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CASK MAGIC GET THE MOST FROM YOURS
CASKSWOODEN MAGIC IT IS HARD NOT THINKING THERE IS ALCHEMY INVOLVED. YOU POUR A BARELY DRINKABLE SPIRIT INTO A CASK AND AFTER AGING, OUT POURS A GOLDEN LIQUID WHICH SENDS AN ERUPTION OF FLAVOURS ACROSS YOUR TONGUE. VELO MITROVICH REPORTS.
If you invented a time-machine and brought back a Celt from the year 350 BCE, there are few things he would recognise except for a wooden barrel. They’ve been around that long and there really hasn’t been much change in their appearance or purpose. Which makes you wonder, why in the distilling industry do we still seem a bit lost and confused around them. Almost like the story of the seven blind men trying to feel and describe an elephant, distillers seem to know bits and pieces of barrels, but few really grasp the big cask picture. But, if you want your whisky, rum, cognac, rye or pretty much any other spirit to stand out in a crowded field, it starts with that wooden barrel in your warehouse. A proper barrel can bring out flavours in your spirits that are otherwise unattainable. But, if you want to buy that “proper” barrel, you’ll need to do much more that ‘click’ on the first one you see. In the quest to find a barrel expert, one name Distillers Journal found being mentioned repeatedly was Matt Strickland of Montreal, Quebec. Along with Strickland having a Masters in Food Science & Technology from Oregon State University, he has worked at a number of distilleries and is currently the master distiller at Distillerie Cote des Saints in Quebec where he focuses on single malt whisky. And if that wasn’t enough, Strickland owns and runs DRAM Services and Consulting, a distillery production consultancy that focuses on small startup distilleries. He is also the only American to sit on
FOCUS CASK MANAGEMENT
the Distilling Board of Examiners for the Institute of Brewing and Distilling. Not only does he knows the subject of casks, he has literally written the book, Cask Management for Distillers, available here in the UK through Amazon. FLAVOUR FROM THE BARREL One ‘fact’ that always keeps batted around is that barrels make up anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of a spirit’s flavour. However, like a lot of ‘facts’ that you hear mention only during distillery tours, you have to wonder how true is this? “Yeah, I think it depends on how you look at that – I’ve never been entirely sure where they’ve gotten that metric from. In the UK, distillers typically say around 70 percent, while when you’re in Kentucky, they typically say around 90 percent,” says Strickland. “This actually makes sense since the contribution of the barrel is a bit more in American whiskey styles, versus that of the UK. “When the spirit comes off the still, it’s generally not something you’d want to drink. There are sharp edges to it, fusel oil notes and it can have a bit of sulphur in it. During a visit to Macallan distillery, they let you drink a couple of whiskies at the end, including new spirit. It’s not that it was bad, but it wasn’t particularly good,” he says. “You think of Macallan as being this very luxurious, pristine spirit and it absolutely is, but the stuff that goes into it has a lot of edges that have to be smoothed away through Macallan’s fantastic wood policy. “A lot of those negative flavours get removed in the cask. You get the addition of colour, you get wood sugars, you get tannins, vanillin, and all these 60 | AUTUMN 2021 DISTILLERS JOURNAL
by-products of lignin breakdown. The truth is we don’t really understand all the chemistry, there’s so much stuff that happens. It’s definitely a fantastic intellectual exercise to try somebody’s newly made spirit alongside their matured version. You really can start to get a grasp on how important the barrel actually is,” says Strickland.
Which leaves one wondering why bother with finding the right barley, the right water and the right yeast? The flavour comes from the cask.
“If you’re saying that there’s only 70 percent flavour from the cask, that other 30 percent is not is not an insignificant amount. There’s also a lot of the compounds, a lot of the interactions that happen between the spirit in the barrel that really are contingent upon getting all those other factors. You cannot put junk in the barrel and expect the barrel to magically transform it into this liquid butterfly. It just doesn’t happen,” says Strickland.
