Scotch Malt Whisky Distillers' Malted Barley Specifications the Concept of Fermentable Extract - Ten Years On

The validity of the Recommended Methods used as a basis for trading malt by some maltsters and distillers for the decade 1979–1988, during which time there have been some major malting and distilling process changes, have been reviewed. In the ten years, the barley varieties used gradually changed, the use of indirect fired malt kilning, often employing gentler kilning regimes, became widely used, and there was a general move to lauter-type mash tuns. The overall effect of these changes has been a rise in distillery yields. The validity of the fermentability method has been checked and it was confirmed that the attenuation factor of 0.814 remains valid. The calculations of % Fermentable Extract and the Predicted Spirit Yield remain meaningful, and no other such system has been published to challenge the current Recommended Methods.