Whiskey Making 101

THE HISTORY OF WHISKEY IN VIRGINIA

George Thorpe, a Jamestown colonist, traded with the native Powhatan people in exchange for corn. He then used corn in place of the traditional barley used in European spirits and found that it worked to produce the mash required to make whiskey. George finished the first batch of Virginia-made whiskey in 1620. Soon after, colonists realized that whiskey could be kept longer than beer and began to opt for its indefinite freshness and flavor.

Another George is a part of whiskey’s story here in Virginia, and his name you will recognize: George Washington. Yes, the first president played a major role in the Virginia distilling movement. His distillery at Mount Vernon bottled 11,000 gallons of whiskey a year. Just as Washington’s legacy has proved its staying power, so has his distillery. You can dive into Virginia’s whiskey history at Mount Vernon, where the historical distillery has been meticulously reconstructed.

While whiskey has remained the same, save some experimentation here and there, the size and scope of its production has changed. Harris noted in an interview that at the time of whiskey’s introduction “there were a lot more distilleries, and they were considerably smaller [than they are today]. They were more based in their communities.” She went on to say that “in Virginia there is a little more experimentation, with different distilleries doing different things.” With the birthplace of whiskey being so close to home, local distillery Catoctin Creek pays homage to this heritage with their small-by-design and differentiated approach to whiskey making.

HOW TO MAKE WHISKEY

Whiskey is defined as a spirit distilled from malted grains, like rye, barley, corn or any combination thereof. The spirit’s flavor comes from multiple choices made throughout the production process, beginning with the kind of grain used. Different types of grain, and even where it is grown, can impact the whiskey’s flavor. For instance, Catoctin Creek uses 100 percent rye sourced from a variety of regions to create a specific flavor blend. Harris explained that, “everywhere that we get our grains from has a slightly different flavor, and that’s what we’re trying to highlight and bring together.” A farm along the Rappahannock River grows three types of rye for Catoctin Creek’s award-winning Roundstone Rye. Becky Harris explained that when preparing her grains for whiskey she puts “together a pallet of different flavors from the different regions that grow the grain.”

Malting & Mashing

Once the selected grains have been finely ground, they are malted, which is basically forced germination. The malt is then dried in a hot kiln with flavor-influencing peat. Next, the dried malt is mixed with a high quality water source and cooked until all the starch has turned into sugars. The resulting liquid is called wort and is ready to be fermented.

Fermentation

Fermentation is a well understood chemical process in which yeast consumes sugar from the wort and produces alcohol. What is wort? It is the sweet, malty liquid that begins by converting the starches of malted grains into sugar (the process of mashing). The kind of yeast used for fermentation also has an impact on the whiskey’s final flavor. Most distilleries use distiller’s yeast, which has a very high alcohol tolerance, meaning it can consume all of the sugars from the wort. This high tolerance is crucial. Harris explained that “at distilleries, we don’t want any residual sugars. Those [sugars] can sour the final flavor.” After five to seven days, the fermentation process is complete. The fermented liquid is basically beer at this stage, and adding hops would finish it up. But, when making whiskey, along with any other spirit, it must be distilled to achieve its signature high alcohol proof.

Distillation

Next, the beer is pumped into a still and heated up. At this point, evaporation and steam condensation separate the alcohol from the water and grain waste. The type of still that is used to distill the malted grain also affects the whiskey’s final flavor. For example, a pot-column hybrid, which is used at Catoctin Creek, still allows for heightened flexibility with the flavor. Distillation can take as little as a half-hour, but at Catoctin Creek, the distilling process lasts six to nine hours. Harris says, “This allows [them] to make decisions about which flavors are going to be in the final spirit, and which flavors go into the barrel. We’re cooking it, changing it, and the flavor gets deeper and richer as the distillation process goes on.” This extended timeline allows their distillers greater flexibility and specificity with the flavor of their whiskey.