Scotch Style

[The Booze Pipe]

I'm putting together a Scotch style whiskey. I'm looking for a little feedback on how much peated malt to use. Currently slated for 40% of grain bill. I'm looking for a light to medium amount of smoke flavor. Something stronger than Highland Park, but not stronger than Talisker 10yr.
current grain bill:
Peat malt - 40%
Two Row - 50%
Victory - 5%
Briess caramel 40L - 5%

I might drop the peat malt 5-10% and add that onto the Victory and Caramel side of things. Let me know what you think?

[Saltbush Bill]

https://kegland.com.au/products/heavy-p ... 3RXiKXNp8O
I used this mixed 50/50 with Golden Promise, it's been in the barrel for 2 years next month.
It's turning out nicely.

[fiery creations]

Can’t wait to see how it turns out. I love scotch and wish there were a few solid tried n trues.

Peated malt is so expensive to buy. And I guess the banned exporting peat so I can’t even smoke my own.

[The Booze Pipe]

Can’t wait to see how it turns out. I love scotch and wish there were a few solid tried n trues.

Peated malt is so expensive to buy. And I guess the banned exporting peat so I can’t even smoke my own.

Simpsons peated malt is $2.85usd at the homebrew shop. Seems on par with anything else. I'm looking forward to it! I have an empty five gallon carboy with once used oak staves (from a simple sour mash of whiskey) it should flavor it perfectly. Then maybe finish it on some other wine flavored wood.

[The Booze Pipe]

https://kegland.com.au/products/heavy-p ... 3RXiKXNp8O
I used this mixed 50/50 with Golden Promise, it's been in the barrel for 2 years next month.
It's turning out nicely.

here is what I intend to use, as it is available to me.

https://www.homefermenter.com/products/ ... 7497&_ss=r

...a little goes a long way it says... hence my dilemma how much to actually use. I don't want to be punched in the face with peat smoke, so that's why I'm thinking 30-40%

[OtisT]

https://kegland.com.au/products/heavy-p ... 3RXiKXNp8O
I used this mixed 50/50 with Golden Promise, it's been in the barrel for 2 years next month.
It's turning out nicely.

here is what I intend to use, as it is available to me.

https://www.homefermenter.com/products/ ... 7497&_ss=r

...a little goes a long way it says... hence my dilemma how much to actually use. I don't want to be punched in the face with peat smoke, so that's why I'm thinking 30-40%

I think you’ll be happy with 30 or 50%. You’ll definitely notice both, and I personally don’t think 50 is too much. My 50% seems like less peat than what I taste from one of my Isley scotch bottles.

I’m just guessing, but is the “little goes a long way” comment with regard to beer making? That would make a lot of sense to me. In my limited experience with distilling peated grains, it loses a lot of the punch with the second distillation. I’ve made a couple of 50% batches. The ferment and especially the stripping runs were like a punch in the face with regard to that peat smell. Absolutely the smelliest thing I have run through my still. My spirit run collection was way lower on the peat smell and at the time of barreling I was a bit disappointed that the peat was so little. I feel the peat actually came back stronger with time in the barrel. I think you tried some of that batch at our 2024 gathering in Eugene.

[Saltbush Bill]

I've read over the years that the hardest part about making Scotch style Whisky is keeping the smoke in the barrel.
That's why I used a heavy peat malt and went 50%.
I'm not sorry that I did.

[Swedish Pride]

I use 95% heavily peated and 5% oat's.

I think you'll get loose the caramel and victory malt to the smoke, the peat will overpower it

[The Booze Pipe]

I use 95% heavily peated and 5% oat's.

I think you'll get loose the caramel and victory malt to the smoke, the peat will overpower it

Okay great advice fellas! I'll go with the higher percentage of peat malt. Maybe up the two specialty malts as well? Or is there no hope? I'm thinking:
50% peat malt
20% two row
15% victory
15% caramel

[Saltbush Bill]

Strip down super low if you want to keep the smoke, and make wider cuts than you.normaly would on the spirit run.

[Swedish Pride]

Or staggered cuts.
Heads
Hearts
Cloudy tails
Sweetwater ( after the cloudy tails, sweet smokey 20%ish booze)

Keep hearts and sweet water

Yes to stripping low, down to 0-2%

[Mr_Beer]

I am a newbie with modest experience.

That said I have a recipe for a scotch type recipe that folks seem to like...
85% barley -- you pick your type
15% peat smoked smoked malt

From what I read, too much peated stuff will overpower the resulting product.

[SaltyStaves]

From what I read, too much peated stuff will overpower the resulting product.

