Scottish Whiskey Making...

Or...why I will be making a nice Barley Stout Beer because

So I'll pop in a pub and order a shot of Glen Livet or Glen Fiddich and smile...while my beer ferments in a month or so- instead of years...

But the process goes something like this:

                                                     Black Barley Raw

Separate seed heads from stalk and grain from chaff then dampen.

Let it sprout.  This is known as malting. It is similar to sprouting corn to make moonshine.

                       When the barley has malted (sprouted) crush coarsely.

Dry and the finished product looks like this that arrived yesterday here

(...yes...I cheated)

                            Pre-malted, Pre coarse-ground, Black Dried Barley

Available widely online.

I added the dried crushed malted grain to a smaller initial jar for softening/steeping. Be smart and don't try a bit of the dried malted grain raw...I did. Just. Don't. Do. It.  My mouth is still burning.

Trust me on this.

Adding 2 cups of boiling water. Just covering the grain.

Cover the jar loosely and set aside for 3 days...then I will transfer it to a larger carboy

Adding brewers yeast and sterile water.  The sugars to form alcohol will come completely from the malted grain.

In a month or so the liquid within will strain to be dark stout beer. (hops can be added)

Think Guinness. Dark thick rich and foamy.
(Yes, I KNOW Guinness is an Irish beer)
 
In order to continue to make home made Scotch Whiskey the alcohol, at this point, would be distilled using one of these

The distilled spirit must then be transferred to an oak cask for no less than 3 years. Some age in casks for decades.

Yeah...definitely no time for that.  So BEER it is, then!

The amount of individual brands from Scotland is mind-boggling

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/brands/scotchwhisky

There are over 90 distilleries in Scotland producing nearly 500 distinct varieties of Scotch Whiskey.

Of course it might be the food...lol!

My tin of Haggis arrived today. Will be fixing it with "tatties and neeps" on Saturday. Interesting addition on the Instructions to cook on the side, where it read:

For a real Scottish flavour add a "wee dram" of whiskey before serving.

Perhaps to get your mind off the fact you are eating the heart, liver and lobes (lungs) of a sheep chopped and spiced and mixed with oatmeal and boiled in its own stomach, I'm thinking...

We may need more Scotch. 

Just sayin'
        More anon...