The barley must be partially germinated (sprouted)

before it can release its starch reserves to be converted into fermentable

sugars, but then dried by heat to arrest this germination before the grain uses

the sugars to grow. This germination and drying process is called malting. The

type of fuel, particularly smoke from peat if used during kilning, will greatly

affect a whisky’s character.

The malting process induces physical and bio-chemical changes in the barley

enabling distillers to utilise the starch within the grain to make alcohol.

Split a grain of barley and you'll see the white starch inside. Starch is

present in barley as a food source to enable the embryo to grow a shoot and

roots - to germinate. The starch is held in the endosperm, surrounded by protein

and enclosed in cells, both barriers which need to be breached to allow the

distiller to extract the starch. As the embryo starts to grow it breaks down the

entrapping protein and the cell walls to access its starch reserve.

Steeping

The harvested grain has a natural resistance to growth known as dormancy.

This is nature's way of ensuring the grain does not start to germinate until the

new growing season. Hence the dormant seed must be tricked into thinking it is

spring, thus encouraging the barley to start to grow, known as germination.

The barley is coaxed into growing by a series of immersions in warm water at

16°C, a process known as steeping. Conversely, to store barley for prolonged

periods it must be kept at below 15°C at a moisture level below 15% to maintain

its dormancy.

Steeping raises the grains moisture content from storage levels of around 12%

to 43-46% so initialising growth. Due to the grain's husk being relatively water

proof, simply immersing the grain in water does not quickly raise moisture

levels inside the grain, so steeping involves a series of 'wet stands' followed

by 'dry stands' or 'air rests'. The grain is immersed in water for a short

period to awaken the grain's embryo, then the water drained off to allow oxygen

to reach the embryo. The now active embryo encourages the grain to absorb more

water during the next soak or 'wet stand'. Different varieties of barley react
to steeping in different ways so a pattern of wet and dry stands is repeated

according to that particular barley variety. A typical steeping pattern might

be: 7 hours wet, 10 hours dry, 9 hours wet, 7 hours dry, 7 hours wet and 2 hours

dry.

In modern maltings air is blown through the wet grain during the wet standing

periods and extraction fans remove carbon dioxide during the dry stands. The

barley at the bottom of a steep develops slightly slower than that at the top.

Blowing pressurised air through the barley during wet stands also serves to mix

the barley thus ensuring even development.

Once the barley has absorbed enough water and oxygen the grain will start to

germinate and the root (chit) will begin to emerge from the grain, initially

visible as a white dot. The growing barley absorbs oxygen and emits carbon

dioxide and heat. In order to provide the perfect conditions for the barley to

continue to grow, the grain is moved to the next stage of the process,

germination.

As the barley germinates a hormone called Gibberellic Acid activates

synthesis of hydrolytic enzymes in the grain's aleurone layer which start to

covert the grain's starch and protein reserve (the endosperm) into simpler

starches and soluble sugars - the food source that allows initial growth of the

germinating embryo and the shoot (acrosphere) and root (chit) to develop. The

cell walls are broken down turning the previously hard shelled barley to easily

crushable malt, allowing the starches to be released during mashing.

Germination

After steeping, the grain is spread out evenly and encouraged to germinate

(starts to grow). During this period (four to five days) the maltster will

control the humidity, temperature and air flow, which along with time, affect

the final characteristics of malt. The grain must be turned at least twice a day

to dissipate the heat produced by the germinating grain, allow carbon dioxide to

be released and to prevent the fine rootlets becoming intertwined and creating

an immovable thick matted slab.

Traditionally, barley is spread on the concrete floors of the malting house

to a depth of 15 to 50cm (6 to 20 inches) to germinate with the depth varied to

control temperature. This traditional method termed 'floor malting' is very

labour intensive and relies on the back-breaking work of someone first spreading

and then hand-turning the damp grain using flat wooden shovels called shiels as

it lies on the malthouse floor to ensure even germination and prevent the

rootlets of the germinating grain becoming entwined.

