bauhauswerk

Dear Coilers, this is the last chapter of the “Flavours In Whisky” course, in which you can learn about where the whisky flavours come from.

In this Dram! we will continue where we stopped in the last post about the flavour development in the maturation process (pt.1)...

PREVIOUS CASK CONTENT – New Make is almost exclusively matured in ex bourbon casks but some of the whiskies are matured in second (even third) cask after ex bourbon.

That extra maturation usually takes from 3 months to a year in which whisky draws colour and flavours out from the previous content.

Each of the content gives differet flavours to whisky:

Bourbon - vanilla and coconut

Sherry - rich and fruit cake like flavours

Port - red fruits

Rum - mango, fruits and creme brulee

Wine - flavours depend on the wine sorts but usually fruity and honey flavours

Madeira - honey, fruit, berries

Marsala - nutty, sweet and spicy

Virgin Oak – vanilla, spicy, poverful dry tannins (rarely used as it is very powerful)

CASK SIZE – usually used casks are Barrel 200 liter, Hogshead 250 liter and Butt 500 liter.

Important thing in maturation is the wood surface to liquid ratio.

Smaller the cask the greater the wood surface area to liquid ratio thus quicker the maturation. Good example is Quarter Cask, 40-50 liter, which gives 30% more surface to liquid ratio than the standard barrels and whisky expressions matured in it have stronger flavours even if the whisky is younger.

MATURATION ENVIRONMENT – whisky evaporates during the maturation but the rate of it depends on the temperature and humidity of the climate.

In lower temperature and higher humidity climate like in Scotland, more alcohol evaporate and alcohol content is reduced. The rate is usually 1-1,5% per anum and the lost is called the Angel’s Share.

On the other hand, higher temperature and lower humidity, like in American distilleries, more water evaporates so the alcohol content increases.

WAREHOUSE – several techniques are used in warehouses to make the environment the most suitable for the maturation. Heating in winter, moving casks to different areas with different temperature and airflow, warehousing styles...

3 different styles are in use in Scotland: Dunnage, which is traditional style, Racked and Palletised.

Dunnage and Racked warehouses have higher evaporation losses but more extraction happens during the maturation.

Palletised system is harder to control so if the barrel starts leaking it sometimes cant be noticed which can result in higher losses.

CHILL FILTRATION – the notorious process which whisky connoisseurs despite.

A filtration process used prior to bottling which removes longer chain molecules and leave whisky crystal clear. Clear whisky is appreciated by standard consumers but non of the connoisseurs would mind a bit haze in whisky!

Those long chain molecules, mostly fatty acids infect mouth feel more than flavours and are left in whiskies of higher / superior quality.

BOTTLING STRENGHT – as whisky from the barrel is usually of high alcohol strenght (cask strength) it is diluted prior to bottling. Standard bottling strenghts are 40% (minimum) or 43%.

Some expressions are bottled to as high as the cask strenght.

As whisky is diluted with water, lower the alcohol lower the flavour and different flavour profile. That’s why the same whisky bottled at cask strenght and diluted to 40% gives two different drams!

Thanks for reading,

Srdan

My Cinnamon

My Twitter

Dear Coilers, in this atricle from the Brew! – series about beer, something non standard will be presented. A hybrid style expression will be poured in Coil’s taproom for the subscribers, made out of malted barley and wheat in Robinsons brewery.

ROBINSONS BREWERY

Based in the heart of Stockport, UK for almost two centuries, and owning around 260 tenanted and managed pubs, inns and hotels across the North West, Robinsons is one of oldest and most respected names in British brewing history.

A proud family of independent brewers, Robinsons is one of the most advanced and sophisticated breweries in the UK, with a worldwide reputation for real ale. It’s also home to the largest hopnik in the world. From here they apply decades of experience to create exciting new varieties and choices of flavour that will lead them towards their next award-winning beer.

Combining original recipe heritage brews such as Unicorn (legendary since 1896) and Old Tom (first brewed in 1899) with innovative young ales such as Dizzy Blonde, Wizard and TROOPER (created with Iron Maiden) is what differentiates Robinsons… forward-thinking with the very best traditions. It’s an award winning formula which has earned Robinsons real ale recognition for almost 180 years.