That is entirely subjective. Too peaty for one person, is not nearly peaty enough for another...

Peat can hide youth. A heavily peated single malt will be passable before its unpeated equivalent. Similar to how a youthful Rye is generally more acceptable than an equally youthful Bourbon.

[OtisT]

Can’t wait to try your peated spirit. That white dog wheat/rye bourbon you shared with me yesterday was wonderful. I’ll have to drive by your place more often.

[The Booze Pipe]

I am a newbie with modest experience.

That said I have a recipe for a scotch type recipe that folks seem to like...
85% barley -- you pick your type
15% peat smoked smoked malt

From what I read, too much peated stuff will overpower the resulting product.

I don't know if we can start putting peat flavor on a scale, but what would you say between 0-10 (ten is chewing on peat) your 15% came out at? I'm really looking for a subtle peat flavor! But not so subtle you have to "search" for it on your pallet.

[scubatech]

Yeah, any idea what the phenolic ppm might be?

[Bolverk]

In thise article

https://distilling.com/distillermagazin ... kxS0jmVucg

It talks about a BC distillery that want to make a peated but wasn't able to due to current laws, but he found that he was able to add a small amount of peated malt to his gin basket to get the flavor to carry over, it not something I've ever tried but it may a decent way to try how much smokiness you want... if'in you have a gin basket of course.

[Dancing4dan]

In thise article

https://distilling.com/distillermagazin ... kxS0jmVucg

It talks about a BC distillery that want to make a peated but wasn't able to due to current laws, but he found that he was able to add a small amount of peated malt to his gin basket to get the flavor to carry over, it not something I've ever tried but it may a decent way to try how much smokiness you want... if'in you have a gin basket of course.

Interesting article.

Instead of a gin basket I pack a section of my riser with SS mesh and put botanicals on top of the mesh. Easy to remove and clean after a run.

Would work well for holding smoked malt and they could be added at any stage during a still run.

[kiwi Bruce]

This opens up a realm of possibilities! I have been smoking my own malt for several years now. I thought I had done a post on this and can't find it...so I'll post it in a new "how to" post. I have been smoking medium sized landscaping pebbles to make a "rauchbier" but to use these in a smoky Malt Whisky is genius!

[The Booze Pipe]

In thise article

https://distilling.com/distillermagazin ... kxS0jmVucg

It talks about a BC distillery that want to make a peated but wasn't able to due to current laws, but he found that he was able to add a small amount of peated malt to his gin basket to get the flavor to carry over, it not something I've ever tried but it may a decent way to try how much smokiness you want... if'in you have a gin basket of course.

The article is intriguing. but how do you figure how much smoked malt to throw in the gin basket? And how would that translate to how much smoked malt you would mash in with?

[kiwi Bruce]

Farside hasn't been active for a while, I'll try to contact him and see if he could share some images.
I do like this idea also...

I made a small fire box and connected an aquarium air pump to it to feed the smouldering peat and bubbled the smoke through my new make.

It worked really well and I used a small amount of peat.

Someone mentioned carcinogens in the smoke. They are in the finished tradtitional product as well as BBQ so I'm not overly concerned (I don't drink much of it either).

[The Booze Pipe]

This opens up a realm of possibilities! I have been smoking my own malt for several years now. I thought I had done a post on this and can't find it...so I'll post it in a new "how to" post. I have been smoking medium sized landscaping pebbles to make a "rauchbier" but to use these in a smoky Malt Whisky is genius!

I tried something similar years ago to make a gin, and all it did was clog the riser... I'd be very careful with this method of distillation. I deemed it unsafe for myself.

[Bolverk]

The article is intriguing. but how do you figure how much smoked malt to throw in the gin basket? And how would that translate to how much smoked malt you would mash in with?

I like the new edit lol

Hard to say... it says in the article "depending on the size of the mash, around 10 bags of malt would be needed. With this new method a similar amount of flavor could be extracted from a single bag."

Lets assume hes talking about 50 lb bags so 500lbs would be what he's calling "needed" and with the gin basket he only needs 1 bag (50lbs) so I think it's safe to assume about only 10% of what an AG would call for.

So if you're doing a 10 gal batch at 2 lbs per gal thats 20lbs of grain, 10% of that is 2lbs, but a 100% peated is a LOT. I guess this is where your own personal flair comes in and what YOU like. Personally, I'd start with .25lbs and see what it's like and adjust from there.