Historically, each distillery had its own on-site floor maltings but the

distillery's output was restricted by the capacity of its maltings. Floor

malting takes some seven days to complete and almost all distilleries now

outsource malting to third-party maltsters who use the modern mechanised malting

methods described below.

Germination must be checked around about the time the shoot has grown

two-thirds of the way round within the husk and the root is about as long as the

grain. If germination is not stopped in time, the grain will be 'over-modified',

meaning that the shoot has used too much of the soluble sugars whilst growing,

leaving little for the yeast to feed on during fermentation. If germination is

stopped too soon, the grain will be under-modified, meaning that not enough

soluble sugars will have been produced.

Two traditional tests allow malsters to check the development of the grain so

access when to stop germination. One is to check the length of the shoot

(acrosphere) which can be seen growing just under the grain's husk. Another,

often preferred by malsters, is the 'rub' test: The grains white inner part (the

endosperm) is exposed by splitting the grain open with a finger nail and the

endosperm rubbed between forefinger and thumb, or chalk-like down a wall. If no

mark is left by the barley then the starch is still encased within the cell

walls and protein so requires more germination. If a white powder is left then

germination has reached an optimum stage having only used around 10% of the

available starch, leaving 90% for the distiller.

To arrest germination, the 'green malt' is dried by heating, so is

transferred from the germinating vessels to the kiln for the next stage in the
malting process, kilning. (Modern combined germination and kilning vessels do

not require the grain to be moved.)

Kilning

Heat applied during kilning arrests germination and reduces the water content

in the green malt from around 40-46% to 3.5-6.5%. Complex chemical reactions

also take place during this heating process. Amino acids and sugars are

degraded, or react together to produce roasted, biscuity flavours crucial to the

taste of whisky. The resulting low moisture content also prevents mould growth,

so allowing the malted barley to be stored for prolonged periods. During kilning

it is important not to overheat and kill the gain's natural enzymes, which are

important in the mashing stage.

Kilning takes 24 to 48 hours. The damp barley is spread across the kiln

floor, which has thousands of small holes large enough to let heat (and

sometimes smoke) from the heater or fire below rise up through the floor and

then barley.

Traditionally, a distillery's kiln is topped by chimney with a distinctive

pagoda-shaped roof. Such pagoda roofs still crown most Scottish malt whisky

distilleries, although most are now purely decorative. Originally designed by

Charles Cree Doig and dubbed the Doig Ventilator, these once vented the kilns.

In the few remaining distilleries still malting their own grain, the pagoda sits

like a hat atop the outlet from the kiln and serves to create a low pressure

area, thus drawing the smoke from the fire through the grain and then out from

under the pagoda.

-There are four main phases to the modern kilning process:

Forced drying: Lasts 3 to 4 hours - moisture is driven

from the interior of the grain.

Pre-break: Lasts 12 hours - large volume of air at around

60°C is blown upwards through the bed to drive off moisture from the surface of

the grain.

Break: This is the point when most of the moisture has

been driven off the surface of the green malt. Post-break: The temperature is
increased and the flow of air through the bed decreased.

Curing: Lasts 2-3 three hours. The temperature is

increased to 70 to 90°C to colour the malt. During this toasting phase the fan

speed is reduced and the re-circulation of air increased. The degree of toasting

will affect the flavour of the malted barley with lower temperatures retaining

hay-like cereal notes while higher temperatures produce chocolatey flavours.

In Scotland, particularly on the islands where there are few trees, kilning

traditionally used heat from a peat fire as it was a freely available local

fuel. Many of the whiskies produced on the islands (most notably Islay but also

Arran, Jura, Lewis, Mull, Orkney and Skye) continue to use malt kilned with

peat, although peat is now usually supplemented with more modern fuels such as

oil, gas or anthracite (coal is no longer used).

Peat forms in poorly drained wetland conditions from a build-up of partially

decomposed vegetation. The constantly wet conditions starve microbes of the

oxygen needed to fully decompose the vegetation. Waterlogged dead grass,

sphagnum moss, heather and other plant matter accumulate over thousands of years

and are compressed and partially carbonised (not quite coal) to form peat bogs.