To maintain their exceptional consistency and beer excellence, their brewing methods are a carefully controlled combination of temperature, timing and flow rates. This helps them reduce variation and save on time, materials and utilities. The end result is the unmistakable taste of Robinsons beer.

As they like to say:

Robinsons – brewing perfection since 1838.

Coil’s taproom for the subscribers pours their legendary Unicorn Copper Ale, born in 1896 and was originally called Robinsons Best Bitter.

Unusually light, agile, yet complex, Unicorn hasn’t changed in over a hundred years. It was originally brewed by Frederic for his father William, at the Unicorn Inn, from where the beer eventually took its name, and where the Robinsons Brewery still stands.

Dripping with heritage, it’s a magnificent, thirst-quenching, thoroughbred bitter. The first of a bloodline that continues to this day.

Silver Medal Winner at the Brewing Industry International Awards.

For more content please visit my:

Cinnamon

Twitter

DISCLAIMER: I am not payed, sponsored nor related to any producer of beer nor whisky I write about. All bottles are bought and payed by myself with the help of Coil’s boost program.

Dear Coilers, in previous vlog from the Dram! series you learnt some basic facts about Scotch whiskies.

Now you have to learn how to taste it properly. (And see it in a vlog for the subscribers.)

Drinking whisky with friends when partying and tasting it are two completely different things.

Some of the whiskies you’ll come across during your dramming journey will be “once in a lifetime dram” so you even won’t be able to drink them anyway, but only taste them.

The point of tasting whisky is do discover all notes and flavours it hides in a dram. It will train your nose and palate as well as your brain. Just like perfumes, whiskies are all different. Even the same expression from the same distillery differs from batch to batch. Even the same New Make aged in the same barrel wont give the same result in 2 consecutive batches...

How to Taste Whisky?

Tasting and drinking whisky aren’t the same things. The goal is to evaluate and enjoy the whisky, not getting drunk! Getting drunk is never the right way!

That’s why Glencairn whisky glass is great. It’s not made for drinking but for tasting, a bulbous bottom is ideal for swirling and narrow at the top to concentrate aromas.

After you pour it you observe it.

The colour range from pale straw to deep brown. Older the whisky darker the colour.

BUT caramel colouring, if added, and it mostly is added, can spoil this part of tasting whisky as it doesn’t have its natural colour.

Then smell it gently. Savor all that gorgeous flavours of caramel, fruit, peat, smoke, spices... Train and practice different techniques, deep and shallow, long or short, still or rounding it around a bit, combinations of all those...

Take a small sip and become one with its flavours. Smaller sip, less the alcohol feeling. Give your palate a chance to adjust to the alcohol levels, then take another sip.

Try to detect all the flavours. Think about them, explore the complexity of the dram and enjoy.

Then comes the aftertaste, the finish. After you swallow the whisky, the flavour should linger on your palate, evolve and then fade away. Observe its duration and the flavours it leaves...

Then add the water, dilute it a bit. Let it open up and then nose it again. It will be different. New aromas come out.

Then sip it again and observe new flavours which you havent noticed before...

Enjoy your dram. A lot of work was input into it. Pay tribute to whisky makers by enjoying their product in a proper way.

During your whisky journey you will taste many different bottles. By training your nose and palate you will be able to differ whiskies by many of the categories. You will even be able to detect the region in which whisky was made. Maybe even to guess the distillery.

It is a long journey, but it is very well worth of all the miles traveled.

Hope you’ll continue that journey with me.

Thanks for reading,

Srdan.

Dear Coilers, I know that many of you wonder have I lost my mind?! Why is Brew! presenting a beer style which is not a beer?!

It is not the first time you read about “not real beer” here! Have you forgotten that the American Lagers were presented here too?

Coil’s taproom for the subscribers pours something nice and yummy...

GINGER BEER – is ginger flavoured, sweet, spicy, carbonated alcoholic beverage which originates in 19th century England.

