what I learned (I was shocked!!):

TFF has a cooperage in Ohio somewhere. At this cooperage they make new oak barrels which are rented out to Bourbon distillers for 4 to 6 years. After the Bourbon distillery is done with the cask, TFF reclaims their barrel and ships it to Scotland where it is re-furbished in Craigellachie before being sold to a Scotch distillery.

In addition, some of the barrels here at this cooperage are outright owned by big Scotch whisky makers who give careful instructions as to how to refurbish them. I was under the impression that all barrels were given a shave and a re-toast and a re-char. Not necessarily. Some are just given an inspection for cracks and a re-char. Some are just given an inspection only. In all cases, the metal hoops are re-furbished by removing the rivets and drilling new holes are inserting new rivets. This is to ensure that the barrel remains tight once it is filled again with distillate. The lids when applied again are fitted with a length of river reed which acts as a seal to prevent any leaks from the lid area.

TFF also has a facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. A craft distiller can contact this location to buy re-furbished barrels.

What follows are some pics that I took. These hardly do the subject justice. You really need to be here boots on the ground and literally 3 feet away from the cooper as he plies his trade before your eyes. I have also learned that it takes 4 years to become a cooper. Many of the coopers I saw working today have been there for decades. One gentleman had 44 years seniority. Apparently the one issue that can end a career is a back injury. Constant movement, twisting and turning can take their toll on a man’s back.

I also learned that the coopers are paid by the barrel. To get paid, their barrels made in a day all have to pass a pressure test. If getting paid piece-work sounds like a bad deal, it is not. I was told that these coopers make 3 times as much money as the average working person in the Craigellachie area.

A short walk along the road from Craigellachie will take you to the facility. On their website they talk about tours, but it is best to email Gillian Reid and ask her about the VIP 30 Pound option.

Barrels, barrels. Gaaaad!! Piles of the damn things!!

In my book Field to Flask, I try to describe how the oak logs are quarter-sawn. This photo explains it better.

A shot of the production floor.I took a lot of video footage and will be creating a video presentation.

FIRE !!!! I learned that a #4 alligator char is a 160 second computer-timed burn. A #2 char is something like 75 seconds. After flame-out, water is sprayed inside to stop the burn.

The cooper uses a tool to insert a length of reed into the “croze” joint around the lid.

New lids are made on site in the event that the barrels arriving on site have bulged or cracked lids.

The taller barrel is called a Port pipe.

These smaller barrels are called quarter-casks. ( Hint – Laphroaig Quarter Cask Single Malt….)

As noted in a previous post, a tour of Glenfiddich is a must. What follows are some pics I took while on tour along with brief comments…

The grounds are immaculate. This kind of care and attention speaks volumes about the organizational culture that has been created at Glenfiddich, which speaks further to the quality of their products.

Mash vessels and a shot of the rakes inside the vessels. Each mash comprises 10 tons of grain and up to 60,000 liters of water. The method is the standard “3 water mash” procedure.

Sparged wort passes through plate heat exchangers to cool from 85C to 17C.

There are 32 fermenters on site. All are the wooden Douglas Fir construct. Lactobacillus bacteria are resident in the tiny cracks in the wood. These bacteria thrive during the ferment and decarboxylate fatty acids which leads to creation of fruity esters after the 72 hr ferment cycle. In fact – the new make spirit is exceptionally fruity and almost worthy of a wee dram in itself.

On site there are 10 wash stills 9100 Liters in size and 18 spirit stills 4550 Liters in size.

The bottling line was operating while I was there. Off to one side there were some bottles set up for hand filling and hand labeling. These, we were told, were 50 year old Whisky destined for China. They will sell for $26,000 per bottle to wealthy Chinese businessman. Time to make friends with a Chinese business-man !!!

There are so many aging warehouses on site, I lost track. Note the black staining on the exterior of this building. That is the classic black mold that loves to grow on alcohol aging warehouses.

These few pictures only provide you with a visual. To get the whole experience, you have to be here boots on the ground. Truly a remarkable experience.

If you are thinking of venturing into the craft distilling business, before you make any decisions or buy any equipment, a trip to the Speyside region of Scotland is critical.

To get to these parts, take a train from Edinburgh to Inverness and then on to Elgin. From Elgin, catch Bus #36 to Craigellachie and exit there (hint – there is only 1 bus stop in the wee town..). Another hint – this bus runs 7 days a week, despite claims to the contrary on the Internet (fake news). Stay either at the Highlander Inn or the Craigellachie Inn. To give you an example of how traditional this area is, the Highlander website had no on-line reservation function. I had to do the old fashioned method of phoning them to reserve a room (just like we used to do in the 1980’s !!!).

From Craigellachie, a 1 mile jaunt will land you at Speyside Cooperage. You can do the cheap 4 Pound tour or you can pay 30 Pounds for the VIP version. I did the VIP one and got 2 hours on the floor with the coopers watching in intricate detail how they refurbish barrels for various distillery customers. This place is owned by French company TFF who also have a sister facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. A further 2 miles along the road will land you at Glenfiddich Distillery. By far and away the BEST tour I have ever had anywhere ( I did the 50 Pound Solera Tour which includes a full distillery tour plus a detailed intro to their Solera method which is used in their 15 Year Old expression). You can walk to the Cooperage from Craigellachie, but be sure to take Bus #36 to Glenfiddich.

Going the other way, you can walk the path along the Spey River that used to be the old rail line. There is an odd Canadian connection here. In the mid-1800s in Canada, there were some 70 distilleries making whisky for export to the UK. This Speyside Railway is what started to bring Speyside Whisky to the rest of the world thanks to its links to the port city of Glasgow. By the 1860s, many of these Canadian distilleries were defunct as demand for their exported Whisky had all but dried up.

It is 2 miles along this path to Aberlour (or you can hop Bus #36). In Aberlour you will find one of my favorite companies – Walkers Shortbread. You will also find the Aberlour Distillery – home to one of my favorite Whisky’s, Aberlour A’Bunadh which is aged in ex-sherry casks for its entire life.

Once you have tasted so many fine Whisky’s (the Highlander Inn has 400 on offer), you will start to understand why for so long now I have been screaming at the top of my lungs that proper Whisky should be double pot distilled. None of this column and plate bullshit. Columns and plates explain why our Canadian commercial whisky is what I term “brown piss in a bottle”. Craft distillers who insist on using columns and plates will be making – brown piss in a bottle. Does the Canadian consumer really need more brown piss? I say no. A craft distiller can make a great name for himself/herself by focusing on the double pot method.

Before I get too agitated and go off on a long rant, I will wrap it up here. This is a fantastic part of the world and you owe it to yourself to make the trip.