As you are aware the first steep of the New Year was put to floor on Thursday last week. We had to raise the temperature of the malt floor to a level which would help kick start the germination process. We set up a gas heater and over the course of the day raised the air temperature from 3 to 12 degrees Celsius. The barley on the floor was a cool 6 degrees Celsius, not the ideal temperature for good growth.
The barley began to gain a little more heat during Friday and was grubbed twice during the day.
On Saturday the barley began to show slight rootlet growth and was turned once and grubbed twice.
Growth during Sunday was good and temperatures on the floor were beginning to get back to normal for good germination. The barley was grubbed and turned twice, once in the morning and once in the evening.
On Monday morning I walked onto the germination floor I could smell that old familiar yeasty, doughy smell that comes from the barley as it is germinating. The germinating barley was modifying as normal and getting close to being ready to go to kiln. Grubbing and turning took place morning and evening.
On Tuesday morning a final grub and turn took place before the green malt was sent to the kiln. Germination was complete and the barley corns had modified to the required consistency. As a quick check to see how modification is progressing we use the rub out method, taking a corn and removing the husk the inner corn is rubbed between the thumb and fore finger. If the corn is rubbery it is not modified enough, if it is chalky and there are no rubbery bits it is a good indicator that the barley is modified to the required level.
As always if you have any questions please feel free to drop us a line.
Stuart Robertson
Distillery Manager
Just to prove that Springbank hasn't shut down and that we will be making whisky this year, here are a couple of photographs to go along with Stuart's article below.
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It’s been a long time coming but we took the first steps on the road to producing this years allocation of your favourite Malt Whiskies. On Monday 5th January we tentatively steeped a ten tonne batch of locally grown Optic barley, I say tentatively because we know that this seasons barley is extremely water sensitive. As previously mentioned by my esteemed colleague Frank McHardy, at the end of last year, I was busy trying to establish if our locally bought Optic barley was ready for steeping. I carried out tests to establish that the barley was out of dormancy, germinating and if it was water sensitive. A number of mini steeps were carried out to provide data to establish the best steeping regime for the barley. I also sent a sample of the barley to a laboratory on Speyside (thanks guys) to confirm my analysis. It’s always worth getting confirmation of what you have established as mistakes on this scale can be extremely costly to a small business like ours.
What do the terms dormancy, germination and water sensitive mean you may ask? Let me explain.
Dormancy is the term used to explain the period in which barley is inactive directly after harvesting and drying. By inactive I mean the barley will not germinate and start to sprout. Dormancy can vary greatly from year to year and is mainly determined by barley variety, crop year and the environmental conditions in which the barley is grown. Dormancy can range from a number of weeks to a number of months.
Germination is closely linked to dormancy and is the term used to explain the growth and development of the barley seed. For maltsters to use a barley for malting the percentage of germinating corns after 72 hours in test conditions must be at least 95%. The test used is called the germinative energy test or GE test.
Water Sensitivity is determined by another test which is very similar to the GE test. An additional amount of water is used in the test and if after 72 hours the number of germinated corns is less than 85% it is deemed to be water sensitive. The water sensitivity test or WS test allows the maltster to establish that great care must be taken when the barley is steeped.
We have now steeped the barley and it has been spread on the malting floor to germinate. I will be keeping you up to date with it’s progress but in the meantime if you have any questions send them in.
All the best for the New Year from all at the Distillery
Stuart Robertson
Distillery Manager
hello
i'm new to this & want to find out a bit more if anyone can help me in collecting limited edition whiskies , i started last year with the adbeg mor 1st edition 4.5 liter bottle & seem to be griped with the thought of owning these fine bottles i now have 3 different bottles & collecting , i have also started drinking more whiskies not just my usual wee dram id be greatful if someone out their could put me in the right direction of when the latest limited edition or 1st editions are due to be realeased once again thank you for your help