WHA T MAKES A GOOD CASK
We want casts that hold liquid, which has been the primary purpose for wooden barrels for the last 2,371 years, so you’d think we’d have cast selection down to an art, but we don’t. What makes a good cast? What are things that a distiller should be looking for?
Although other woods besides oak are used to make barrels, the vast majority for the distilling industry are oak. American Oak (Quercus alba) is the most important oak in the spirit industry. It forms the basis of nearly all American whiskey and when the casks are emptied, many are sold to the Scottish whisky industry, as well as to the world’s rum, tequila and brandy industry. Just as there are variances between American, French, Japanese and Oregon oak, in each group there are variances as well due to growing conditions.
You have to ask yourself what are you trying to accomplish with your spirit and how the type of oak used will help you accomplish this.
According to Strickland, when buying barrels you first have to find a broker or cooperage that you can trust.
“I always tell people, do some research, talk to other distillers to find a broker or cooperage, that is making top quality stuff that everybody is happy with,” he says. “Then it really boils down to getting to know that that broker and that cooperage, and finding somebody that’s willing to give you as much information as possible about what you’re buying.
Where did they purchase the oak? How old was the oak when they felled the tree?
“What are some of their quality control standards? Are they pressure testing the barrels properly?
“For me, a lot of just a lot of it boils down to what type of barrel I’m looking for. If I’m buying new barrels – which I don’t too often – I don’t want to see any knots in the wood. I want to see fairly straight grained wood, wavy grains and knots and things like that are typically signs that I could wind up with some leaks.
“There are other little things that are a level of skill by the cooperage or a level of care. I like to see a barrel that has a chime on the end of it, which is sort of the raised portion that comes off the head. With a decent sized chime that I can actually put my hand on it means I can maneuverer the barrel butt easier. That’s a quality of life improvement.
“If you’re purchasing used barrels, making sure you buy used barrels from a company you know. For example, if you’re buying used bourbon barrels, try to buy those from a bourbon distillery that you actually enjoy their whiskey. If you don’t like Jack Daniels, don’t buy their barrels because it will contribute some of Jack Daniels’ character to your spirit.
“I always make sure that all the barrels are inspected by me or my guys. We make sure that there’s all the aromas, everything is what it should be. If the hoops are overly rusted, which is a big thing with bourbon, it might be indicative that the barrels weren’t stored that well.”
While wine and sherry barrels can give your spirits wonderful flavours, you need to avoid anything which had considerable sulphur in it like some wines. While you can get rid of it from the barrel, in the process you will end up stripping out a lot of the flavour from the wine that was there to begin with.
Strickland says that he likes to deal with brokers that actually leave a little bit of There is no way they could compete against big beers’ volume. So, they decided to complete with quality. ‘Yes, our beer is going to cost you double than that Coors in your hand, but when you taste ours, you’ll see where that money is going.’
In cask selection, what are things that a craft distiller can do?
“When it comes to brewing beer, the craft brewers have a leg up, because you can make the argument that as consistent as something like Budweiser is, it’s not that great of a beer. And, while a lot of the population does like it, it’s pretty easy to convert a beer drinker
sherry inside the barrel. “Usually, it’s only a few litters, but it keeps the wood a little moist during transport – I don’t tend to have as many leak issues with those barrels.”
HOW SMALL CAN COMPETE
In the craft beer industry, small brewers realised from the beginning that they couldn’t compete head-on against big beer. If for some reason they decided they were going to brew a beer that tasted just like Budweiser, they’d get buried.
to craft beer once they understand the flavour,” says Strickland.
“With spirits, we don’t really have that luxury. I can say that Jack Daniels might not the most exciting whiskey out there. But I definitely cannot say that it’s bad and the same thing with Jim Beam, and a lot of flagships. At worst, they might be considered a little basic or simple, but they’re actually made to a really high quality.
