Jump to content

Malt Varieties and Location


BigRed

Recommended Posts

Has anyone experimented with different malt varieties for whiskey? What flavor profiles are like using North American 2-row vs. English or German 2-row for example. Also, how does changing from a Pale Ale to Munich ...etc change a single malt? What is the most common used in Scotch and Japanese Single Malt?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ive tried a few varieties of base malt but have never been able to detect a noticable difference in the flavor of finished spirits produced using different base malts. With that said I know a few distillers who swear the particular variety of base malt they use is the best. Now if you add in some crystal malts or dark malts to the mash bill will contribute alot of variation in flavor. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

As far as I know, Scotch & Japanese whisky is made from base malts with low EBC around 3.5-4.5. Belgian whisky malts made by Castle Malting all have EBC 3.5. Higher EBC values mean higher production temperatures and lower starch content. This means lower yield. I had a couple of experiments with caramel malts, but I didn't like the results. Scotch got too much grain aroma. This aroma is not awful, but is surely not typical for whisky. Also, as far as I know, grain aromas are undesirable in scotch and in most cases are considered as defects.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

We were getting the "dust" leftover from a local large brewery's milling operation and tried several different malts depending on what beer they were making. The chocolate/darker roasted malt flavors came through quite intensely.  We didn't see much difference between the other malts and the resulting whiskey.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are some niche situations where it would make a difference. If you have a yeast strain that metabolize hydroxycinnamic acids, it will contribute clove and medicinal flavors in 2-row with higher phenolic content. My understanding of it is rudimentary at best, but growing site and also seasonal conditions can affect the amount of phenolic acids that a grain will naturally produce.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check out the work by Dustin Herb et al. Effects of Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Variety and Growing Environment on Beer Flavor.  Also of equal importance is their paper on Malt Modification and its Effects on the Contributions of Barley Genotype to Beer Flavor. 

 

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...