Vocabulary Flashcards
ABV
(Alcohol by Volume)
The amount of alcohol in a spirit (or beer) as a percentage of the total volume. This number is doubled to yield the “Proof” of the spirit
ALDEHYDES
A group of Aromatic compounds found in OAK, with a floral or fruity character.
ANGELS SHARE
The volume of whiskey that is lost during the aging process by evaporation through the barrel
BARLEY (EDIT MORE INFO)
A grain that is relatively easy to malt, with abundant enzymes for converting starches into sugars and a husk that acts as a natural filter; thus well-adapted for brewing and distilling.
BARREL
A container built from curved oak staves, usually charred, that imparts flavor and color to the spirit through chemical changes from contact with the wood and slow evaporation. In American usage the standard size is 53 gallons (200 liters), though craft distillers commonly use smaller barrels.
BEER
The fermented, undistilled liquid that is the first step in making whiskey
BEER STILL
A single column still used for first distillation in making modern bourbon and rye whiskey. Also called a “stripping Column”
BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKEY
A blend of one or more single malt Scotch whiskies with one or more single grain Scotch whiskies. This is the familiar category of whiskey that includes well known brands like Johnnie Walker, Dewar’s and Chivas Regal.
BLENDED WHISKEY
In American usage a blend of straight whiskey and grain neutral spirits; it must be at least 20 percent straight whiskey.
BOURBON
AMERICAN WHISKEY made predominantly of corn (51 PERCENT OR MORE), malt, and either rye or wheat; Distilled to a maximum of 80 percent ABV and aged in a NEW charred oak barrels at an entry proof of no more than 62.5 percent ABVl bottled at a minimum of 40 percent ABV.
WHAT IS WHISKEY?!
A type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash.
CARAMEL
Cooked and browned sugar; allowed as a coloring agent in European and Canadian whiskey but not allowed in Bourbon or rye whiskey.
CASK
“Cask” is the word used more often in SCOTLAND & IRELAND as the generic term for barrel.
CHAR
The thin layer of burnt wood on the inside of a barrel that has been treated with a flame. Required for Bourbon and other American whiskeys.
COFFEY STILL
A still in the form of two columns that takes in a continuous flow of WASH or BEER, passing it over a series of plates as steam rises through the liquid, heating and “stripping” the alcohol out of the liquid, to be condensed and captured as spirit. Also known as a continuous still.
COLUMN STILL
Column stills allow continuous distillation, meaning they’re capable of drastically higher production than pot stills, which require cleaning after each batch. Column stills also provide a purer, cleaner distillate than pots, though pot stills produce a more flavorsome spirit, richer in congeners
POT STILL
Pot stills form the basis of batch distillation. This means a specified amount of liquid goes into the still and gets distilled into spirit. Then the leftover dregs are dumped, the still gets cleaned out, and the whole process begins anew. This contrasts with continuous distillation which is…well, continuous, but that’s another story for another time.
HYBRID STILL
COOPER
A person who makes, repairs, or resizes barrels.
CORN
A grain native to the Americas; not easy to malt, but an inexpensive, flavorful source of sugars for fermentation and distillation. The major component in bourbon.
CORN WHISKEY
Whiskey made from a large proportion of corn in the mash, and most often aged for only a short period in either uncharred or used oak barrels.
CUTS
The points in a pot still distillation where the stream of spirit is diverted. The first cut is after the foreshots or HEADS have run; the second is when the feints or TAILS begin to run. The cuts are made to get the maximum amount of clean spirit. The HEADS & TAILS are often redistilled to recover all the alcohol.
DISTILLATION
The extraction and concentration of alcohol from a fermented grain liquid by use of controlled heat. Ethyl alcohol - ethanol - evaporates at a lower temperature than water, and the alcohol-rich vapor is condensed and separated from the remaining water and other chemicals.
DOUBLER
A simple pot still used by bourbon distillers to polish the spirit from the beer still.
DRAFF
The leftover grains from the fermentation and distilling process, most often used for cattle feed; there is a move to use it for biogas generation recently. Also called “spent grains’ or “dark grains.”
DRYHOUSE
Where the spent grains from American-style mashing distillation go to be dried and processed for animal feed.
DUNNAGE
A traditional type of warehouse in Scotland, with earthen floors.
ESTER
An aromatic chemical compound derived from ALDEHYDES; can yield fruity, spicy, or smokey aromas.
EXTRACTIVE DISTILLATION
A technique in which water is added to high-proof spirit to float unwanted compounds off the top, leaving a pure spirit. USED by some Canadian Distillers.
FEINTS
Final runnings from a pot still distillation.
FIRST-FILL
When barrels previously used for aging bourbon or wines are used for aging, whiskey, “first fill” refers to the ones that are being used for the first time, just after being emptied of the bourbon or wine. These yield whiskey with much more character of the younger wood and previous liquid.
FLAVORING WHISKEY
The lower-proof, higher-flavor component of CANADIAN whiskey.
FORESHOTS
FIRST runnings from a pot still distillation.