It was originally made out of ginger, water, sugar, lemon juice and “ginger beer plant” (a symbiotic colony of yeast and bacteria (Lactobacillus sp.)) or from a “ginger bug” (starter created from fermenting ginger, sugar, and water).

Ginger beer was traditionally brewed to content over 10% of alcohol. Today is kept under 5% mostly though some modern ginger beer contains less than 0.5% of alcohol, which classes it as a non-alcoholic drink.

Its name isn’t a completely wrong as the term beer refers to the brewing process used to create it. The process helps extract flavor from the ingredients and occasionally adds carbonation naturally, though many commercially available ginger beers are industrially carbonated.

Some ginger beers appear cloudy because they are bottled unfiltered, so like with the unfiltered beers, pour half a glass, gently swirl and mix remaining half in a bottle and pour it to fill the glass with fully flavoured drink.

There is also a drink called Ginger Ale which originates in Ireland and it is mostly a straight up blend of carbonated water, sugar, and ginger flavor extracts.

Though their names are almost identical in meaning, ginger beer and ginger ale are two different drinks.

Of all the factors that distinguish the two drinks, flavor is the greatest. During the brewing process, ginger beer gains a stronger flavor than is commonly tasted in ginger ale, giving it a bracing, fiery punch. Ginger ale, on the other hand, is much milder, with a sweet, gentle flavor.

Given their noticeably different flavor profiles, it’s not ideal to substitute ginger ale for beer or vice versa. Ginger beer’s robust flavor allows it to hold its own when paired with alcohol in cocktails while Ginger ale can serve as a mixer but its gentle flavor doesn’t stand up as well to alcohol.

Instead, Ginger ale is commonly drunk as a remedy for indigestion and motion sickness and was traditionally drunk by children during the train, ship or plane trips to prevent them from vomiting.

Dear Coilers, in this Dram! you will learn about the oak and cask types and their influence in final whisky flavours.

Let’s remember what Scotch Whisky Association says about which casks can be used to mature whisky:

“The spirit must be matured in new oak casks and/or in oak casks which have only been used to mature wine (still or fortified) and/or beer/ale and/or spirits with the exception of:

• wine, beer/ale or spirits produced from, or made with, stone fruits
• beer/ale to which fruit, flavouring or sweetening has been added after fermentation
• spirits to which fruit, flavouring or sweetening has been added after distillation
• and where such previous maturation is part of the traditional processes for those wines, beers/ales or spirits

Regardless of the type of cask used, the resulting product must have the traditional colour, taste and aroma characteristics of Scotch Whisky”

Maturation process, as you have already learnt, is the part of the making of whisky which has the strongest influence on the final flavour. It can be devided into several parts...

OAK SPECIES – 2 main species are used in whisky production; American oak (Quercus alba) which gives lighter colour and vanilla, butterscotch and coconut flavours, and European/English oak (Quercus robur) which gives deeper and darker colour and stronger flavours of resin, tannins, spices and dried fruit.

4 components from oak affect whisky flavour:

• Lignin (30-35% in oak) – gives vanilla flavour as the most significant flavour produced from its thermal degradation is vanillin
• Hemicellulose (20-25%) – enhances toasty flavours and colours and enriches the body of the whisky
• Tannins – are usually removed in most part through toasting and seasoning of casks. High tannin levels from Virgin oak can add chewy mouthfeel so it is mostly avoided. Breakdown compound from tannins, acetaldehyde in reaction with alcohol produce acetals which give floral and nutty aromas
• Lipids – give woody and coconut flavours through cis and trans lactones. Those flavours are strong in bourbon whiskey which is always matured in new casks

American oak is kiln dried which is quicker drying process but doesnt deliver beneficial chemical changes like the air drying process does. Casks are used to mature bourbon whiskeys and have to be charred (by law). Charring process can volatise and lose some beneficial components of oak but on the other hand, charred layer can absorb less favourable components from the spirit.

European oak is air dried. That process takes long time but it helps undesirable tannins to be removed, mostly by exposure to rain. Casks made from it are toasted. Toasting delivers a breakdown of hemicellulose and lignin components which benefit the maturation of the spirit.

