In this article I will tell you how to make whiskey at home using the classic technology that is used in Ireland and Scotland. The recipe is in many ways reminiscent of ordinary moonshine, but one more step is added - insisting on oak wood, which lasts six or more months. You can't get a good drink before.

For those who do not want to deal with such a long preparation, I can offer a quick whiskey recipe. It is enough to dilute the alcohol to a strength of 40-50 degrees and insist on oak sawdust for 7-10 days (when the taste suits, filter). Pre-sawdust must be prepared: pour boiling water, drain the broth after an hour, pour in cold water, drain after a day, then dry the wood in the sun. Instead of alcohol, craftsmen use ordinary vodka or moonshine. Naturally, you will get alcohol only remotely resembling real scotch, but spend a minimum of time and effort.

It takes a long time to make a homemade whiskey look like the original Scotch or Irish whiskey, but the result is well worth the effort.

Ingredients:

• barley malt - 8 kg;
• water - 32 liters;
• yeast - 300 grams pressed or 50 grams dry.

Barley produces single malt whiskey, which is of the highest quality. But you can make two or three component drinks by mixing different types of malt. For example, barley, rye, corn or wheat. The general proportions of the ingredients do not change.

Malt is germinated at home or purchased in specialized stores. The origin of raw materials is not of fundamental importance. I advise you to pay attention to the quality of water. Spring water or water passed through a purification filter, but without reverse osmosis, is ideal. You can't boil!

Attention! You definitely need a thermometer, without observing the thermal regime, measuring the temperature of the wort “by eye”, nothing will work.

How to make homemade whiskey

1. Crush the malt to the state of coarse grinding, leaving particles of grain peel. In no case should it be flour. It is only necessary to break the grains into small pieces. The correct grinding of malt for whiskey is shown in the photo. If you already purchased ground malt (the best option for beginners), skip this step.

2. Heat a large metal container with water on the stove to a temperature of 70°C.

3. Slowly pour malt into hot water, constantly stirring with a wooden mallet or stick. You should get a homogeneous mixture without lumps.

4. Bring the wort to 65°C (very important), close the lid tightly and maintain a stable temperature (plus or minus 2-3 degrees) for 90 minutes, checking and stirring every 10-15 minutes. To maintain the temperature regime, it is enough to periodically heat the container over low heat. At the end of the process, the upper part of the wort will brighten, and the porridge will sink to the bottom.

Under the influence of temperature, saccharification of the wort will begin - the breakdown of starch into sugar and dextrins (soluble substances). The yeast then converts the sugar into alcohol during fermentation.

Attention! The saccharification of the wort occurs only in the temperature range of 61-72°C, in all other cases the process stops without the possibility of resumption.

5. Remove the lid from the pot and cool the contents to 25°C as quickly as possible, for example by placing in a bath of cold water. Rapid cooling will not allow third-party microorganisms to multiply in the nutrient medium, which will prevent souring.

6. Dilute the yeast according to package instructions.

7. Pour the wort into a fermentation tank, add yeast, mix.

8. Move the container to a dark room with a temperature of 18-25°C, install a water seal.

9. Depending on the quality of raw materials, yeast activity and temperature, fermentation lasts from 3 to 15 days. During this time, once a day, you need to remove the water seal and mix the mash with clean hands or a wooden stick.

When the water seal does not blow bubbles for 1-2 days, the wort has become light and bitter in taste (sweetness is not felt), you can proceed to the next step.

10. Pour the mash into the still through a colander to separate the grains (undissolved part of the malt) that can burn during the distillation process, making the whiskey bitter.

11. Distill the resulting mash on a moonshine still. During the first distillation, do not separate the yield into fractions (“heads”, “body” and “tails”). The selection is completed when the strength of the distillate in the stream drops below 20 degrees.

Approximately 6-7 liters of barley moonshine with a strength of 40 degrees are obtained. The yield depends on the extractivity of the malt - the percentage of starch content in it. The higher the extract, the better.

12. Measure the strength and determine the amount of pure alcohol. Dilute the distillate with water to 20% and redistillate. The first 12% of the yield from the amount of pure alcohol is poured into a separate container. These are "heads" - a fraction containing harmful substances. It spoils the taste of homemade whiskey and is dangerous to health.

