Monks and the Earliest Whiskey - Scotch Whisky
In the Scottish highlands, several men acquire wood and brush, head back to their property and stoke the huge fire blazing beneath caldrons of barley mash. It’s about 1150 A.D. and the men, monks protected by giant monastery walls, are preparing a high-alcohol beverage called “uisge beatha,” the breath of life (aqua vitae in Latin). Around Europe, the great cathedrals are just being started utilizing the new technique: the flying buttress. An Amazing Crusade is underway in the Holy Land.
The monks, when not distilling the first known liquor that will be commonly known as Scotch whiskey, were growing food including the ingredients of the mash: barley and the fungi known as yeast. The barley is soaked for several days, or “malted,” then ground (mashed) and fermentation begins. Distilling occurs in copper vats, and the monks pour the distilate into oak casks which would have taken months to make and seal. The casks then sit for 6 months to many years. The security and affluence of the monastery, and the fearful reverence the people would've had for monks, guaranteed this to be one of the few safe places for making whiskey in the High Middle Ages.
The earliest commercial distilleries appear at the conclusion of the 15th century, with written invoices for Scotch documented in 1495. As Europe urbanized and resources became more available, folks could design and make more useful stills, those not open to the air and losing most of the product to steam. Coils and other reduction devices for barley distilling came into use, and other cereals became popular.
Meanwhile, on what would become the American continent, Native Americans were producing liquor from many native plants, including corn. Europeans arrived to see many foods and grains, and experienced corn whiskey for the very first time. In Massachusetts, the Scots-Irish population settling in and sawing down vast hardwood forests knew what to do. They used whatever materials were available to make corn liquor, and as early as 1633 the Massachusetts Colony started demanding a license to sell it. The fight between governments seeking revenue and the people who desired to make their own rules about distilleries had begun.
Of course, people had produced wine and ale for much longer than this. Many beverages with alcohol were available, nevertheless the private enterprise issues that continue today had began. Before the revolution, still proprietors were left almost entirely alone. Washington and Jefferson ran their own stills. Following the revolution, taxes were added to all alcohol to help pay war debt and farmers would not approve. Their stills had in large part become their livelihoods.
The Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania was the most significant and best known of the battles moonshiners had with federal agents, but the battles continued, large and small, throughout rural areas in the east. The Appalachian Mountains through Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee subsequently became renowned for moonshine whiskey and the many tales of backwoods distilling.
Now that your interests are peeked perhaps it is time to discover the entire process of making whiskey. You ask "how to make whiskey?" The web is a great place to learn and educate yourself on the art. For more info check out How To Make Whiskey Headquarters. There you will find mash recipes, procedures and discussions on still types.
The monks, when not distilling the first known liquor that will be commonly known as Scotch whiskey, were growing food including the ingredients of the mash: barley and the fungi known as yeast. The barley is soaked for several days, or “malted,” then ground (mashed) and fermentation begins. Distilling occurs in copper vats, and the monks pour the distilate into oak casks which would have taken months to make and seal. The casks then sit for 6 months to many years. The security and affluence of the monastery, and the fearful reverence the people would've had for monks, guaranteed this to be one of the few safe places for making whiskey in the High Middle Ages.
The earliest commercial distilleries appear at the conclusion of the 15th century, with written invoices for Scotch documented in 1495. As Europe urbanized and resources became more available, folks could design and make more useful stills, those not open to the air and losing most of the product to steam. Coils and other reduction devices for barley distilling came into use, and other cereals became popular.
Meanwhile, on what would become the American continent, Native Americans were producing liquor from many native plants, including corn. Europeans arrived to see many foods and grains, and experienced corn whiskey for the very first time. In Massachusetts, the Scots-Irish population settling in and sawing down vast hardwood forests knew what to do. They used whatever materials were available to make corn liquor, and as early as 1633 the Massachusetts Colony started demanding a license to sell it. The fight between governments seeking revenue and the people who desired to make their own rules about distilleries had begun.
Of course, people had produced wine and ale for much longer than this. Many beverages with alcohol were available, nevertheless the private enterprise issues that continue today had began. Before the revolution, still proprietors were left almost entirely alone. Washington and Jefferson ran their own stills. Following the revolution, taxes were added to all alcohol to help pay war debt and farmers would not approve. Their stills had in large part become their livelihoods.
The Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania was the most significant and best known of the battles moonshiners had with federal agents, but the battles continued, large and small, throughout rural areas in the east. The Appalachian Mountains through Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee subsequently became renowned for moonshine whiskey and the many tales of backwoods distilling.
Now that your interests are peeked perhaps it is time to discover the entire process of making whiskey. You ask "how to make whiskey?" The web is a great place to learn and educate yourself on the art. For more info check out How To Make Whiskey Headquarters. There you will find mash recipes, procedures and discussions on still types.