[Saltbush Bill]

Instead of a gin basket I pack a section of my riser with SS mesh and put botanicals on top of the mesh. Easy to remove and clean after a run.
Would work well for holding smoked malt and they could be added at any stage during a still run.

these in a smoky Malt Whisky is genius!
I tried something similar years ago to make a gin, and all it did was clog the riser... I'd be very careful with this method of distillation. I deemed it unsafe for myself.

Sounds as dodgy as hell to me, what happens when that grain starts to swell in the column?

[Steve Broady]

If you’re smoking stuff yourself, and the intention is to use the smoked stuff in a gin basket in order to flavor a spirit, why not smoke something like lava rock that has lots of surface area but is otherwise inert? If it’s just a smoke transfer mechanism, then why waste perfectly good malt?

[The Booze Pipe]

The article is intriguing. but how do you figure how much smoked malt to throw in the gin basket? And how would that translate to how much smoked malt you would mash in with?

I like the new edit lol

Hard to say... it says in the article "depending on the size of the mash, around 10 bags of malt would be needed. With this new method a similar amount of flavor could be extracted from a single bag."

Lets assume hes talking about 50 lb bags so 500lbs would be what he's calling "needed" and with the gin basket he only needs 1 bag (50lbs) so I think it's safe to assume about only 10% of what an AG would call for.

So if you're doing a 10 gal batch at 2 lbs per gal thats 20lbs of grain, 10% of that is 2lbs, but a 100% peated is a LOT. I guess this is where your own personal flair comes in and what YOU like. Personally, I'd start with .25lbs and see what it's like and adjust from there.

Dang you caught me My initial reaction to this method was that it diverts from my original idea of mashing-in with a whole bunch of malted barley, and smoked malted barley, which felt like a derailment. But it's actually an ingenious method that's starting to make sense.

I'll have to decide if I'll use this method or not. You still have to come up with a mash... so replacing the missing smoked malt with a Two Row or something similar right? I still need 90-100 pounds of grain for a whiskey.

A Single Malt grain bill is a bit spendy, but I can swing it no problem. And I'm not confined by any regulation. So does it make sense to use this alternative method? I wish I had a smaller setup to try it out with!

[Bolverk]

Dang you caught me My initial reaction to this method was that it diverts from my original idea of mashing-in with a whole bunch of malted barley, and smoked malted barley, which felt like a derailment. But it's actually an ingenious method that's starting to make sense.

I'll have to decide if I'll use this method or not. You still have to come up with a mash... so replacing the missing smoked malt with a Two Row or something similar right? I still need 90-100 pounds of grain for a whiskey.

A Single Malt grain bill is a bit spendy, but I can swing it no problem. And I'm not confined by any regulation. So does it make sense to use this alternative method? I wish I had a smaller setup to try it out with!

I've definitely had some knee jerk reactions that once i let marinate started to make sense. Hell for the longest time I was vehemently against adding any sugar to anything (other than rum) but once I started to think of recovering flavor off spent grain I started to come around to the idea of a gumball.

Yeah, that's how I'd do it. 100% whatever 2 row you want and say 2.5% of that weight in peated in the gin basket... economically if it gives you the flavor you want at a fraction of the price, I don't see a problem... unless there is some pride in mashing it in, and that counts too... really, there are no rules, do what makes you happier.

[The Booze Pipe]

Yeah, that's how I'd do it. 100% whatever 2 row you want and say 2.5% of that weight in peated in the gin basket... economically if it gives you the flavor you want at a fraction of the price, I don't see a problem... unless there is some pride in mashing it in, and that counts too... really, there are no rules, do what makes you happier.

I took a look and I can get the Simpson peat smoked malt for $2.85/pound @ 30% of bill that's $81.23 total. Two Row is $60/50pounds ($1.20/pound) so it saves a small amount. But Iike you say Bolverk, what are you more proud of... mashing something more traditional, or using an alternative method?

At my current grain bill, total cost is $202 which is not bad! I was estimating $250-300.

30% peat malt
45% Two Row
10% Victory
15% Caramel 40

I still might lower the peat malt. Like I mentioned, I'm looking to land in between more than a hint of peat, and less than a medium to full-body peat profile, and FAR from chewing on a peat lollipop. Also, that would make room for me to use the entire 50 pound bag of Two Row, instead of having a small awkward amount left.

[Bolverk]

Ok so heres an idea do both and record the results for us

Say you do 70% 2 row and 30% peated in the ferment in one batch , then do a 100% 2 row but do 3% peated in the gin basket and see how different they come out.... you should have a few lbs left over from the bag to do the gin basket experiment.

[The Booze Pipe]

That is a good idea! except I'll have about ten gallons of the darn stuff ha like I said I wish I had a smaller setup. I'll consider doing it though.