If desired, a third distillation can be done, dividing the yield into fractions, as in the second case (selection of the head fraction - 2-3%). This will improve the quality of the distillate, but is labor intensive.

13. It's time to insist grain moonshine on oak. There are two options. The first is to purchase an oak barrel, pour in the distillate and age in the cellar for at least 6 months. The second is to use oak pegs. Barrels are preferable, but such containers are still very rare on the farm, so further we will consider the technology of infusing whiskey on oak pegs.

Suitable wood with a trunk diameter of 30-35 cm (oak age 50 years). Bark, sawdust and shavings contain too many tannins that make the taste of whiskey harsh, so they are not suitable.

Divide oak stumps into pieces 5-8 mm thick. The length of the pegs should be placed in jars or other glass containers chosen for infusion. Pour boiling water over the wood, drain the broth after 10 minutes, soak for 30 minutes in cold water, then dry in the sun. Put the stumps in jars for aging (10-15 pieces in each), pour distillate diluted to 45-50 degrees. Then tightly close the lids and put in the basement for 6-12 months. Long exposure improves the taste.

Whiskey is an aged fragrant strong distillate made from various types of grain raw materials, mainly barley, wheat, rye, less often buckwheat. The strength of whiskey is 35-50 degrees, rare varieties of whiskey have a strength of up to 60 degrees. The color is mostly light brown. The traditional producing countries are Scotland and Ireland. The technology and methods of producing the drink in these regions vary greatly. Scotch whiskey has a sharper smoky taste, as peat is used to dry the malt. The Irish do not use peat for fumigation, the drink is less pronounced and softer, moreover, it is distilled three times.

Further, the distillate is aged in oak barrels, the longer the exposure, the better and tastier it is, it can be aged in barrels from 3 to 20 years. At its core, whiskey is grain moonshine, so making whiskey at home is quite a doable task. In those ancient times, there was no serious equipment that has appeared in our time. Having a better moonshine still makes it easy to repeat different whiskey recipes at home.

Different types of whiskey (malt, grain):

1. Malt whiskey(malt whiskey) made only from pure barley malt.

single malt (single malt whiskey) made from malt at one particular distillery;

Vatted malt (cask malt whiskey) - a blend of several malt whiskeys from various distilleries;

S ingle helmet - (malt whiskey) taken from one barrel.

2. Grain whiskey (grain whiskey) made primarily from grain and a small portion of barley malt.

blended whiskey (blended whiskey) is obtained by mixing malt and grain whiskey;

3.Bourbon (bourbon) - American whiskey made from corn.

Making whiskey at home

Single malt whiskey is considered the best and highest quality drink. Below will be described the detailed technology for self-preparation of a whiskey recipe at home. To make homemade whiskey, you need a moonshine still, barley malt, water, yeast, and an oak barrel. This is a recipe for making whiskey according to the white scheme, that is, the wort is filtered from the grains, in contrast to the red scheme, where the wort is fermented along with the grains.

Malt. Barley malt is the main component for the production of malt whiskey. It can be bought in special online stores. Whiskey malt can be made at home, but it's a long and painstaking job that will take up to two weeks of your time.

How to make homemade malt is described on the pages of the site. For starters, it is recommended to use base malts for beer. Base malts can be used up to 100% in grist.

The most common Pilsner(Pilsner) pale ale(Pale ale) Vienna(Viennese). Each such malt can be used in its pure form or make a mixture of these malts. There are also special malts for different flavors. Caramel, melanoid, sour. Their share in the grist should not exceed -10%. To get one liter of drink with a strength of 40 °, you need to take 2 kg of base malt.

Yeast. For whiskey, it is better to use special yeast, but their disadvantage is the high price. You can use beer lager or ale yeast. Lager yeast makes the drink soft, similar to Irish whiskey. But if for some reason it was not possible to find such yeast, then you can use baking yeast.

Water. It is advisable to use pure spring water for whiskey, you can buy bottled water. If tap water is used, then it must first be kept in a tank or boiler for a day.

Ingredients:

• Barley malt - 10 kg;
• Water for mash - 30 l;
• Washing water - 10 l;
• Dry yeast - 50 gr.

whiskey recipe:

1. Malt preparation.
2. Mashing.
3. Flushing.
4. Introduction of yeast.
5. Fermentation.
6. Braga distillation.
7. Fractional distillation.
8. Distillate extract.

