Single Malt Whiskey Recipe

Peated Whiskey 

Peated whiskey is given its smokey flavor from the peat fires that are used to dry the malted whiskey.  For a long time, peat was the most readily accessible fuel in Scotland. Because of its availability, it was used not only in hearths around the country, but also in the local distillery kilns. Compounds in the smoke released in the peat fires permeates the drying malt, giving Scotch its distinctive flavor. You can create your own Single Malt at home by using peated barley malt in your Mash. The following recipe is ideal for use in a hobby still.

Gather your Ingredients

Here's what you will need:

• 5 gallons water
• 6 lbs. Goldstone Mill Malted Barley - you will need to grind the barley or have it ground for you.
• 6 lbs. crushed peated barley malt
• 12 grams (about 3 tsps) room temperature DADY (Dried Active Distiller’s Yeast)

Make it Like a Master

Heat 5 gallons of water in your still kettle to a "strike temperature" of 160F. Do Not Exceed 160F for your strike water as the enzymes in the grains will denature and you will get an incomplete conversion of the starches to sugar.

Clean and sanitize a 5 gallon cylindrical cooler for mashing.

Add the crushed barley malt and the crushed peated barley malt to your sanitized cooler. The crushed barley should be about 3 gallons based on the inside markings of the cooler. Note, you can adjust the proportions of base malt to peated malt per your taste. You should use at least 1 lb of peated malt in a 12 lb grain bill.

Once the water has reached the strike temperature of 160F, add it slowly to the cooler, stirring as you go. Fill the cooler to the 5 gallon mark, or as high as you can go with the lid on. All the water will not fit in the cooler. The Mash will be stiff at first. Make sure to stir well all the way to the bottom of the cooler to make sure all the grain is wet. The Mash should be at 152F or higher when it is all stirred in.

Put the lid on the cooler and let the mash sit for 90 minutes.

While mashing, clean and sanitize a 6 gallon fermentation bucket.

After the Mash has sit for 90 minutes, take the lid off the cooler and stir. The mash should be at 140F or higher. Your Mash should be sweet and sticky.

Transfer the mash to your fermentation bucket and top off to the 6 gallon mark. Let sit until the mash temperature is no higher than 80F. Once the mash has cooled, take a sample of the wort and determine the OG. You are looking for an OG of 1.060-1.070. If it is higher, add water and stir until you get to 1.070.

Aerate the mash by either stirring vigorously for 5 minutes or by transferring the mash back and forth between buckets several times. The yeast needs the oxygen as it goes through its growth phase.

Get your DADY yeast up to room temperature. Put 12 grams or about 3 teaspoons of DADY yeast into 100F tap water and stir together. Make sure the temperature is no higher, or you may kill the yeast. Let sit for no longer than 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, to ensure that the yeast is active and foaming.

Pour the yeast into the fermentation bucket and stir. Fermentation should take off in about 24 hours. Let the fermentation continue for no mare than 72 hours. 

Determine the ABV from OG and FG. If your ABV is above 8% add some water to the fermentation bucket to get it to 8%.

Strain the mash using a straining bag or a pillow case. Squeeze the straining bag as dry as you can. Discard the spent grain.

Let the wort settle for several hours before adding to your still kettle. Leave any sediment behind.

Distill the wash per the instructions provided with your still.

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