Sparkys 100% Peated Malt Scotch Whisky

[sparky marky]

So... I got my hands on a 25kg sack of heavily peated malt. It had similar colour and extract stats to a lager malt but then it also has 43ppm phenol!!! At the Maltings they literally just divert a portion of their pale malt to a seperate kiln where they smoke it with peat. I have been assured that Laphroig get some of their malt from the same source which is a good sign.

Mashing - This is crazy smoky stuff and smells incredible, but at its heart is properly modified British barley malt so I mashed in as a simple single infusion mash. All 25kg went in with 70 liters of water at 69C with 5 liters each of boiling and cold water on hand for emergency temperature corrections. We are aiming for a precise 63-64C at the start of the mash. Much lower and conversion of starch to sugar might be sluggish, much higher and you will end up making complex sugars which are not fermentable (this would be good for beer but not for distilling, we want to turn as much of that starch into booze as possible!).
I insulate the mash tun and leave for 90 mins. The starch test with iodine was fine after just 30 mins but I always leave it for longer. Just because all the starch is gone doesn't mean it's done, there may still be complex sugars present that are still getting broken down to fermentables.
I ran all the mash runnings straight off the grain into the fermenter and pressed down on the grain to squeeze out more good stuff before adding another 25 liters of water to the grain at 64C and stirring the shit out of it. I left it for another 20 mins before running off the liquid into the fermenter and squeezing again. I got about 85 liters with an SG of 1.064 which gives a mash efficiency in the 75% sort of region which is ok for such a lazy mash and sparge.

Ferment - let it cool to 25C and pitched US-05. It's a clean-ish ale yeast with a little bit of estery banana which is decent in whisky. Britain got ALL of its summer at oncethjs year while this was fermenting so ambient temperature was around 25C so fermentation finished to .999 in 4 days. That gives an abv of around 8.6%. I then let it settle for another day before racking into the still.

Distilling - I single ran this in one go through 4 bubblecap plates and collected at 3.3L/hr, I took 7.5 liters in total in jars and aired for 2 days with cotton lids.

Blending and aging - I always cut ALL the heads from my whisky. Some people are ok with a little late heads but I HATE the stuff. The peat, while certainly present, was not in overwhelming amounts in flavour or aroma in the first half of the run, but it REALLY picks up the further we go into tails. I therefore made uncharacteristic deep tails cuts. I REALLY wanted that stuff in my whisky knowing full well it would take longer to age out properly. After cuts and dilution I have 6.7L at 68% aging with a blend of used French oak from a rum I did and a little used American oak from a bourbon. Im aging with around 20g of wood per liter which should be good since it's already been used on other products...


I'm expecting this to take a least a year to age properly but will taste at intervals to see how it's getting on. This will NOT be a peat beast like Lagavulin or Laphroig because it went through the bubble plates but from how it tastes now I'm expecting "medium-high" peatiness in the final product (if that means anything!?! )

[just sayin]

Sparky, your making my mouth water. Please share your tasting notes as it ages!

[sparky marky]

Yep! I intend to be back to update with tasting notes. These are a lot of threads on here asking questions about how much peat to use and how smoky it should be without much resolution. I figured I'd just go balls deep and use 100% of the peatiest stuff I could get. If it ends up being a bit much I can always blend it in with another non smoked barley malt whisky after aging

[cuginosgrizzo]

Good job sparky, sounds really good! I did a similar batch last march and it is currently aging with used european oak. I started with 10kg peated malt (20ppm) and 50 liters water, 2 hours mash at 64C, no sparging, I fermented on the grain. Stripped it and then spirit run with my pot still. Yield was about 2,5 liters @ 65% ABV, so yours is a little higher. Like you, I went a little deeper than usual in the tails when blending to follow that good grainy taste. I also used the spent grains and trub, and some backset, to do a sugarhead, which yealded 3 more liters @ 69% ABV. I tasted both last Monday, after 3 and 4 months on oak, and both are delicious IMO. AG peatiness is between Talisker and Laphroaig and it is very good, although a little taily. Sugarhead (I called it Uncle Scrooge) need to mellow the sugar bite and has a peat intesity close to Talisker. Gonna start a new batch tonight, as I still have 15kg malt left.

May I ask you where you sourced the 43ppm malt? If they send to Europe mainland at an acceptable cost I might try it before you guys exit EU for real

[der wo]

May I ask you where you sourced the 43ppm malt? If they send to Europe mainland at an acceptable cost I might try it before you guys exit EU for real

Yes please.
I have mashed with:
https://homebrewshop.be/en/speciality-m ... 25-kg.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
https://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/chate ... -2948.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
(they send to your country cuginosgrizzo!)
But of course after Malt Whisky means planing next Malt Whisky.