Video how to make whiskey at home

Malt preparation. Grind the malt in a special roller mill. Grinding should not be very fine (into flour). Too fine a fraction will make it difficult to filter future wort. If there is no such mill, then you can use a coffee grinder or grain grinder, or a blender.

Mashing malt. The task of mashing is to convert the starch of the malt into fermentable sugars, maltose. To do this, mixed malt with water is subjected to certain temperature pauses for the required time. For mashing, it is advisable to use special dishes with a filter system, with a volume of 50 liters. You can get by with a kitchen boiler of the required volume. It is convenient to use a special mashing bag as in the picture below.

Heat the water to 70C, pour in the malt, stirring constantly, so that there are no lumps. After the introduction of malt, the temperature will drop to 63-65C. This will be the first temperature pause, which must be maintained for 80-90 minutes. Try to maintain all temperature pauses at a given temperature plus or minus 2 degrees.

After the first pause, the saccharification can be checked by means of an iodine test. To do this, a drop of iodine is dripped onto a clean white saucer, a drop of wort is taken, dripped next to the iodine, and both drops are connected with a clean stick. If the color of iodine remains unchanged, then everything is done correctly. Then the second pause 72 is made for 15 minutes and the third 78 for 2-3 minutes.

Washing and filtration. For washing, water must be heated in another vessel to 78-80. The rinsing process of the spent grains will extract the remaining sugars formed during the preparation of the mash. As the wort is filtered through the filter system, water is carefully poured over the grains so as not to disturb the filter layer.

Ready filtered wort can be boiled if desired. Then it needs to be cooled to 2-30 degrees, this can be done using a chiller - a cooling device made of copper or stainless steel pipes. If there is no chiller, then you can put a container with wort, for example, in a bathroom with ice or cold water. After cooling the wort, it must be poured into a fermentation tank.

Yeast addition and fermentation. Pure chilled wort must be aerated before yeast is added, that is, saturate it with oxygen. This can be done by pouring the wort into another container from a height. Then prepare the yeast according to the instructions. Set the yeast, close the container with a lid and install a water seal, restricting air access to the mash. Braga for whiskey should ferment at a temperature of 25-30 degrees.

To maintain this temperature, you can install an aquarium heater in the fermentation tank. The fermentation period of malt mash is 3-5 days. You can determine the readiness of the mash at the end of the release of carbon dioxide, the mash also becomes bitter, there is a slight smell of alcohol in the taste.

First race. The purpose of the first distillation of mash is to obtain raw alcohol (low wine) at maximum power. Braga pour into the cube of the moonshine still. Braga is chasing to the water. According to the recipe, the output should be 8-10 liters of raw with a strength of 28-30 degrees. It must be diluted with water to 20 degrees and distilled again.

Fractional distillation. The second fractional distillation is done on a copper alambika, but another apparatus such as a beer column will do. Pour the raw material into a cube, and at low power select the head fraction of 10% of absolute alcohol (AC), approximately 300 ml. You also need to focus on the smell when selecting heads. Pour heads or use in technical needs.

Then select the “heart” of the drinking part, which will be approximately 2 liters of distillate with a total strength of 85-90. This will be followed by the selection of the tail fraction. You need to be careful with it, getting the tails into the selection can spoil the drink, but the tails contain grain aromatics, which are involved in the formation of the taste of whiskey. The complete absence of tails will make the drink tasteless. Therefore, be guided by your taste. Some people like a richer taste, someone vice versa.

Distillate extract. The finished distillate needs to be refined, to make real whiskey out of it. This is done by aging the distillate in an oak barrel. For single malt whiskey aging at home, barrels from 10 liters are used. The barrel must be pre-prepared. To do this, it is soaked for a month with water, then the wine is aged in it for several months, and only after that whiskey is poured. The distillate is diluted with water to a strength of 55-60 degrees and poured to the top into the barrel.

Whiskey is a strong alcoholic drink with a recognizable aroma, which is obtained from various grains by fermentation, malting, distillation and sufficiently long storage in oak barrels. But in our time, many drink producers have moved away from the original image of whiskey. Now alcohol yeast is used for whiskey, liquid phenol is used instead of smoking malt, and you can forget about traditional equipment. In order to taste real whiskey, you can cook it at home.