CHARRING/TOASTING – add more or less flavour and colour compounds into the maturing spirit dependant on the level of the heat treatmants.

Charring reduces sulphury notes in whisky by sticking sulphur compounds to the surface of the char. This is the reason why whiskies matured in ex sherry have more sulphury notes than those matured in ex bourbon casks, which, by law, have to be charred. Ex sherry casks are toasted (heavier or lighter).

Charring and toasting convert sugars from oak into vanilla and caramel flavours.

Toasting darkens only the top layer of the wood and leaves the wood with a flat black layer. In charring process the wood is burnt to the point where surface breaks and leaves wood with uneven surface structure.

The levels of toasting and charring are different in every distillery and have to match their desired flavours profil of the final product.

SEASONING – of the cask is holding another liquid for a short period of time in a newly produced cask before filling it with New Make spirit which impacts the colour and flavour characteristics of the whisky.

FILL STRENGTH - is mostly the same in most distilleries and casks are filled at the strength of 63,5% of alcohol.

Casks can be filled in other strenghts but that affects the maturation process as different compounds are extracted at different rates in different alcohol strengths (lactones are extracted more quickly in higher alcohol levely, whilst tannins in lower alcohol levels).

In next part from the “Flavours In Whisky” you will learn about other influences of the maturation process which will finally round your knowledge needed prior to the tasting.

Dear Coilers, after the Spring Revival short film, I bring you something new...

Meditative short film Green Vibes (3 min) will take you to wild forest in which you can enjoy in its relaxing sights and sounds.

Again, all the work was done on mobile. Filmed on iPhone using FiLMiC Pro app and edited on iPad with LumaFusion.

No accesories were used, just handheld phone and available software.

I’ve tried to put an hour of material into those 3 minutes...

...please spend them watching it, I’m sure it will relax you and take you to another place.

https://www.cinnamon.video/watch?v=306372402651072037

Thanks for watching,

Srdan

Dear Coilers, in previous parts of “Flavours In Whisky” you have learnt

1. The Flavour Wheel

2. Raw Materials

3. Fermentation And Distillation

Let’s remind ourselves of the pre maturation processes which have an affect on the whisky flavour, and how they affect flavour.

Peating – adds smokiness and medicinal notes

Fermentation lenght – adds fruitiness and buttery notes

Still shape – turns spirit on oily or fruity side

Lyne arm – gives heavier or lighter spirit

Cut points – give heavier or lighter / more or less smoky spirit

CUT POINTS – The most volatile compounds with the lowest boiling points such as methanol, acetaldehyde and volatile sulphur compounds vaporise first are called the heads/foreshots. That first flow of distillate which passes through the lyne arm and condenser will pick up remainings from the previous distillation and clean the pipes. Heads are not desirable as they are dangerous to health and have unpleasant flavour so they are directed to a tank called Feints Reciver.

After the heads, the desirable ethanol starts to flow through the lyne arm and condenser – called hearts/new make.

Lastly, heavy and oily, least volatile compounds evaporate and are called tails/feints. Those are more or less not desirable so are also directed to the Feints Reciver.

Hearts are split into The Cuts too, from the first through heart to the last. Each cut has different qualities as fruity esters generally come towards the start of the spirit run and phenols towards the end. Knowing this, Master distiller can cut New Make to have more or less fruity/estery flavours or phenolic/peaty flavours. That way the flavour profile of the “to be” whisky can be changed.

MATURATION

After the New Make is distilled, pre-maturation process is finished and maturation starts.

Most of the flavour in whisky comes from maturation. It also depends on the time the spirit spent in the cask as well as the quality of the cask used.

Everything about the cask is important; how it is dried, heat treated, which type of oak it is made from... every detail will affect the final flavour.

Majority of the casks used in Scotch whisky maturation, (90-95%) are ex-bourbon casks, mainly due to availability and cost. Ex-bourbon casks are up to 10 times less expensive than ex-sherry casks and are easy to obtain. American bourbon is matured in new casks ONLY, so after the bottling casks can be either thrown away or sold to Scotland for the Scotch maturation.