Parts of the Scottish Highlands and islands, particularly Islay, have the

vast tracks of peatland and the peat differs depending on the vegetation in a

particular place. When burnt and used to kiln barley, the smoke emitted by peat

cut from bogs in Islay imparts very different flavours to the barley than from

peat cut on the Scottish mainland.

The seaweed, tar and iodine so typical of Islay malts are partly due to

decomposed marine vegetation and sea salt in the island's peat. The peat on the

Orkney Islands is composed almost entirely of heather so imparts Orcadian malts

with a heathery, gentian-like smokiness. Highland peat varies again according to

location but contains more tree lignin so tends to impart a more wood fire-like

smokiness.

Obviously, the longer the malt is exposed to peating, the peatier the whisky

will be. Peat smoke is more easily absorbed by the green malt when the surface

is still wet so peat is burned at the start of kilning, prior to the point known
as the 'break'.

It is chemicals called phenols (isomeric cresols, guaiacol and xylenols) in

the peat smoke which flavour the malted barley, and so too the whisky. Typical

flavours imparted by peat smoke phenols include: vegetal, medicinal, carbolic,

tar, creosote, clove and seaweed.

The amount of peatiness, or 'peat reek' of malted barley is measured and

expressed in parts per million (ppm) of phenols, the flavour element imparted by

the peat smoke. Each distillery specifies a specific peat level to be supplied

by its maltster, traditionally distilleries on Scotland's west coast use more

peat reek than those in Speyside and the east coast.

Peating levels,Level of phenols expressed as parts per million (ppm)

-Very heavily peated: 50ppm-170ppm (Bruichladdich Octomore uses 167ppm)

-Heavily peated: 30-50ppm (Ardbeg uses 50ppm)

-Moderately high: 20-30ppm (Lagavulin uses 30ppm)

-Medium peated: 15-20ppm (Talisker ; Highland Park use 20ppm)

-Moderately low: 5-15ppm

-Lightly peated: 1-5ppm (typical Speyside malt uses 2ppm)

-Unpeated: None (even unpeated malt can have phenolics of 0.6 to 0.8 ppm)

While it is easy to accurately measure how phenolic malt is, it is more

challenging to accurately peat malt to a specified level. Peating levels vary by

5 to 10% so it is easier for maltsters to consistently make heavily peated malt,

and for the maltsers or distillers requiring medium peat levels to blend heavily

peated malt with unpeated malt to dependably achieve their desired medium peat

level.

The use of dried peat as a fuel in Scotland dates back to medieval times when

the Little Ice Age left few trees in Scottish Highlands. Although now mainly

reserved for the whisky industry, some Scottish households still exercise their

right to cut peat to burn as a domestic fuel. The surface turf above the peat is

cut away with a peat spade. A tool called a 'Fal' or 'peat iron' is then used to

cut and extract the peat itself in long bricks. A long-handled three pronged

folk is used to haul peat bricks up from the wet trench and onto the bank where
they are spread out to dry. After being left to dry for a few weeks, in good

weather the peats will be dry enough to be stood on end without collapsing. This

step is called 'lifting' and the peat bricks are lined up to further dry for

four to six weeks, resting on each other in a line called a 'rùdhan'. The

hand-cutting of peat is a dying art and most commercially cut peat is now dug

out by machines which cut in a chain saw-like action to produce sausage-like

peat rather than traditional bricks.

Prior to the building of railways which supplied coke and other fuels to

Highland distilleries, peat was pretty much the only locally available fuel. The

warm smoke from the peat not only dries the grain but gives protection against

bacterial spoilage as well as adding a distinctive flavour to the whisky.

Today, sulphur is sometimes added to the fuel used for kilning instead of

peat due to cost and the environmental concerns of using peat.