Types of yeast for whiskey

Fermentation, or fermentation, is the process by which yeast converts fructose, sucrose, and glucose into cellular energy, producing by-products such as ethanol and carbon dioxide. Without yeast, it is impossible to prepare any type of alcoholic beverage. When distilling grain, sugar or fruit mash, drinks such as vodka, cognac, whiskey are obtained. So, what kind of yeast for making whiskey is used in our time:

• Chef's or baker's yeast ("Saf Levure", "Voronezh", "Pakmaya") - they give a quick foamy fermentation in just three days and a good smell of bread. However, the quality of the resulting drink leaves much to be desired, as well as the yield of alcohol from the product.
• Wine yeast for whiskey ("Primavera", "Maltiflor" and others) - this type of yeast gives a slow foamy fermentation from seven to nine days, with a beer smell of mash and an excellent yield of alcohol. In addition to the release of ethyl, they act in a rather acidic environment, have a good effect on the combination of aromatic and gustatory qualities of the product and have a greater resistance to sulfur dioxide.
• Brewer's yeast. In addition to making a foamy drink, they are used for whiskey mash. At its core, this is about the same baker's yeast, but they have more suitable strains. Thanks to the latter, fermentation lasts for six to eight days and a large yield of ethyl alcohol occurs. This type of yeast makes a good brew for a drink.
• And the last type is spirit yeast for whiskey, or turbo yeast. We will talk about all the intricacies of this product further.

Alcoholic yeast - what is it?

Alcohol yeast, or turbo yeast, is a mixture of nutrients and dry yeast to ferment the mash more efficiently before the pending distillation. Such mixtures contain very strong yeast strains, they have a high tolerance to ethyl, they guarantee fast and stable fermentation and, under all conditions, they give excellent organoleptics. There are also nutrients in the composition, they provide the necessary level of vitamins, trace elements and nitrogen in the mash to get the perfect drink with excellent taste and aroma.

In order to get "clean mash", the composition includes sorbents that exclude large foam formation. There are also special alcoholic yeasts for creating certain drinks - rum, vodka, calvados, cognac, whiskey. Such yeast is initially mixed for the taste and aroma of each of them.

Characteristics of alcohol yeast

1. Short fermentation period: if you follow all the fermentation rules, you can get mash for distilling the drink in two days. Turbo yeast will allow you to do this in 24 hours.
2. Alcohol Tolerance: Due to the toxicity of ethanol, the yeast in the mash will "die" when the desired alcohol level is reached. A high content of strains in these yeasts can tolerate up to 20-23% alcohol, while in beer and chef's it is only 12 to 14%, and as for wine - 15% alcohol. In addition, you can control the strength of alcohol yourself with the help of granulated sugar, yeast and temperature.
3. Fermentation of sugars at a high level: dextrins are a type of sugar found in starchy raw materials and molasses, yeast cannot consume them. Therefore, they contain enzymes that can break down non-fermentable sugars, which are able to remove a large amount of by-product alcohol.
4. Proper organoleptic and clean drink: real masters of moonshine note that alcohol yeast, or turbo yeast, has a very bad effect on the taste and aroma of whiskey, killing the true organoleptic product of the product. One cannot but agree with them, but production does not stand still and constantly brings yeast closer to the ideal.

Which whiskey yeast to choose? It all depends on your taste preferences, the time to prepare the product, the desired strength of the drink, the temperature regime that you can create, and the way they are prepared. In order to get what you need, it is best to experiment with creating whiskey yourself and choose the best option.

Whiskey yeast - which is better?

Currently, the number one producer of alcohol yeast is the United Kingdom, which is represented by three well-known companies around the world:

• Bragman brand.
• Pathfinder is a brand of the well-known company Young's Home Brew.
• And the most popular is Alcotec, which is a division of Hambleton Bard Ltd.

Among these three brands, experienced moonshiners prefer the Alcotec brand. Reviews for Alcotec Whiskey yeast are only positive, they are called the best yeast for making this drink. They contain a high number of strains that improve and preserve the aroma and taste of the drink. These yeasts are of excellent quality and they have an affordable price - from 300 to 600 rubles.