[sparky marky]

Good job sparky, sounds really good! I did a similar batch last march and it is currently aging with used european oak. I started with 10kg peated malt (20ppm) and 50 liters water, 2 hours mash at 64C, no sparging, I fermented on the grain. Stripped it and then spirit run with my pot still. Yield was about 2,5 liters @ 65% ABV, so yours is a little higher. Like you, I went a little deeper than usual in the tails when blending to follow that good grainy taste. I also used the spent grains and trub, and some backset, to do a sugarhead, which yealded 3 more liters @ 69% ABV. I tasted both last Monday, after 3 and 4 months on oak, and both are delicious IMO. AG peatiness is between Talisker and Laphroaig and it is very good, although a little taily. Sugarhead (I called it Uncle Scrooge) need to mellow the sugar bite and has a peat intesity close to Talisker. Gonna start a new batch tonight, as I still have 15kg malt left.

May I ask you where you sourced the 43ppm malt? If they send to Europe mainland at an acceptable cost I might try it before you guys exit EU for real

Yours sounds good too, my higher yield was probably helped by squeezing the heads real tight with my flute, but this way of doing it probably stripped a bit of the peat. Iv had a similar idea to your Scrooge, so I kept all the back set and have been toying with the idea of re heating it and using it as the mash water for a 25kg sack of regular barley, I'm quite short on free time though at the moment

My peated malt came out of speyside as a personal favour and cost me nothing so won't really help anyone else.... I notice themaltmiller.co.uk have whole sacks of heavily peated malt but it's quite expensive... Maybe the failing £ would make it an ok purchase for you though? Haha.
http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.ph ... ductId=439" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[cuginosgrizzo]

Thanks Sparky, they actually ship to my country, I'll keep it in mind. It is expensive though, twice as much as I payed my 20ppm.

Sounds like a very good Idea to use the peated backset as mash water. You might need to raise the ph a tad, though.

Keep us posted on your tasting samples!

[der wo]

Thanks for the link. I have bookmarked it.

[MichiganCornhusker]

I think you'll be glad you went with 100% peat malt, Sparky.
I did a 100% with Simpsons Peated malt last year and it turned out great. I'd give it a 4 out of 10 for smoke.
I fermented on grain, racked and cleared, cut heads and included tails much like you have.
At first it definitely tasted murky because of the tails, but a year later it is very good.

I will say that it doesn't really seem like scotch to me though. Most of the scotches I like do have a headsy quality, and they are very clean without the tails character.
I also aged mine on new toasted and charred white oak, so it's kind of a bourbon/scotch, disrespecting both styles but giving me a tasty drink.

For my second attempt I just finished up a 100% Baird's Heavily Peated run. This time I did include the late heads and made a tighter tails cut.
The heads seem to be giving it a floral/fruity character. It is very smoke forward right now, but only a few weeks old. Will be interesting to see where this one goes.

Thanks for posting, we could use more Scotch info on here for sure, especially now with Corene mia.

[sparky marky]

Do you remember what the phenol levels were in your peated malt cornhusker? It's interesting hearing how original phenols and different distilling methods equate to smokiness in final product.

[sparky marky]

I'm hoping that my preloved American and French oaks do a decent job of emulating the scotch character.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Do you remember what the phenol levels were in your peated malt cornhusker? It's interesting hearing how original phenols and different distilling methods equate to smokiness in final product.

I think I found info online for the Barid's that posted 30-50 ppm, I think the Simpsons was less.
If you like Islay smoke I don't think we can overdo the peat with the barley that's available to us.

[sparky marky]

Don't know if this interests anyone... But here's a link:

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/min ... -3319.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow


I just ordered some of this stuff, it's data sheet says its 52 phenol level and is going for £40 for a 25kg sack.
It's free shipping on orders over £70 so you should probably treat yourself and buy 2 bags

[MDH]

Baird's is the homebrewing standard. It's a decent peated malt. In my opinion it doesn't quite have the same character as some of the Islays who source their own peat. But it'll do if you have nothing else. My first bag was about $40. It's steadily gone up to about $55, which is strange considering the GBP has gone down. Probably a supply chain issue.

I use essentially the same process, but I do sparge three times at different temperatures and also have uused the following yeasts:

-Lallemand British Ale
-WYEAST London Ale III
-WYEAST Burton Ale
-Lalvin K1
-AB MAURI
-Lallemand Belle Saison
-US-04

Fermenting with lower sized yeast pitches at a high temperature (think 74+) will at first yield a fairly harsh spirit, but as it ages will develop a multitude of fruity characteristics.

Distillation should occur a little faster than normal. Like others here, I keep wide cuts and let age settle it down.

[sparky marky]

I use essentially the same process, but I do sparge three times at different temperatures and also have uused the following yeasts:

-Lallemand British Ale
-WYEAST London Ale III
-WYEAST Burton Ale
-Lalvin K1
-AB MAURI
-Lallemand Belle Saison
-US-04

Interesting... Have a favourite? Do you get much of the saison flavour carrying over?

