When we say our whiskey is made from grain to glass, we mean that from the time our silo is filled with malted barley, EVERY SINGLE STEP in the whiskey production process is carried out by hand at Deerhammer Distillery.
Here’s how a standard batch of our American Single Malt Whiskey comes to be:
Here’s how a standard batch of our American Single Malt Whiskey comes to be:
MILLING
1,200lbs of malted barley (4 different varieties) is weighed out and crushed through a roller mill.
MASH
The crushed malt is blended with 150º water in our mashtun, where the starch from the malt will convert to sugar. The liquid is then separated from the grain, cooled down and transferred to a fermenter.
FERMENTATION
The liquid is inoculated with yeast which will convert the sugar to alcohol. This fermentation takes place in large open top tanks, and over the course of 4-5 days we are left with a 7% alcohol distillers beer.
DISTILLATION
We double distill though two different pot stills (600 and 140 gallons) that are designed specifically for making whiskey. The final distillation takes place in a traditional direct-fire copper pot still where only an exceptionally narrow “cut” of the whiskey is taken.
MATURATION
Our whiskey is reduced to 110 proof before being transferred to barrels. We fill variety of new oak barrels ranging from 25 to 54 gallons – all custom toasted and charred to enhances the flavors of our whiskey.
BOTTLING
Filling two bottles at a time and applying labels by hand takes time, but true small batch whiskey is handled this way.