Cooking features

In order to get a delicious drink, you need to follow certain rules:

• First you need to choose the yeast for fermentation.
• Next, choose a fermentation vessel for fermenting malt wort - a container for this can be made of glass, metal, wood or plastic. The main thing is that you are comfortable.
• Malt and grain brews, is a water seal required? The answer is definitely no, because malt wort is an excellent medium for the growth and reproduction of yeast, which can release alcohol and carbon dioxide in a couple of hours. The most important thing is to maintain hygiene and quickly cool the wort to bring in the yeast.
• The right taste and smell of mash - the taste of the right mash should be bitter, sour and brew-beer. As for the smell, it is slightly bread-beer.
• Storage of mash before distillation. Until distillation, it can be stored for two months in a dark, cool place and always in a clean sealed container.

• Malt is best crushed in a special mill to avoid the consistency of flour.

• Someone insists malt in water at a temperature of 65 degrees, tightly wrapping the container, but it is better to boil, because during this process sugars and proteins necessary for yeast are released.
• It is important to observe the temperature regime in the flush: the first time the water should be 72 degrees, the second flush ten degrees more.
• In order for the fermentation process to go perfectly, the wort must be cooled to 35 degrees.
• Before adding yeast, it is imperative to saturate the wort with oxygen. Just pour it from a great height from one container to another.

Aging or aging whiskey

For this you can use:

• (it will give floral, caramel and vanilla flavors).
• Limousin oak gives a pronounced vanilla taste.
• Do you like chocolate notes, vanilla and pepper notes? Then use Hungarian oak.
• If you are a fan of cinnamon and light vanilla - then choose French oak.

There are a lot of varieties of oaks, you just need to choose the one that suits your taste.

Experts say that any alcohol yeast is suitable for home production of this drink. It is important that they provide good attenuation in a relatively short time. But there are nuances.

For malt and other grain mashes, special English high-quality yeast is produced. The Bragman Whiskey blend retains the flavor of the original product as much as possible.

"Koji Angel" includes special selected molds, enzymes and yeast, as a result, the mixture works by the "cold saccharification" method. Preliminary preparation (cooking) of grain mash is not required.

Many European and global brands use Prestige WD whiskey yeast, which is now available to lovers of home brewing. Alcotec Turbo Yeast Whiskey allows you to prepare malt mash with added sugar or pure malt wort at a temperature of 22-28°C.

You can buy whiskey yeast in our online store with a convenient delivery method in Moscow and Russia. If you have any questions about products or placing an order, please use the phone numbers listed on the site.

Scotch single malt whiskey is a drink that was born in the country of the same name, and is still produced there. Its main value lies in the long aging period - from 8 to 20 years. The cost of such a drink is high, and what is sold in stores in the middle and low price range can hardly be called noble whiskey.

Scotch single malt whiskey producers go to great lengths to attract consumers. Artificially inflating the cost of flavored analogues, they regularly generate new legends around their products. In the description on the label, it is much easier to find information about: ancient Scottish traditions, special cleaning peat, pure mountain or spring water, fresh sea air, etc. But whiskey production technology remains inaccessible to the common man. Alkopribor specialiststried to reveal the secrets of making single malt whiskey at home using standard moonshine equipment.

How to make single malt whiskey at home?

If you love Scotch whiskey, you can now make it at home if you follow the recommendations in this article. Moreover, the storeYou can buy all the necessary components for a noble drink. At its core, it is a highly purified malt moonshine. The main nuance lies in the aging, which, under the conditions of the plant, is carried out in oak containers.

If you use all kinds of additives, colors and, for example, burnt sugar, then in the end you will get not whiskey, but improved moonshine - tincture, liqueur or something else. If we talk about quality, then we dare to assure that the resulting product will be tastier, more aromatic and better in all respects of the whiskey that is sold at an average price in alcohol stores.

In order to bring the preparation of single malt whiskers as close as possible to factory conditions, it is necessary to select high-quality ingredients, properly prepare them, and overtake a high-quality distillate. And after all these procedures, also keep the alcohol in an oak barrel for at least 24 months. In industry, containers with a volume of 100 liters or more are used for such purposes. But enough for personal use.barrelsvolume of 10-20 liters.

