Whisky is the fruit of a northern climate. The term whisky is a derivative of the expression “water of life” known in in Gaelic as “uisge (pronounced ooska) beatha.” Over time uisge has been Anglicised to “whisky.” The first whiskies were produced in the 15th century by monastic orders. The first tax on production, in...
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Malt whisky is basically a distilled, un-hopped beer. Barley is malted to convert starch into fermentable sugars. To this end the barley is germinated (traditionally in floor maltings) and then kiln dried over peated fires. In the past, peat was used because of it’s availability, but now it is used primarily to impart flavour to...
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Water. The water used in most distilleries is soft. It is common wisdom that the best water sources are those that rise from granite over peat. The flavour the source water picks up from its journey is concentrated by the distillation process. Peat. The amount and character of peat used in the kilning process has...
Lowlands. Whisky from the Lowlands region tend to be lighter, softer, and less peated. Highlands. The Highlands are where the bulk of single malt whisky is produced. As it encompasses a very large area, the whisky produced in this area is stylistically very broad. Generally Highland whiskies are known for their depth and complexity. Islay....
With idiosyncratic character and a lingering finish, Single Malt Whisky is made to be sipped. Although smothering your single malt with ice or soda water is not recommended, don’t be afraid to add a little cool water to the whisky. Drink it at a strength that allows you to appreciate subtleties in the flavour. Spring...
Beer is a fermented beverage principally made from four ingredients; water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. Each one of these ingredients will impart its own flavour characteristics to the finished product, one which is almost as old as civilization itself. One Egyptian recipe called for bread to be left out in the rain and then...
Cask ale is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Traditionally cask ale is also cask-conditioned, undergoing a secondary fermentation in the cask. This contrasts with “keg beer” which is generally filtered and carbonated. Cask-conditioned beers are also referred to as “real ales”. It is common in Canada to find cask dispensed brews that are racked off from a...
You may have heard of the “Bavarian Purity Law,” also known as “Reinheitsgebot.” This German law, dated 1516 and still enforced today, stipulates that only barley malt, hops, and water may be used in the making of beer. It is one of the earliest, and longest running, examples of consumer protection legislation. Inventive brewers, like...
It took until until the 17th century for bottled beer to become commonplace. Up until that time most beer was consumed by pouring it directly out of a cask. Along with advances in science in the later 19th century such as pasteurization and mechanical refrigeration the inevitable march towards tightly controlled, factory produced, mass made...