[MDH]

Yes, the Saison flavor carries over. That specific strain, especially combined with glucoamylase to shave off any leftover sugars from mashing, will dry out the whisky mash completely and give you higher yields... Sometimes I get 15% more alcohol than normal using it.

As it ages the spirit starts to smell like banana bread.

It's actually my least favorite of them, but novel nonetheless, good for blending.

My favorite so far as been to start with lallemand british ale or any of the WYEAST ale strains, ferment hot, and then finish with MX, AB Mauri or K1.

[rager]

i did a mash of 60% 2row and 40% simpson peated malt (dont have any idea of ppm ) it was good off the rip . peatiness was there but seems to have faded over time. after talking to others , they said the same. i wouldnt be afraid of your 100% peated whisky at all. like you said, if its to much blend a little with a single barley distallation and see what you get. but keep some at 100% . all those scotch guys let it age for years. from my experences flavors come and go over time. most of use dont have the luxury of waiting years to see where our whiskey ends up

[sparky marky]

MDH- Cool, Iv used some of the classic English ale yeasts in beer before, some nice bready and malt enhancing flavours there, time to give it a go in whisky!

Rager- Iv got 12 liters aging at 65% from that original 45ppm heavily peated stuff I got hold of. With loads more heavily peated malt on the way hopefully some of it is gonna last till it's a couple of years old.
I managed to "borrow" my dads bottle of Lagavulin for a side by side taste test of my 1 month old stuff, the peat levels seem really similar which is pleasing, of course by comparison mine still tastes rough AF though

[nerdybrewer]

I'm surprised I didn't see this thread before!
I have a question for those using peated malt, when distilling your mash when you get to the tails end did you ever see any black oily looking stuff come through?
I identified this as "smoke essence". Wondering if anyone else noticed it?

[der wo]

I have them with bourbon too. Much more than with malt or peated malt. Are phenols oils too? I don't know. Of course I have them only at the stripping run. Like the most members here I double distill whisky.

[sparky marky]

I have them with bourbon too. Much more than with malt or peated malt. Are phenols oils too? I don't know. Of course I have them only at the stripping run. Like the most members here I double distill whisky.

Phenols are ring shaped carbon molecules. They're not oils but some of them are found in crude oil in high amounts and are extracted from it.
Iv not come across any black residue in distillate but I'm generally using plates these days which will probably be holding back that kind of stuff. Even on stripping runs though the most interesting colour I ever get is "slightly milky"


A couple of months on my peated whiskys are starting to smell and taste more pleasant, it's amazing to see how these things change character so frequently while oaking ...

[der wo]

Yes, time is our best friend. Sometimes I hate him, because he always is so slow...

[cuginosgrizzo]

So how is it coming? My 100% peated malt at 4 months is not too bad, just a little poor, all you can smell and taste is peat smoke, and now some oak. Not unpleasant but it lacks dimensons in my opinion. In my next batch I plan to add 10% melanoidin malt to increase the mouth feel.

[der wo]

So how is it coming? My 100% peated malt at 4 months is not too bad, just a little poor, all you can smell and taste is peat smoke, and now some oak. Not unpleasant but it lacks dimensons in my opinion. In my next batch I plan to add 10% melanoidin malt to increase the mouth feel.

The Scotchs don't add darker malts, but produce complex whiskies. Probably the lack of dimensions has other reasons.
Possible reasons from my experience:
- a 8% mash will taste more complex than a 6% mash.
- residual sugars (a high FG) make the whisky taste blurry.
- strip at least 1/3 of the mash volume. Per 10l mash strip at least 3.3l low wines.
- a very small heads cut in combination with a long airing tastes more complex than a strict cut with only little airing.
- to find the optimal toast and char is much more difficult than I thought. IMO the oak needs a toast, but the toast must not be visible (very short toasting). And only a light char.
- the second use of the oak has more character. The first use has too much sweet caramel if you want something like malt whisky. Either it results too sweet or without character.
- after 4 months many heads are aged off, so it tastes darker and smoother. But the taste will open again after more time. It is always interesting for me to taste my older whiskies with all the mistakes I did.

[sparky marky]

So how is it coming? My 100% peated malt at 4 months is not too bad, just a little poor, all you can smell and taste is peat smoke, and now some oak. Not unpleasant but it lacks dimensons in my opinion. In my next batch I plan to add 10% melanoidin malt to increase the mouth feel.

I bought a bottle of lagavulin to keep in the cupboard and compare occasionally to what I've made.
The taste profiles are going to end up quite similar, mine is just a much rougher and slightly less peaty version because it's only 3 months old and I used a flute type still. It will probably end up being less complex but I'm ok with that

I'm really happy with it, and my second batch using that Minch malt and WLP007 yeast is going to be even better........eventually

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

- residual sugars (a high FG) make the whisky taste blurry.