If you think about what costs an enterprise incurs while observing the technology for the production of whiskey or scotch, it becomes clear where the fabulous prices for a standard liter bottle come from. What we are used to buying in the store is done in this way: the distillate is stored inmetal containerwith burnt oak boards for about 7-10 days, then it is “ennobled” with dyes and flavors, often chemical ones, they are cheaper.

The advantage of making single malt whiskey at home is that you can completely recreate the technology of whiskey production. There are 2 options here: use oak barrels and oak chips. The latter are used both in depleted barrels and in glassware. There is one more plus - without violating the recipe, you get Scotch whiskey in 1-2 months. How is this possible? It's simple, in a container with a volume of 10 or 20 liters, spirits ripen much faster than in huge industrial vats. As a result, you have a young, fragrant and tasty drink, which is 100% prepared without the use of chemicals.

Homemade single malt whiskey recipe

For your convenience, we have compiled a list of all the necessary ingredients and accessories. This should be prepared in advance so as not to be distracted from the process. Would need:

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A brief description of the whiskey preparation technology:

1. Soaking barley, germinating it for several days.
2. Drying malt and grinding.
3. Wort preparation when mixing malt with hot water.
4. Sludge drain(getting rid of grains).
5. Home brew within 2-3 days on alcohol yeast.
6. Double distillation of moonshine. After the first, raw alcohol is obtained, which is subsequently subjected to fractional distillation with cutting off the "tails" and "heads".
7. whiskey maturation in an oak barrel.

Brewing wort for mash

This is the first step in making single malt whiskey at home. Ready malt (germinated and then dried grain) should be crushed with any convenient device - a blender, coffee grinder, food processor. The output should be a very fine fraction. By the way, in the classic version, the malt is not germinated, which saves time.

The next step is to mix water and malt in a ratio of 4:1. When diluted 10 kg. product with 40 liters of water, the highest yield of alcohol is obtained. The pan must be filled with water and heated, constantly monitoring the temperature. Then add malt. In order for saccharification to occur evenly, the wort should be stirred during cooking.

The nuances of temperature conditions

Malt filling is carried out at a temperature of 65°C, then it is maintained at around 62°C, the first phase lasts 80 minutes. In the second phase, the temperature rises by 10°C to 72°C. After 15 minutes it is necessary to reach a temperature of 78°C, the third phase lasts only 2 minutes. The fourth phase lasts 30 minutes, and the temperature reaches a maximum of 100°C. It is important to maintain this interval for the full sterilization of the wort.

After passing through all 4 phases, the wort must be cooled to 20°C. A separate copper tube cooler coil can be used for this. It is important to know that the correct technology for making whiskey is associated with rapid cooling. After draining from the sediment, yeast is introduced. Despite the massive recommendations and reviews regarding the French products "Saf-Levure" and "Saf-Moment", we recommendalcohol yeast, which are created to get the right mash.

Scotch single malt whiskey: making mash

For the dough, 100 ml is taken. warm wort in which the yeast dissolves. If a large glass bottle is chosen as the fermentation tank, a water seal must be put on it. The fermentation process will last approximately 3 days, its completion is indicated by the absence of activity in the form of bubbles and seething.

Whiskey distillation technology

At this stage, you will receive malt distillate - the basis of whiskey. At its core, distillation is no different from the distillation of sugar or fruit mash. You should carefully monitor the head and tail fractions so that they do not fall into the main part. For this, alcohol content is controlled, for the “body” it will be about 55%.

After distillation of the distillate, the most important thing begins - aging in oak containers. Raw materials for whiskey must be poured into a barrel. For proper preparation, readthis article. It is no secret that the saturation of the color and the fullness of the aroma depend on the exposure time. From experience we can say that 1 month will be quite enough for a jug of 10 liters. If you use oak chips instead of a barrel, the minimum infusion time can increase by 1.5-2 times. It changes depending on the change in the coverage area, which is regulated by using a different number of chips. Standard for the preparation of cognac spirits is taken from 5 to 30 gr. fired product per 1 dm 3 volume.

By following the technology of making single malt whiskey, you will get a noble drink that cannot be compared with those who whatYou are used to shopping in the store!