Fermentation
Once the sugar wort has been pumped from the mashtun to the washback fermentation can be initiated. Washbacks can be made from a number of materials but in the main stainless steel and various species of wood are predominantly used in the whisky industry.
Stainless steel vessels usually have domed tops completely sealed with the exception of a man door, a vent for CO2 extraction and possibly a switcher (rotating blade for knocking back froth during fermentation). They usually have domed bottoms to aide emptying and can be fitted with side entry mixers for keeping the yeast in suspension. Wooden vessels are usually fitted with lids also made of wood which provide an adequate seal for fermentation. They can also be fitted with switchers and most now have CO2 extraction fitted. The wooden washbacks are usually set at an angle to aide emptying.
Antifoam which alters the surface tension of the liquid in the wash back preventing foam forming can also be used when required.
Yeast, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, used for fermentation in the distilling industry can be purchased in a number of ways, pressed, slurry and dry. Here at Springbank we use pressed yeast, which is manufactured in the UK specifically for the distilling industry. Yeast is a living organism and must be stored in a clean refrigerated environment until used.
The essential properties of a good distilling yeast are as follows.
Good flavour production and complete and rapid fermentation of wort sugars .
Lack of flocculence and minimal frothing coupled with the ability to grow well even above 30ºC and able to withstand a wash alcohol level of up to 10%abv.
The concentration of yeast added to the washback will depend on the character we want to produce in the washback. As long as an adequate amount of yeast is added per tonne of malt mashed complete fermentation will occur.
At the beginning of fermentation the yeast culture uses the sugars in the wort to multiply, this is known as aerobic fermentation. Here at Springabnk the original gravity will vary between 1038 and 1048 degrees depending on which mash it is during the week. Once the reservoir of oxygen in the washback has been depleted the yeast begins to convert the sugars into various alcohol's, carbon dioxide and energy in the form of heat, alcohol's are a byproduct of what is called anaerobic fermentation. During fermentation the gravity of the wash will decrease due to the conversion of sugars to alcohol's.
Complete fermentation will take a minimum period of forty eight hours but fermentation time can be as short as forty hours or as long as one hundred and thirty hours. Many flavour compounds are produced during fermentation and distillers “ tailor “ their fermentation's to their specific requirements.
During fermentation the temperature of the worts, now known as wash, will rise from 16 - 20ºC up to 34ºC. Temperatures above 35ºC will destroy the living yeast cell, so should be avoided.
Once fermentation is complete the final gravity of the wash as measured against water should be around 0. 998 but can be as low as 0.995. The alcohol content of the wash will depend on the original gravity of the wort. Some distilleries like Springbank will produce wash with an alcohol content of up to 5% by volume where other distilleries may produce wash with an alcohol content of between 8 and 10% by volume.
As always feel free to drop us an e-mail should you have a question. Stuart Robertson, Distillery Manager.
Frank McHardy will be in Devon carrying out tastings on the undernoted dates in the noted venues. He will be accompanied by our new salesperson for the UK Iain Scott. They would be delighted if you are in the area and can come along to the tastings. To book your place please contact:
14th December - Bovey Tracy - The Edgemoor Hotel Tel: 01626 832 466 or www.edgemoor.co.uk
15th December - Torquay - The Bishops Court Hotel - Tel: 01803 294 649 or www.bishopscourtresort.co.uk
16th December - Exeter - The Old Firehouse - Tel 01392 277 279 or www.theoldfirehouse.co.uk
High accolade indeed.Well done to all for a well deserved award for a fantastic wee nip!
September has been pretty hectic at Springbank Distillery as we have just taken delivery of around 30 tonnes of “Local Barley” which has ben grown within 5 miles of the distillery.
The barley type is Westminster, a recognised malting strain, and has been grown by local farmer David Young at Langy farm on a south west facing field overlooking Machrihanish Bay. The crop has been monitored by Frank McHardy and distillery manager Stuart Robertson who both agree that this year’s barley is very good.
The weather has been really kind over the past two weeks which has meant that the moisture content of the harvested barley is fairly low at arount 16 - 17%.
Stuart Robertson and his staff at the distillery have been kept busy receiving the barley and drying it in our kiln to a moisture level of 12% prior to puting it into storage where it will remain for at least the next three months. After that time the barley should have come out of dormancy and be ready to malt.
During May and June 2010 this malted barley will be used to produce Springbank™ spirit.
 |  |  |  |
We are all delighted with the news a few weeks ago that Whisky Magazine has awarded J & A Mitchell with “Distiller of the Year for 2010”. This is somewhat of a double celebration as Sales and Marketing Manager Pete Currie, was also voted “Young Brand Ambassador of the Year 2010” by Whisky Magazine. Pete and Distillery Manager Stuart Robertson were on hand in Glasgow that weekend to pick up the awards.
Receiving the Distillery of the Year award has been particularly satisfying coming the year after inaccurate rumours that the distillery was closing down. Springbank Distillery had to take some hard decisions in 2008, and decided to cut back in production mainly due to the high cost of utilities and barley. Some people in the distilling industry thought that this was a backward step and we did receive some criticism at that time. We felt that it would be prudent to wait until prices stabilised. That has now happened and we are continuing to distil at both our distilleries.
We feel that by presenting us with this award, the Whisky Magazine judges have not only appreciated the quality of this years releases (Springbank 18 year old, Springbank 2001 vintage, Longrow CV, Hazelburn 12 year old, Springbank Madeira Wood Expression and Kilkerran Work in Progress). They have also recognised that the decisions taken last year were based on 180 years of distilling experience from Scotland’s oldest distilling family.