As ex-sherry casks are so expensive and much more rare, the majority of them are now new casks which have been seasoned with sherry.

After the New Make spirit has been matured in oak casks for a minimum of three years it can finally be called Whisky!

BUT WHY OAK?

Oak has excellent properties for holding liquids and enriches spirit with flavour and colour compounds but it is used as it is The Law!

Oak is the only wood that has ever been used for whisky maturationin Scotland. It would be pure satanism if anyone came to an idea of using something else. It is unthinkable. Anything else would generate different flavours and it wouldnt be whisky anymore but some different flavoured drink.

The Law says: “Bourbon and other whisky, grape brandy (including Armagnac and Cognac although they are technically wine spirits), rum, fortified wine (including Sherry, Madeira, Port and Malaga), still wine (of whatever type or origin) and beer/ale. If members wish to use any other type of cask for the maturation or ‘finishing’ of Scotch Whisky, the onus would be on them to establish that that type of cask had been traditionally used in the industry and to provide evidence to that effect. It is unlikely that a court would accept a particular type of cask as traditional unless there was evidence of significant use of that type of cask in the industry over a number of years. For example, Counsel did not believe the Association had found sufficient evidence of the use of Calvados casks in the past to justify their use for the maturation or ‘finishing’ of Scotch Whisky”

In next part you will learn more about the types of oak and casks as well as the cask preparation before the filling and some other interesting knowledge about making of the Water Of Life.

Dear Coilers, Whisky school is back. In “Flavours In Whisky” you have learnt about The Flavour Wheel in pt.1 and Raw Materials in pt2.

This time I will cover flavours which develop in fermentation and distillation process.

Fermentation – is process in which sugars from grain become alcohol thanks to yeasts. There are constant researches taken to show the effects of different strainsof yeast on flavour they give to New Make spirit.

In the past, a combination of brewer’s and distilling yeast was used in whisky making, but brewer’s yeast gave lower spirit yield (the amount of alcohol) so the combination was mostly abandoned in favour of pure distilling yeast. As brewer’s yeast gives richer flavour, some distilleries are back to experimenting with them hoping to get more flavourful product.

In fermentation, alcohols, acids and esters are produced. Esters are produced in combination of acid and alcohol and they give sweet and fruity flavour.

Flavour compounds from yeasts are released into the wash when yeasts die and product of their metabolisam dissolve in it.

Two factors influence flavour development during fermentation; time and hygiene

Fermentation lasts 48 hours minimum, up to 60+ hours.

Short fermentation produces more cereal and nutty favours whereas long fermentation produces more estery, fruity flavours.

Longer the fermentation, more yeasts die and becteria can grow which can be beneficial to flavour but to some extent.

Fermentation takes place in washback which are present in two styles; wooden and stainless steel. Wood is usually Douglas Fir (Oregon Pine) or Larch, tight grain and knot free.

Bacteria are produced during fermentation and those are bacteria that can cause further fermentation in the washback. That is late lactic fermentation. It gives sweet fruity and buttery notes to spirit.

Late lactic fermentations are more common when Douglas Fir washback are used. Wooden washbacks are much harder to clean than those made out of stainless steel. Cleaning efficiency affects bacteria growth/residue so “dirtier” washbacks give stronger secondary fermentation. Some distilleries want it but some prefer it clean and use stainless steel washbacks.

Distillation – is a process where a mixture of two or more liquids (components) with different boiling points is separated from each other. The mixture is heated until one of the components boils (turns to a vapor). In production of single malts pot stills are used.

Pot stills are essentially all the same but there are many variables which influence the flavour development;

Size and shape of the stills

Slope of the Lyne Arm

Rate of distillation

Amount of reflux

The Cut Points

Each distillery has its unique stills which are the heart of the distillery itself.

All pot stills are made of copper which helps removing unwanted sulphury flavours out of the spirit.

If old pot still is replaced with the new one, it has to be exactly the same as the old one. Even bumps on the still are made to match the old one as it is believed that it is the only way for new still to give the same spirit as the old one.

In next lesson you will learn about The Cut Points and why oak barrels are used plus some bonus.

This time, the bonus will be...