New Malting Methods

After malting, the grain superficially resembles the original barley, but is

physically and bio-chemically much changed. Over time the equipment used by

maltsters has become more technically advanced, but the natural changes in the

grain induced by malting remain the same. The malt whisky industry is

wonderfully traditional with outdated equipment and techniques enduring due to

their perceived contributions to flavour and the marketing story. Consequently,

the oldest malting technology, floor malting, may be very inefficient and labour

intensive but not only are floor maltings still used, they are being

recommissioned.

In order of technological advance, the four main malting methods employed

today are:

1. Floor maltings

2. Saladin boxes

3. Rotary drums

4. Germinate and kilning vessels

Floor Maltings:

Advocates of floor malting believe this traditional method allows the grain

to retain more flavour from peat smoke in the kiln. Modern mechanised malting

methods, using warm air, dry the grain's husk. In contrast, old-fashioned and

slower floor-maltings leave the grain's surface moist. It is the surface

moisture that the phenols (the flavour elements in the peat smoke) stick to

during 'peating'. An analogy sometimes used compares a man in a smoky bar

wearing a dry sweater with his neighbour, whose sweater is damp. When they leave

the bar, the man with the damp sweater will have a stronger smell of smoke than

the man with the dry sweater.

Traditional floor maltings add to a distillery's character, with their long

rooms, grain-laden floors and maltmen still using chariots (a wheelbarrow-like

tool) for spreading barley. All very romantic but floor maltings are inherently

inconsistent and very labour intensive to operate compared to modern, mechanised

malting methods, hence only seven single malt Scotch whisky distilleries still

operate floor maltings. And most of these buy malt from third-party maltsters as

their own floor maltings are only able to supply a small proportion of their

malt requirements.

Scottish Distilleries with operational floor maltings

1. Balvenie, Speyside<BR> 2. BenRiach, Speyside (reinstated in November

2012)<BR> 3. Bowmore, Islay<BR> 4. Highland Park, Orkney<BR> 5. Kilchoman,

Islay<BR> 6. Laphroaig, Islay<BR> 7. Springbank, Campbeltown (produces 100% of

malt used)

Saladin Boxes:

Invented by a Frenchman, Colonel Charles Saladin in the late 1800s, Saladin

maltings were the early replacement for floor maltings. There are two common

designs: Saladin Boxes and Circular Saladin. Saladin Boxes are horizontal boxes

fitted with turners that move through the bed several times a day, raising the

barley so preventing the rootlets becoming entangled. As the name suggests,

Circular Saladin are circular vessels fitted with turners attached to an arm

that rotates around the vessel. Both designs also allow air to be blown through
the barley for cooling. The germinated 'green malt' is then transferred from the

Saladin Box to the kiln.

Saladin boxes can process beds of barley between 60 cm and 80 cm deep in

batches of 200 tons at a time and were made obsolete when drum maltings were

introduced.

Rotary Drums/ Boby Drums:

The wet grain is loaded into large drums, which intermediately revolve to

prevent the rootlets becoming matted. Cool humid air is blown through the drum

to control the heat generated by the grain as it germinates. Once the barley has

reached the optimum degree of germination, the green malt is transferred from

the germinating vessels to the kiln.

Rotary drums offer a gentle method of producing good quality malt, typically

for small production runs. Such drums hold between 9 and 50 tons. The seven

huge, Boby drums which operate at the Port Ellen Maltings on Islay are the

largest malting drums in the northern hemisphere and hold 50 tonnes of barley at

its original weight (65 tonnes of barley at 45% moisture content

Germination and Kilning Vessels:

Also known as GKVs, these are the most modern malting vessels and are

operated at Diageo's Roseile maltings. As the name indicates these allow the

barley to be germinated and kilned in the same vessel. On completion of

germination the humidified air is stopped and replaced with heated air from kiln

burners.

The UK Malting Industry

Around 1.5 million tonnes of malt is produced in the UK each year, mostly by

seven large and seven smaller maltsters. Some 80% of this output is for use by

Britain's domestic distillers (48%), brewers (40%) and food industry (3%). The

remaining 9% is exported to places such as Japan for whisky production. The

malting industry purchases nearly two million tonnes of barley annually,

approximately one-third of the UK crop.