Whiskey Flashcards
Blended Whiskey examples
Canadian Mist Jameson Irish Mist Seagrams Seven Johnnie Walker
Mashing
The process of combining a mix of grain (typically malted barley with supplementary grains such as corn, sorghum, rye, or wheat = Grain Bill) and water and heating the mixture. Allows the enzymes in the malt to break down the starch
Stills for making whiskey are typically made out of what?
Copper
Blended Whiskey
A blend of straight whiskeys less expensive spirits and Neutral Grain Spirits NGS and may also contain flavorings and colorings. Higher proof less aged spirits are much less expensive to produce than straight whiskey or single malt. NGS % must be disclosed on bottle
What if the whiskey has less than 51% of each grain?
Just whiskey
Rye Whiskey
mash at least 51% rye
Bourbon Whiskey
- Mash is at least 51% corn 2. aged new charred oak barrels
Liquor
An alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruit, or vegetables that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation
Neutral Grain Spirits
Highly concentrated Ethanol produced by repeated distillation Distilled at or above 95% ABV bottled at or above 40% ABV
Lincoln County Process
The whiskey is filtered through or steeped in charcoal chips before going into the casks for aging
Straight Whiskey
Aged two years or beyond
Regulations for American Whiskey
- Can be no more than 80% ABV 2. Only water can be added to the final product; the addition of coloring or flavoring is prohibited 3. Must be aged in new charred-oak containers except for corn whiskey
Types of Scotch Whiskey
- Grain 2. Malt Highland Lowland Islay Speyside Campbeltown
Why is distilling required to reach ABV above 20%?
Because most yeasts cannot reproduce when the concentration of alcohol is above 20% stopping the fermentation process
What defines Tennessee whiskey specifically?
the use of Lincoln County Process
What are the typical unifying characteristics of the different types of whiskeys?
- The fermentation of grains 2. Distillation 3. Aging in wooden barrels
Grain Whiskey
Any whiskey made, at least in part, from grains other than malted barley. Usually contains some malted barley to provide enzymes
Irish Whiskey
- normally distilled 3 times 2. must be produced in Ireland and matured for no less than 3 years
Rye Malt Whiskey
mash at least 51% malted rye
What makes liquor “harder” than say beer?
Beer, wine, mead, sake and cider are all fermented but not distilled
Corn Whiskey
mash is at least 80% corn and unaged
Scotch Whiskey
Generally distilled twice must be distilled in Scotland and matured for a minimum of 3 years in oak casks
Malt Whiskey
Made from at least 51% malted barley. If other grains are included must be labeled
Wheat Whiskey
mash at least 51% wheat
Grains used to make whiskey
- Barley 2. Corn 3. Wheat 4. Rye
Spirit
A liquor that contains no added sugar and has at least 20% ABV
Single Malt Whiskey
from one distillery
Whiskey
A type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash
What is American Whiskey distilled from?
A fermented mash of cereal grains
“Malted”
germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as “malting”. The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malting grains develops the enzymes required for modifying the grain’s starches into various types of sugar. It also develops other enzymes, such as proteases, which break down the proteins in the grain into forms that can be used by yeast. Depending on when the malting process is stopped one gets a preferred starch enzyme ratio and partly converted starch into fermentable sugars,
What happens in the process of aging a whiskey
While aging in wooden casks, especially American oak and French oak casks, whisky undergoes six processes that contribute to its final flavor: extraction, evaporation, oxidation, concentration, filtration, and colouration.
Cask Strength
a term used by whisky producers to describe a whisky that has not been substantially diluted after its storage in a cask for maturation. The level of alcohol-by-volume (abv) strength used for a cask strength whisky is typically in the range of 58–66% abv.
Fermentation
Ethanol fermentation, also called alcoholic fermentation, is a biological process which converts sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products. Because yeasts perform this conversion in the absence of oxygen, alcoholic fermentation is considered an anaerobic process.
