Rye whiskey

Annual or perennial grasses under the scientific name of Secale cereale, these grow to 5 ft tall and are one of the major agricultural grains of America.

The color is bluish green and the leaves are ½ inch wide. The seed is 1/3 inch long. This grain is used in making bread and rye whisky.

Rye has the similar color of bourbon, but the flavor and aroma are different. Rye whisky must be distilled from a fermented mash of grain containing at least 51 percent rye.

The straight rye whiskey is matured for at least two years in the charred white-oak barrels. Unless the distillation process includes extensive rectification, rye distillates has a characteristically – pungent aroma and hard edged spicy grain like flavor.

Production of rye whiskies had vanished altogether from the Mid-Atlantic states by the 1980s. A handful of modern rye whiskies are currently being made by bourbon distilleries in Kentucky and Indiana.

In addition of the use of rye malts in the manufacture of rye whiskey, rye is used in the production of Holland gin and the Russian drink, kvass.
Rye whiskey

Beer from barley

Beer is the result of using grain and water to make an alcoholic beverage. Styles vary depending on the type of grain used, the level of toasting of the grain and the type of yeast used.

While other grain can be utilized in the process, barley has special properties that make it a necessary ingredient.

The barley plant belongs to the Gramineae, the family of grasses. Barley is cultivated mostly for animal feed and a key ingredient in beer.

Barley bread and beer made from fermented barley were everyday nourishment for ancient Egyptian slaves who built the pyramids.

In its raw form, barley has no real fermentable material, and has to go through a special process called malting to become the sugar source for beer.

In the making of beer, whole unrefined barley is soaked until it sprouts. During soaking, proteins within the bran convert to enzymes that change starches to sugars.

Enzymatic changes inside the grain create a starch reservoir as an energy source for the plant during the period of its early development.

Next the barley is dried to prevent further sprouting and is lightly cooked, the resulting malt is crushed and combined with warm water, and the conversions of starch to sugar begin.

The enzymes hydrolyze the polysaccharides and break them down into simple sugars such as glucose and maltose. This process is called mashing.

Addition of yeast to malt leads to fermentation, which results in alcohol. In beer production, hops are added to the barley malt.
Beer from barley

Whiskey

Whiskey is distilled from grain. The type of grain or grains used determined the type of whiskey.
Whisky – spelled this way for Scotch but as whiskey for Irish and other forms of the product is a distilled beverage made from cereals and normally matured in oak. It is a subject to a great deal of legislation and custom.

The major cereals used for the manufacture of whisky are barley, wheat, rye and corn.

There are many types of whiskey:
American
Blend Whiskey
Grain Whiskey
Malt Whiskey

American Whiskey – The most popular grains used are maize, rye, millet and barley. The most popular is Bourbon, which was originally produced in Bourbon County, Kentucky.

The most famous American whiskey is the bourbon whiskey. It is America’s native spirit and goes back to the pioneer days, when early Irish and Scottish distillers brought their whiskey distilling traditions to Western Pennsylvania.

Blend Whiskey – Blended whiskey is a combination of malt and grain whiskies. Blended whiskey are composed from a dozen to fifty different grain and malt whiskeys. The typical ratio is 60 percent malt whiskey to 40 percent grain whiskey.

The more malt whiskey that is used, the more expensive the whiskey. The practice of blending took off in the second half of the 19th century.

Grain Whiskey – The only difference between malt whiskey and grain whiskey is that other grains such as maize or wheat are used as well as barley.

It is distilled in the patent still, by a continuous process. It matures more quickly than malt whiskey.

Malt Whiskey – The initial stages of whiskey production are almost identical to the of beer. Malt whiskey is distilled from fermented barley malt with no adjuncts, consequently the malting barley should contain high levels of starch and low levels of protein.

It is produced only from malted barley traditionally dried over peat fires. A single malt whiskey comes from one single distillery and has not been blended with whiskies for another distilleries.
Whiskey