Pete Currie has certainly made his mark during the time that he has spent with us and has become respected throughout the Whisky World as a Sales and Marketing Manager who has an in-depth knowledge of Scotch Whisky.
Anyone who has had the experience of being here at the distillery when we are milling will have seen a sight only familiar to persons of a certain age. It is very unusual to see belt driven machinery anywhere these days but at Springbank we take great pride in the fact things haven’t changed much here in the last half century. A large single electric motor drives the main shaft which in turn drives a number of conveyors, elevators, a dust extractor, a drum screen and the mill. It is very rewarding to see the faces of people who see the mill in operation as they all, without exception, take delight in seeing belt driven machinery and will tell you it is an amazing experience. The noise, the different sounds, the smells and the sight of the mill in operation all add to the uniqueness of a visit to Springbank.
Why do we mill the malted barley? This is a question I am often asked and the simple answer is to allow the water to penetrate into the malted barley and convert the starches and protein into soluble products. The milling process allows us to prepare a grist of a consistency that allows fast wort run off and good extraction efficiency.
It is important to get the milling process right as it plays a major part in how efficiently the distillery produces alcohol. Malt is transferred from the selected malt bin through a conveyor, into an elevator, down a chute which has a large magnet for catching bits of metal and into a drum screen which removes any foreign objects and small corns. The cleaned malt passes down into the weighing machine and then into the malt mill, each coup of the weigher is 40 Kg. The mill is set to grind the malt into grist which contains 20% husk, 70% grits and 10% flour, this is the ideal consistency for our mash tun to allow clear wort drainage and good extraction. The grist as it is now known is transferred from the mill along a conveyor into an elevator, across a conveyor and finally into the grist bin where it will stay until needed.
The consistency of the grist is constantly monitored throughout the grind to ensure the mill is doing its job effectively. The operator takes a sample of approximately 120 grammes from the bottom of the mill and places it into a sieve box. The box has sieve screens with holes of different diameters the top sieve being larger than the bottom sieve. The lid is secured and the sieve box is shaken a number of times before the different fractions are weighed. Each fraction is weighed independently and a note of the weight taken. The husk, grits and flour weights are combined to give a total weight. Each fraction is then worked out as a percentage of the total weight.
As usual, anyone who would like a deeper understanding of the milling process please feel free to drop us an e-mail.
All the best
Stuart Robertson
Distillery Manager
Cadenhead's are pleased to announce the winner for 2009:
Benny Ingman
Congratulations Benny your prize will be on your way shortly.
2009 Answers
Whisky A
Region: South Highlands
Distilled at: Aberfeldy
Age: 13y/o
Strength: 58.3%
Wood Type: Bourbon
Whisky B
Region: Speyside
Distilled at: Balmenach
Age: 19y/o
strength: 52.4%
Wood Type: Bourbon
Whisky C
Region: Islay
Distilled at: Caol Ila
Age: 13y/o
Strength: 60.4%
Wood Type: Bourbon
Whisky D
Region: East Highland
Distilled at: Royal Lochnagar
Age: 12y/o
Strength: 58.5%
Wood Type: Bourbon
Hi everyone
We received this poster, and thought there might be some budding chefs out there who would be interested. Keep us posted if you apply, and more importantly if you are successful!!
Janet
MICHAEL WINNER’S DINING STARS
Could you or someone you know impress Britain’s most famous restaurant critic with your cooking?
Michael Winner is offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to talented amateur cooks
For more information and an application form:
email: diningstars@12yard.com
Or write, requesting an application form and providing your address, to:
Dining Stars Applications, 12 Yard Productions,
131-151 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 5BB
Please note that filming takes place in September & October 2009
ALL applicants must be 18+ and be a UK resident
currently living in the UK.
PLEASE SEND IN YOUR COMPLETED APPLICATION FORM BY SEPTEMBER 17TH 2009. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT NOT TO CONSIDER APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THIS DATE. IF YOU HAVE NOT HEARD FROM US BY OCTOBER 30TH 2009 THEN YOU HAVE NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL THIS TIME BUT WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST.
 
Mull of Kintyre
Music Festival
20th-23rd of August
SATURDAY MAIN CONCERT
Red Hot Chilli Pipers
+Special Guests+
FESTIVAL CEILIDH NIGHT
The Fergie MacDonald Band
The Hot Seats
(Virginia USA)
DALRIADA CONNECTIONS CONCERT
An afternoon of traditional Scottish and Irish music
ALSO
Survivors Night, Young Folks Night, Open Air Concerts, Pub Sessions, Children’s Entertainment and so much more.
Cradle of the Nation
For more information contact below
Web site: www.mokfest.com Email: mokfest@hotmail.co.uk
Phone: 01586 552034/Tourist Information 01586 552065
http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user?query=search®ion=xxx&category=misc&search=Mull+of+kintyre&interface=mull
http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_scotland&query=detail&event+331616&interface=mull
Cadenhead’s recently won a Bronze medal for the Old Raj Gin 55% at the International Spirits Challenge 2009.
I’m sure that anyone who has tried the Old Raj Gin ranks it as one of the best Gin’s in the world.
Cadenhead’s Old Raj Gin is distinctive in that it contains a measure of saffron, the rare and costly spice derived from the crocus flower. In addition to a slightly spicy flavour, this also imparts a pale yellow colour to Old Raj.
Tasting Note:
Nose: Perfumed, aromatic and smooth.
Palate: This gin slips over the palate with ease. With tonic it sparkles; on ice with bitters it’s lively. Our 55% version is simply described a more.
 |  |
