Turning water into whisky

Our Irish immersion continues as we head towards Kilkenny. The Irish have make a concerted effort to preserve their culture. In addition to an athletic league of national sports such as hurling, many families ensure their children are exposed and learn to speak Irish. Kids are sent to areas that speak primarily Irish for 3 weeks during the summer. Sometimes staying in dorms or with an Irish speaking family, they have a great experience learning the language, culture, and making new friends. Guess that’s the Irish version of summer camp. Ireland was primarily an agricultural nation until the 1960’s, when they encouraged foreign investment and industry. Pharmaceutical companies such as Abbott and Pfizer established plants here, among others. Today we’re heading to Middleton where Jameson whisky and a few others are made. The distillery was established in 1825, but nearly done in by Prohibition in the US. Today it’s a thriving business and we learned all about whiskey making. Basic ingredients are barley, malt, corn and water. To get malt, barley is steeped in water 2 days, then spread out on a floor for 4 days to germinate. Once sprouted, it’s taken to the kiln floor and dried with gentle heat from a smokeless anthracite coal (in Scotland they use peat, thus the smokey flavor) . Malted barley is ground to flour, mixed with more barley and soaked in water. The liquid is drained for use while the grain is recycled as cattle feed. The liquid starts at 10% alcohol, rising to 30% after the first distilling, 70% the second, and 84% the third. Irish whiskey is triple distilled in copper pots. Corn is mixed with malted barley to make 94 proof grain alcohol in a column still. Both are blended to make the cherished brew that has to be aged 3 years before it can be called whiskey. Oak barrels from the US and Spain are used for aging, with the supply of barrels kept constant since in the US a barrel can only be used once to age bourbon and something similar for Spain. The oak plus former contents of each barrel impart specific characteristics to the liquid. Water is added to the third distillate to bring the liquid to 60% alcohol when it goes into the barrels. As it sits and ages, evaporation takes place, referred to as the angel’s share. Judging from the smell in the warehouse, those must be some pretty happy angels. We finished our tour with a whiskey tasting: a Jameson 5-6 years old, a Green spot whiskey 7-10 years old, and a Redbreast matured in 4 different types of barrels and blended after 10 years. The smoothness of the Jameson got my vote, though Mike preferred the complexity of the Redbreast. After lunch we toured Jerpoint Abbey to explore the life of a 12th century monk. They arose at 2 am, had prayers 8 times a day, worked all day in the fields with only one meal a day primarily vegetarian with some fish, and allowed to enjoy the warmth of a heated room 10 minutes out of each day. Think I’d rather stick with the whiskey 😉Baca lagi