“I’ve met a lot of these major brand distillers; they know their stuff and they know what they’re doing; they are making high quality spirits. “We can’t go out and just say, ‘We’re small, clearly our stuff is a higher quality.’ That argument just doesn’t work. We can’t beat them on price. We can make something just as good if not better, but it’s definitely going to cost more,” says Strickland.
A problem small craft distillers have is not always being able to get exactly the same type of barrels from their broker. You need to know exactly what type of bourbon, sherry or rum was in the casts beforehand and if you’re happy with those casts because they help to define your flavour, will your broker send you the exact same type? You ordered Four Roses casks six months ago, when you order casks again will you get Four Roses or Jack Daniels?
A vast number of customers place a premium on product consistency, which is again, something small distillers cannot compete against the major players. Some craft distillers believe this quirk is something customers expect, though it is hard seeing all customers being this forgiving.
But, according to Strickland, there are some ways those small distillers can outshine big, and one of these is being a risk taker. Small distillers can pivot a lot faster, they can experiment, and do things that when you’re producing thousands and thousands and thousands of barrels a year, you can’t do.
Saints I currently have in my program somewhere between 16 to 20 different barrel profiles. Two or three of those profiles are different types of bourbon casks that I’ve been experimenting with, but for the most part, these profiles are wildly different from each other.
“We’re using Armagnac casks and I just laid down a couple Aquavit casks. We have Pedro Ximenez brandy, and PX Sherry – which are two very different things – and old Amaro barrels and all this stuff,” he says.
Strickland says that fill strength is something that he is experimenting with, something that the big guys won’t play with. How strong the spirit is, when you go into the cast has a dramatic impact on character of the spirit that comes out.
Two years ago at the urging of one of the distilleries board members, Strickland put into a barrel whisky at 68.5% ABV, which as he admits is high for a whiskey. “Lo and behold, it’s a completely different whiskey than the rest of our whiskies – you wouldn’t even think it was made in the same distillery. The only thing I did differently was I just bumped the fill strength up.
“There are a lot of people that say small barrels don’t make good whiskey; the truth is quite a bit more complicated than that. I’ve seen distillers and I’ve worked for distilleries that have made small cask whiskies that have out competed 20-year-old Scotches. If you know how to use them, you can make some really fantastic whiskey in small casks and so we’re seeing a lot of experimentation with that.
“There are a lot of blending and casklayering multi-cask experiments that on a large scale would be almost too cumbersome to pull off, even with a larger workforce.
“But I know quite a few smaller distilleries that are making whiskies and rums that are matured in at least three casts before they come out and so they’re layering all these different levels of complexity and flavour on top of one another, and they’re getting something totally unique that the larger distilleries would find just be too logistically difficult to do,” he says.
CASK MAGIC
At times it is hard not to see what happens in the barrel as some form alchemy or magic. Pull it off correctly and you’ll have the crowd cheering in wonderment and buying your spirits. Flub it, and you’ll be out of business. With so much resting on that barrel, it’s a wonder we don’t wrap them in a soft blanket and sing them a lullaby every night in our warehouse.
Distillers Journal will be bringing Matt Strickland back later in the year to discuss the warehouse, maturation and stock management. In the meantime, you can hear him on the Distillers Journal Podcasts at distillersjournal.info
HUMIDITY CONTROL THE HUMIDITY HUMIDITY CONTROL TECHNOLOGY IS THE MOST COSTEFFECTIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE WAY TO TACKLE MANY PROBLEMS WIDESPREAD THROUGHOUT THE PRODUCTION INDUSTRY, EXPLAINS LINDSEY HENDERSON, SALES DIRECTOR AND DEHUMIDIFICATION SPECIALIST AT HUMIDITY SOLUTIONS.
