Learn how the ancient sea-floor geology beneath Kentucky and Tennessee filters out iron and adds calcium and magnesium that feed a stronger, more efficient fermentation.

Understand exactly how each grain in a mash bill shapes flavor, from rye's black pepper and clove to wheat's added sweetness and barley's nuttiness.

Trace malting, milling, and mashing step by step, and learn how esters and congeners created during fermentation become a whiskey's fruity and floral character.

About the course

This module moves from the tasting glass to the production floor. You'll learn the science behind whiskey's four foundational ingredients, water, grain, yeast, and wood, and the geological history that makes Kentucky and Tennessee water uniquely suited to whiskey making. From there, you'll follow the technical processes of malting, milling, mashing, and fermentation, including the real chemistry behind hydrolysis and the sour mash process. This is a standalone module, it does not include the Level One exam or certification, which are only awarded with the complete 10-module program.

Your Instructor: Susan Reigler

Susan Reigler wrote the book on American whiskey. Eight of them, actually. She's the author or co-author of eight books on bourbon and American spirits, an adjunct professor of Beer & Spirits at Eastern Kentucky University, and a working spirits judge, which means she's spent decades doing exactly what this course teaches you to do, at a level most drinkers never reach. She's judged whiskeys against each other by the hundreds, trained hospitality students on the science behind every barrel, and turned some of the industry's driest regulations into stories people actually remember. That's the instructor behind every module in American Whiskey Scholar: someone who has done the tasting, read the fine print, and can tell you, precisely, why your glass tastes the way it does.

Curriculum

1 Chapter · 15 Lessons

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Welcome to Raw Materials and Fermentation

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      I. The Four Ingredients - Water

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      I. The Four Ingredients - Grain

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Exercise 1: Comparing Bourbons with Rye in their Mash Bills to Wheated Bourbons

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      I. The Four Ingredients - Yeast

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      I. The Four Ingredients - Wood

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      II. Processes - Malting

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Exercise 2: An Enzyme Experiment Just for Fun

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      II. Processes - Milling

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      II. Processes - Mashing

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Raw Materials & Fermentation

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      III. Glossary of Key Terms

    13. (Included in full purchase)

      Quiz

    14. (Included in full purchase)

      IV. Review

    15. (Included in full purchase)

      V. Recommended Reading

Understand whiskey from the ground up.

Enroll in Raw Materials and Fermentation and see what's really happening before distillation.

$49.00

Enroll now