There have been no floor maltings at ardbeg since 1981 so all the malt that is used in production hails from the maltings in the village of port ellen.
Does ardbeg do floor maltings.
If your first proper distillery tour was one with floor maltings it can be a hard act to follow.
There have been no floor maltings at ardbeg since 1977 so all the malt that is used in the production of ardbeg comes from the maltings in port ellen.
Interior view of malting floor.
A malt house malt barn or maltings is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth.
Floor malting is the historic technique of preparing barley for fermentation.
British floor maltings have retained their own types of stone floors.
While on the floor the germinating grain must be turned by hand twice a day 7 days a week to keep it properly oxygenated to dissipate heat and to keep rootlets from tangling the malt into an unmanageable mat.
The malt is peated to a level of 50ppm.
The traditional tools for this hard labor are a wooden malt.
Turning it into malted barley.
As i mentioned in a post about my visit to laphraoig only a few scotch whisky distilleries do their own malting.
The distillery began production in december 2005 and was the first to be built on islay in 124 years.
Mine was bowmore where i was taken around by the then manager jim mcewan.
Seeing the sea of grain on the floor the smouldering bricks of peat in the kiln and the blue smoke wafting from the pagoda roof it all seemed wonderfully artisan and self contained.
It is one of six scottish distilleries still working with traditional floor maltings and.
Below you can see pictures of different maltings.
Collection level 551 147 john r hume item level sc 573000 islay ardbeg distillery maltings.
Most of the 100 distilleries in scotland purchase malted barley from commercial malting.
The malt is used in brewing beer whisky and in certain foods.
Although the production of barley malt always includes steeping germination and drying two different production methods have emerged.
Once the malt arrives at the distillery it is stored in malt bins for a few days before being crushed into a substance called grist in a malt mill.
My next was lagavulin 16 also very nice though i prefer the ardbeg if im being honest.
Today the bulk of the malt used in whisky production is produced in drum maltings according to exact specifications of the distilleries what you read here is a look into the past.
Ardbeg uses the most phenolic malt in the business i e.
The traditional malt house was largely phased out during the twentieth century in favour of more mechanised production.