The ability to control levels of humidity is one of the most significantly overlooked issues in the modern distilling industry. Most people don’t notice humidity to anywhere near the same degree that they are aware of other equally basic conditions, such as heat, cold and draughts. Humidity can have a profound influence on materials, on production costs, on service and maintenance expenditure and on asset durability, as well as energy consumption and the resultant environmental impact. This applies to virtually all sectors of both manufacturing and service industry. Uncontrolled humidity makes nasty things happen: Condensation: This is the result of the fact that the air, which inevitably contains a certain level of moisture, has a different temperature from the surfaces with which it comes into contact. Corrosion and rust: The combination of humidity and oxygen makes metals corrode, significantly affecting both strength and durability. Iron and steel rust and lose structural integrity, copper is plagued by verdigris, affecting electronics and electrical equipment. Clumping and blockages: Powders and granulate absorb humidity particularly easily. They then clump together, affecting quality and causing blockages in processing equipment, as well as providing a fertile breeding ground for bacteria. Inconsistent production conditions: Seasonal fluctuations in humidity result in inconsistent production conditions that can affect product quality, energy consumption and profit margins.
Today’s operations strive for consistency and conformity across production and over years. Controlling variables such as humidity must be a concern across all steps of the production operation. A good example of this is how a lack of humidity control in a whisky distillery was causing large losses due to evaporation. In this particular application the whisky was being matured in oak casks over years to get its unique flavour and colour. These wooden casks equalise with the surrounding air, which means liquid transforms outwards when the air humidity in the storage areas is too low. This means great volumes of loss of whisky and, of course, loss of income. This ‘angels’ share’ that occurs in the maturing process can now be controlled by installing an Adiabatic humidification system which uses a high pressure pump station and controls several zones independently, using nozzles mounted on heads that distribute the moisture in a controlled manner. Humidifying to the correct level and stabilizing the humidity in the storage areas have ensured losses are at an absolute minimum and profit margins are no longer affected. Similarly, as too little humidity can cause issues, there are also many problems associated with too much humidity as stated above, whilst we may know of these problems the important thing is how they are dealt with. The layman’s idea about dealing with humidity and condensation problems is simply to turn up the heat, However, turning up the heating has only very limited effects on humidity. Heating does not alter the absolute level of humidity present in the air – it only increases the overall temperature. The relationship between the heat 64 | AUTUMN 2021 DISTILLERS JOURNAL
content and the water vapour content of air is relatively complicated and nonlinear, and temperature isn’t as important as air humidity, because of the dew point.
This usually results in excessive energy costs to very little effect, because it takes much more energy to heat moistureladen air than to heat dry air. And it does not provide a year-round solution. In virtually all cases, removing moisture from the air using adsorption dehumidification technology is significantly more effective, and makes it possible to work with consistent levels of effectiveness regardless of season or weather. The heart of this process is a slowly turning rotor coated with silica gel, which absorbs the water molecules present in the air passing through it. In a designated regeneration zone, the saturated rotor is then dried with a separate flow of heated air.
The warm, humid regeneration air is then led away, and the rotor is once again
ready to absorb water. The entire process is cyclic, making the system largely self-reliant, with no need for manual intervention and very little need for maintenance. Controlling humidity is ultimately a question of establishing – and keeping – control over parameters that can have big effects on efficiency, reliability and profitability. Effective humidity management gives: u better control of parameters that affect your raw materials, production processes, manufacturing installations and fixed assets u lower costs for service, maintenance and refurbishment u lower energy costs and reduced environmental impact u longer service life for buildings and equipment u a way to actively prevent detrimental processes such as rust and corrosion, mould and rot, condensation, electrical faults, and spoilt materials and products. And, better control is good business Humidity control technology is the most cost-effective and environmentally responsible way to tackle many problems widespread throughout the production industry. It’s an easy, inexpensive way to implement pro-active measures that help make sure you can maintain the value of key structures, processes and other highvalue assets.
As all buildings are different and owners have their own unique requirements. It is wise to get specialist advice to ensure the most appropriate solution.
T. Freemantle Ltd