GRAIN NEUTRAL SPIRITS
Unaged spirit distilled to 95 percent ABV. It may be bottled at that strength or diluted down to 40 percent.
GRAIN WHISKEY
Whiskey distilled to a very high proof, up to 94.6 percent, using a COLUMN OR COFFEY still, and aged in oak barrels for blending.
HOGSHEAD
A cask of 250 liters capacity, often built from used bourbon barrel staves for aging SCOTCH whiskey. Also called a “hoggie.”
LYNE ARM
The bend and tube coming off the top of pot still. Helps determine the amount of reflux a still develops, and thus the weight of the spirit produced.
MALT
Process of germinating grain to convert INSOLUBLE starches to SOLUBLE starches and develop the enzymes needed to convert those starches to sugars. As a noun it denotes barley that has gone through this process.
MALTINGS
A facility where grains are malted; they are wetted, allowed to sprout, and then kilned to kill the sprout.
MASH
Heating a mixture of grains and water to allow the enzymes to convert to starches to sugars. As a noun it describes the mixture of water and grains, especially after the conversion occurs.
MASHBILL
Recipe of American whiskeys; the ratios of the different grains that go into making a particular whiskey or group of whiskeys.
MINGLING
Blending together barrels of whiskey and allowing them to sit briefly together (a couple of days to a few months) to allow the different barrels to “marry” and become a harmonious whole.
MOONSHINE
ILLEGALLY produced whiskey, whether aged or unaged, though usually unaged. Unaged legal whiskey is NOT MOONSHINE.
NEUTRAL WHISKEY
The CANADIAN term for grain whiskey
NEW MAKE
Unaged spirit, right off final distillation. Also known as “white dog: or “clearic”
PEAT
Partially carbonized vegetation that has slowly rotted and compressed in bogs and swamps over centuries and millennia; boggy plants that are on their way to becoming coal. When burned, peat creates and aromatic smoke that is used to kiln and flavor freshly germinated malt; when the malt is mashed, fermented, and distilled, it creates a spirit with the smokey aromas and flavors highly prized in SCOTCH whiskey. Peat from different areas gives different aroma profiles because of the varieties of plant life from place to place.
PHENOLS
Aromatic chemical compounds with a SMOKEY or CHEMICAL aroma
PORT
A fortified wine from Portugal; PORT CASKS used to age whiskey.
POT STILL
A BATCH-type still; essentially a large copper pot with a tapering column on the top that leads to a lyne arm and a condenser.
REFILL
When first-fill barrels are emptied and refilled, they are called “refill” barrels. They yield whiskey with less of the wood’s character and more of the distillery character.
REFLUX
A redistillation that occurs within the initial distillation; spirit falls back into the still before escaping to the condensers. Increase the reflux by taller still or an upward-angled lyne arm, and a lighter, cleaner spirit is the result. Decrease the reflux with a squat still, or downward-pointing lyne arm, and a heavier, “meaty” spirit is the result.
RICKHOUSE
Warehouse as used in America with arrays of wooden rails - “RICKS” - to hold rows of barrels in place. They vary in size with the biggest holding upward of 50,000 barrels.
RYE
Hardy grass that yields a richly flavored, somewhat bitter grain used in American and Canadian Whiskey’s.
SCOTCH WHISKEY
Whisky distilled in SCOTLAND from malted barley (and other grains, in the case of blends and grain whiskey) to no more than 94.8% ABV; aged in Scotland in oak casks for a minimum of 3 years and bottled at a minimum of 40 percent ABV. Caramel may be added (for consistency of color)
SETBACK
The soured grains and liquid left over after column distillation, used for the sour mash process. Also called “BACKSET” or “STILLAGE”
SHERRY (also the flavors)
FORTIFIED Wine from Spain; sherry casks (butts) are used to age whiskey.
SINGLE MALT
Whiskey made from 100% malted barley, in pot stills, from one distillery.
SMALL GRAINS
The grains other than corn in a bourbon mashbill; usually malt plus either rye or wheat.
SOUR MASH
AMERICAN Practice of adding the soured, spent grains and liquid from previous distillation to the newly mashed beer at the start of fermentation. This creates a more beneficial environment for fermentation (with acidic balance and yeast nutrients). All major American whiskeys use the sour mash process. WE DO NOT. Jack Daniels does as an example.
SPIRIT STILL
The still (or stills) used for the second distillation in making Scotch Whiskey; the output from the wash still is distilled again in the smaller spirit still.
STILLAGE
Spent grain. (By product)
STRAIGHT WHISKEY
American whiskey that has been distilled from grain to a final proof of less than 95% ABV, at a single distillery, and aged in oak barrels for not less than 2 years; these are minimum requirements that are most often exceeded in practice.
TAILS CUT
TENNESSEE WHISKEY
THUMPER
VATTED MALT
WASH
WASH STILL
WASHBACK
The fermenting vessel in SCOTCH whiskey making.
WORTS
YEAST
The marvelous little FUNGUS that eats sugar and excretes alcohol and aromatics; the engine of fermentation, the necessary and natural precursor to distillation.
HEADS CUT
HEARTS CUT
