Unit 6 Flashcards
6 factors making whisk(e)y blending processes complicated
- range and variation of NMS quality.
- oak cask maturation.
- range and variability of maturation capability within casks.
- age profiles of maturing stock.
- legislation.
- type and flavour of final product.
- desire for new product pipeline.
Single malt Scotch definition
Scotch produced only from water, yeast, and malted barley at a single distillery by batch distillation in pot stills.
5 goals of blending
- comply with legislation
- meet product specification.
- consistent quality of product.
- deliver volume and meet bottling/production demands.
- ensure product integrity (no contamination)
Factors which might affect the quality of NMS prior to maturation.
Different raw ingredients (inc yeast)
Production equipment - still type, shape, material, etc. Condenser type.
Cuts
Cask type/reactivity
Casking ABV
Fermentation factors.
Key responsibilities of a blender
- legislation knowledge
- sensory authority (whisky, established & NPD)
- NMS character + flavour impactors (corrective action)
- Work with production demands.
- wood knowledge and input.
- knowledge of inventory + potential subs, including type of spirit/wood, and age profiles/finishing.
- Management of OOS inventory.
- Brand support & training.
Simple inventory/production planning process (supply)
Future sales demand ➡ Existing maturing inventory ➡ Production/procurement plans ➡ NM scotch/grain whisky ➡ Cask wood supply ➡ Future maturing inventory.
A demand planning cycle
Current sales demand ➡ blend selection process ➡ current maturing inventory ➡ individual cask selection ➡ casks consolidated by blend/part blend ➡ disgorge ➡ direct to BV or split into part blends.
Practical blend fulfilment process
Demand ➡ blend type & volume ➡ cask selection, sampling/transportation ➡ nosed/disgorged into blends/part blends ➡ (OOS casks removed) ➡ filtration ➡ QC/Sensory ➡ colouring/reduction ➡ accounts updated.
Processes to reduce contamination risk assembling blends
- Assess each cask
- All casks from blend selection process.
- pipework/vessel inspections.
- no light flavour after heavy flavour.
- rules for sequence to avoid contamination.
- regular water quality checks
- regular filtration cleaning/checks
- collect remnants.
- any quality issues refer to blender for corrective actions.
4 main differentiations in wood matured spirits
age
product type
single product
blended product
Risks of products with other ingredients
Ingredient storage (temp)
stock holding and rotation.
shelf life
compatibility of ingredients
3 definitions of blending
1 - combine or mix different substances so the parts are indistinguishable (Blended whisk(e)y)
2 - Combine various grades of the same substance to achieve a specific grade/character. (Blended malt or blended grain whisk(e)y)
3 - Combine different elements into a single product (flavoured gin or liqueur)
Definition of filtration
Separation of liquid or solid from a fluid mixture (filtrate) using a filter medium (septum)
What components are filtered out?
Wood - charcoal, lipids, ethanol lignins.
Plant debris
Metal ions - water.P
Congeners - esters such as ethyl acetate
Faults prevented by filtration
Haze/floccing/turbidity.
Flavour taint
Reversible haze - created by, under what conditions?
Lipids (from fermentation), at low temps or low (>46%) ABVs.
Micelles form ➡ cloudy appearance
How is reversible haze reversed?
Increase the temperature.
3 main fatty esters?
Ethyl laurate (50ppm)
Ethyl palmitate (2ppm)
Ethyl palmitoleate (3ppm)
What are flocs made of?
Calcium ions + oxalic acid = calcium oxalate crystals (aka oxalates)
Where do the components of flocs come from?
Calcium ions - reduction water
Oxalic acid - raw materials, or wood/cask’s previous contents.
4 factors in flavour compound filtration
Solubility
Molecule size/weight
Molecular weight
Functional groups (polarity)
Musty smelling contaminants
Geosmin
TCA
Darcy’s Law
Where Q = Filtrate (spirit) flow rate
K = permeability of the filter bed
∆P = Differential pressure across the porous bed (key factor)
A = Filter area
µ = Liquid viscosity
L = Depth of filter bed
Q = (K x ∆P x A)/(µ x L)
Filter properties to consider.
- Filtration rating (in µm)
- Minimum particle size to be retained.
- Filter area
- Optimum flow rate.
- Optimum operation pressure.
- Optimum temperature range.