Blurry, what does that mean? Also, do you have an experiment that demonstrates this? I use a lot of special grains, that contribute unfermentables with higher fg. I get great complexity, with very distinct flavors. I can taste chocolates, caramels, grain, corn. Nothing blurry about a higher fg.

- after 4 months many heads are aged off, so it tastes darker and smoother. But the taste will open again after more time. It is always interesting for me to taste my older whiskies with all the mistakes I did.

4 months. BS. If it clears in 4 months, you made tighter cuts than just a "small heads cut". It does mellow after 4 months aging, but the heads is still prominent if you cut wide.

[cuginosgrizzo]

So how is it coming? My 100% peated malt at 4 months is not too bad, just a little poor, all you can smell and taste is peat smoke, and now some oak. Not unpleasant but it lacks dimensons in my opinion. In my next batch I plan to add 10% melanoidin malt to increase the mouth feel.

The Scotchs don't add darker malts, but produce complex whiskies. Probably the lack of dimensions has other reasons.
Possible reasons from my experience:
- a 8% mash will taste more complex than a 6% mash.
- residual sugars (a high FG) make the whisky taste blurry.
- strip at least 1/3 of the mash volume. Per 10l mash strip at least 3.3l low wines.
- a very small heads cut in combination with a long airing tastes more complex than a strict cut with only little airing.
- to find the optimal toast and char is much more difficult than I thought. IMO the oak needs a toast, but the toast must not be visible (very short toasting). And only a light char.
- the second use of the oak has more character. The first use has too much sweet caramel if you want something like malt whisky. Either it results too sweet or without character.
- after 4 months many heads are aged off, so it tastes darker and smoother. But the taste will open again after more time. It is always interesting for me to taste my older whiskies with all the mistakes I did.

Hi dw, you are always a wealth of information, thank you!

I believe that the scotches have other aces up their sleeves. Do you know where to find data about their mash abv and their typical low wines ABV? Also, it might be that my malt taste is not so rich as theirs, not all malts are created equal! One more: I am using US-05 yeast, with a very neutral profile, I might try in the future some more estery yeast, to get some floral or fruity notes.

[cuginosgrizzo]

I bought a bottle of lagavulin to keep in the cupboard and compare occasionally to what I've made.
The taste profiles are going to end up quite similar, mine is just a much rougher and slightly less peaty version because it's only 3 months old and I used a flute type still. It will probably end up being less complex but I'm ok with that

I'm really happy with it, and my second batch using that Minch malt and WLP007 yeast is going to be even better........eventually

Glad it turned out good for you! Mine is not as good as I would like, but let's see what happens with more time. I find that 6 months is an important turning point for my spirits.

[der wo]

I bought a bottle of lagavulin to keep in the cupboard and compare occasionally to what I've made.
The taste profiles are going to end up quite similar, mine is just a much rougher and slightly less peaty version because it's only 3 months old and I used a flute type still. It will probably end up being less complex but I'm ok with that

I'm really happy with it, and my second batch using that Minch malt and WLP007 yeast is going to be even better........eventually

How did you get the sherry-flavors like Lagavulin in your peated malt without adding sherry? Perhaps Lagavulin is not the right whisky to compare? Laphroaig 10 or Ardbeg 10 are perhaps better to compare.

I also have the Minch malt here. Will mash it in 3 months or so.
Thanks again for the link.

[der wo]

- residual sugars (a high FG) make the whisky taste blurry.

Blurry, what does that mean? Also, do you have an experiment that demonstrates this? I use a lot of special grains, that contribute unfermentables with higher fg. I get great complexity, with very distinct flavors. I can taste chocolates, caramels, grain, corn. Nothing blurry about a higher fg.

No scientific experiment. But I had some more or less complete conversions. I normally mash three times for three stripping runs, not one large mash for three runs like many members here do. I had more or less success with the same grain bill and can compare the low wines. IMO the low wines with a high FG had a curtain before the taste. If you want a positive word for this in my opinion negative taste I would say "more mouthfeel".

- after 4 months many heads are aged off, so it tastes darker and smoother. But the taste will open again after more time. It is always interesting for me to taste my older whiskies with all the mistakes I did.

4 months. BS. If it clears in 4 months, you made tighter cuts than just a "small heads cut". It does mellow after 4 months aging, but the heads is still prominent if you cut wide.

What means "BS"?
Anyway, I wrote 4 months, because cuginosgrizzos malt has 4 months now.
It depends on airing, how much heads you have to cut. My whisky is really headsy when I put it on sticks, but I let evaporate much during the whole oaking. This is not the only possible way, but in my experience better than cut more and evaporate less.
Perhaps it was not the best comment to cuginosgrizzo, who probably does age without much airing, like the most members here do.