Bitter mash whiskey would possibly sound like one thing puckeringly sharp, however don’t be fooled by the identify. It’s not a taste. It’s a course of. And in the event you like American whiskey, likelihood is you have got sampled a bitter mash expression.
Utilized by main names like Jack Daniel’s, Jim Beam, and Michter’s, the bitter mash technique is among the most vital methods in American whiskey making. It doesn’t get a lot airtime on the label, however behind the scenes, it’s important for producing constant, high-quality whiskey, batch after batch.
On this information, we break down precisely what bitter mash whiskey is, the way it’s made, and why it issues, straight from the consultants and distillers who use it daily.
What Is Bitter Mash Whiskey?
Bitter mash whiskey is made by reusing a portion of a beforehand fermented mash (generally known as backset) in a brand new batch. This system helps stabilize the fermentation, cut back bacterial contamination, and guarantee constant taste from one batch to the subsequent.
It’s a course of utilized by a majority of American whiskey producers, whether or not or not it seems on the label. Regardless of the identify, it doesn’t make the whiskey style bitter. It merely refers to how the fermentation is managed.
Briefly, bitter mash is about high quality and consistency, not taste. It’s a quiet however important a part of trendy American whiskey making.
How Is Bitter Mash Whiskey Made?
The method begins with an ordinary cooked mash of grain and water. Earlier than fermentation begins, distillers add backset from a earlier distillation run, sometimes round 20 to 30 p.c of the full quantity. This backset lowers the mash’s pH, making a barely acidic setting that helps wholesome yeast progress and limits bacterial interference.
As soon as cooled, yeast is added to ferment the mash into what’s referred to as distiller’s beer. That beer is then distilled into whiskey and aged in barrels. After distillation, among the leftover mash is saved and used once more within the subsequent batch, persevering with the bitter mash cycle.
Greg Metze, former grasp distiller at MGP and Outdated Elk, defined to Whisky Advocate: “The primary idea for utilizing a bitter mash is the prevention of micro organism progress… using backset stillage is the popular technique as it’s a free supply of acid”
In essence, bitter mash helps preserve the whiskey-making course of clear, managed, and reliably flavorful.
How Does Bitter Mash Differ from Candy Mash?
The important thing distinction is whether or not or not the distiller provides backset into the mash.
Bitter mash makes use of backset to decrease the pH, making a steady setting for fermentation and serving to guarantee consistency throughout batches.
Candy mash skips the backset and depends fully on contemporary grains, water, and yeast. In accordance with ABV Community, this technique “provides the distillery unimaginable management… Particular tools is required to control what micro organism is put into your mash recipe” and permits distillers to meticulously curate every fermentation.
Whereas bitter mash prioritises consistency and security, candy mash champions artistic management, and calls for rigorous sanitation and technical monitoring. Immediately, candy mash is often utilized by smaller craft distillers who want to stand out. Wilderness Path is an efficient instance.
Nevertheless, bigger and extra established distillers with a big quota to fill and an id to keep up are more likely to make use of the bitter mash course of.
Is Jim Beam a Bitter Mash?
Sure. Jim Beam makes use of the bitter mash course of, although the label doesn’t say so.
After cooking the grain mash, the distillers add a portion of acidic mash left over from a earlier distillation. That is referred to as “setback” and helps management pH, help wholesome yeast exercise, and preserve the flavour constant from batch to batch.
The method has been a part of Jim Beam’s technique for generations. It’s a textbook instance of bitter mash bourbon, even when it isn’t marketed that approach.
Is Jack Daniel’s a Bitter Mash Whiskey?
Sure. Jack Daniel’s contains the phrases “Tennessee Bitter Mash Whiskey” proper on the label.
With each new batch, the distillery provides among the mash from the earlier fermentation. This retains the setting steady, helps stop contamination, and helps Jack Daniel’s clean, constant taste.
What Is US*1 Bitter Mash Whiskey?
US*1 Authentic Bitter Mash Whiskey is an expression from Michter’s Distillery. The US*1 line commemorates the model’s roots courting again to America’s first whiskey firm, revived in 2012 after an extended hiatus.
Michter’s Authentic Bitter Mash was as soon as the distillery’s hottest product within the Seventies and Nineteen Eighties.
The trendy US*1 Bitter Mash retains that custom alive. It accommodates a novel grain invoice that makes it an “American whiskey” relatively than a bourbon or rye, and it makes use of the bitter mash course of for constant fermentation.
In 2019, it earned the excellence of being the primary American whiskey named “Whisky of the Yr” by The Whisky Alternate.
While it’s not the best-selling bitter mash whiskey within the U.S. (because the identify has led some individuals to consider), Michter’s US*1 Bitter Mash is a celebrated whiskey with a proud heritage and a popularity for high quality.
Is All American Whiskey Bitter Mash?
No, however most of it’s.
The bitter mash technique is customary throughout giant American whiskey producers as a result of it affords consistency and microbial management. Effectively-known manufacturers like Jim Beam, Jack Daniel’s, and Wild Turkey all use it, even when it’s not listed on the label.
That stated, a couple of craft distilleries use candy mash as a substitute, choosing a contemporary begin with every batch. It’s much less widespread, however rising.
So whereas not all American whiskey is bitter mash, the overwhelming majority is. It’s also vital to do not forget that while the bitter mash course of is greatest related to American whiskey, it may be (and is) used outdoors of the US.
A Transient Historical past of Bitter Mash Whiskey
Bitter mash has been a part of American whiskey making because the early 1800s. Whereas Dr. James C. Crow is commonly credited with refining the tactic within the 1830s, earlier data, like an 1818 recipe from Kentucky distiller Catherine Carpenter, present the method was already in use.
Crow’s scientific strategy helped standardize the method, bettering consistency and sanitation. By the late nineteenth century, bitter mash had turn out to be widespread in bourbon and Tennessee whiskey manufacturing.
Immediately, it’s nonetheless the inspiration of most American whiskey. A quiet innovation that made dependable whiskey potential.
