The next time you taste a Japanese whisky – like Nikka Malt whisky – you will note the distinct fruity, estery flavors. As part of my studies at Heriot Watt University, I have come across some journal papers that point out the Japanese deliberately add Lactobacillus bacteria towards the end of the fermentation. These microbes feast on whatever may be left of the fermentable sugars in the fermenter plus they feast on the dead carcasses of yeast cells that have expired. What these microbes generate is lactic acid. According to the literature, this acid can alter the structure of fatty acids in the fermented wash to generate lactones plus they can combine with alcohol molecules to create esters. Net result – better mouthfeel and better flavor. I recently saw an add in a magazine for a Lallemand product called Sour Pitch which is Lactobacillus Plantarum microbes. This product is aimed at craft brewers seeking to make sour beers. I contacted Lallemand and they graciously provided me with some Sour Pitch. I have now completed 3 mashes using one of my Bourbon recipes. In one mash I added zero microbes. In the 2nd, I added a measured quantity after 84 hrs of fermentation and left the bacteria to grow in the fermenter for 24 more hours. In the 3rd, I let the same measured dose of bacteria grow for 48 more hours. I have now done A’Lembic pot distillation strip runs and spirit runs. I will be sending samples to Lallemend for GC analysis.We hope to be able to identify the presence of esters on the GC plots and we hope that the 48 hrs sample will have a greater ester profile. Stay tuned for the outcome….

Back in February when I was in Scotland I toured Glengoyne Distilling just outside the Glasgow suburb of Milngavie. I was seriously impressed with how open and welcoming the team was at Glengoyne – in particular my tour guide Jo-Anne.

I learned that many Scotch distillers use something called Distiller’s Malt – which is a malt barley more highly modified than the usual 2-row pale malt commonly available in North America. A higher degree of modification means that the sprouted grains have been dried “low and slow”. The naturally occurring enzymes in the grain thus are more apt to survive the drying process. In the typical Pale Malt, the drying process is quicker and many of the natural enzymes are killed off, save for Alpha amylase and Beta amylase.

Back in Canada, I recently approached my grain distributor ( Western Malt Distributors in Saskatoon) to inquire about Distiller’s Malt. I soon learned that it is available through Cargill (USA) – so I ordered 6 bags. More costly than the regular Pale Malt – but such is the tuition cost of learning. Upon opening the first bag – I was hit with beautiful malty, biscuit-like aromas. For sure – different than the standard Pale Malt.

As I sit here on this Saturday morning, I am doing that final 2 mashes from these 6 bags. My arms are sore and so they ought to be. Hand-cranking 300 pounds of grain through my little roller mill is a lot of work. No need to visit the gym this month!

Each mash was remarkably consistent giving me 21 Brix after a 63C rest and a 72C rest. What’s more the sweet goodness of this malt was beyond beautiful. To add to the flavor, I included in each mash some Simpson’s Smoked Malt (27 ppm phenol) and some Chocolate Malt.

I fermented all my mashes with Lallemand MW yeast for 5 days. I then did stripping runs on my 60 L A’lembic still and ran each run until my hydrometer read 10%. In other words, I stripped everything out.

The stripped distillate was then re-distilled in my 20L A’lembic. The majority of these spirits runs came off at 85% and towards the end of the run, tailed off. I stopped collecting when my hydrometer read 55-60%. each spirits run yielded on average a distillate that was about 72-75% alc. It was interesting to taste these late runnings when teh hydrometer was at or near 60%. The notes of chocolate (from the Chocolate Malt) were very evident.

I have now about filled a 56L barrel at 58% alc and that barrel shall rest for at least 3 years. I think this is going to be a fabulous product.

If you can get your hands on some Distiller’s Malt, give it a go. I think you will be impressed.

Oh…and by the way…if you are curious about the next 5 Day Distillery Workshop – it is set for the week of Sept 11th at Urban Distilleries in Kelowna, BC. See their website for registration details. There might be one more in late October – but my Heriot Watt M.Sc. school work is going to again take priority for me….. I have one more course to do this Fall and will be starting my thesis project as well.

Thanks to some British sensibility, my faith in Spirits Awards is now partly restored. The World Drinks Awards in my humble opinion appears to be on the track towards doing it right. Entries are slotted into their various categories and then each category judged once to weed out products that do not conform to expected characteristics. Surviving products are judged again to further whittle down the list. And then again to identify the category winner. There is none of the usual suspect nonsense of 19 people in a category all taking Gold, 23 people taking Silver and so on. In my travels, if I see a craft distiller ( or a distiller in general) who has won at this British event, I will definitely pay close attention to that product….

Next time you stop at your local Liquor store, ask the product advisor how many bottles of Vermouth they sell in a typical month. The number I assure you will be a small one. People simply don’t know what to do with a Vermouth, other than to spritz a wee bit into a Gin cocktail.

I just finished another of my wild experiments – this one to make Vermouth. I started with a quantity of Vodka. You can obviously buy your Vodka at the Liquor store. In my case, I take a slightly different approach which I shall not discuss here. I added a litany of herbs that I sourced at Herbie’s Herbs in Toronto, Canada. Look around your community and you will find a purveyor of herbs and spices. The list included the likes of Wormwood, Thistle, Mint, Angelica, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Gentian. I soaked the herbs in the alcohol for 20 days. I then strained the concoction through a coffee filter. The resulting dark liquid was then blended into some white Gewurtztraminer wine that I had sourced from my local U-Vin store. The ratio of herbal liquid to wine was 1 part herbal to 5 parts wine, but you can adjust that to your liking. I then added 0.8 parts simple sugar syrup for every part of the herbal liquid. Again, you can make minor adjustments to suit your taste buds. By my math, the resulting product measures about 15% alc/vol. On a nice Summer day, a generous dram of this Vermouth with an ice cube is just what the Doctor ordered as far as I am concerned.

In your travels to craft distilleries, start inquiring whether they have a Vermouth type product for sale. If not, share this post with them. Or…make your own Vermouth. Life is too short to not have a nice Vermouth on hand….for those relaxing occasions on the deck during the Summer. For recipe details, get in touch with me.

I say India……you say curry, Taj Mahal, Bombay, Bollywood….

You say India and I say wow!!! … Indian Whisky.

In our 5 day Distilling Workshops I delve deep into the chemistry that occurs in an oak barrel during ageing. I talk about the effects of temp and humidity on these chemistry processes. Now, I have tasted the science that I talk about. Amrut Indian Whisky is a blended malt (distillate made from smoked malt from UK plus distillate made from non-smoked malt from Himalayan foothills of India) aged in oak casks for a max of 4 years in the hot, humidity of India. You simply have got to try this stuff. I paid $92 in Kelowna, BC and have seen it for $150 in Calgary – so shop carefully. Add water to open up the flavors and prepare to be amazed. Enticing bits of smoke, sweetness, maltiness and even some fruitiness will tease your palate. Amrut is taking the world by storm…and now I know why. After trying this excellent creation, you may find yourself drinking it on a regular basis….