Laphroaig Distillery Tour - Malt Floors скачать в хорошем качестве

Laphroaig Distillery Tour - Malt Floors

The Steeps - Above us at the top of the building is the barley storage floor where the steeps are housed. This is where our unique water plays its first part. The barley is soaked for two days in the steeps - with the water being changed every day to ensure purity and flavour. Then the water is drained off and the 'green barley' is ready to come down to one of our malting floors to be spread for malting. Which, if you were a gardener you could call germination. Malting Floor - All around you is over 7 tonnes of green barley gently germinating. Here we are fooling nature into thinking its springtime. The barley starts to put out its shoots as it would in the soil. Technically speaking the important part for us is that the insoluble starch in the grain is being converted into a soluble sugar. Enzymes are also created which we need later in the process The Spreading & Turning - At 7.30 on a Monday morning this floor is a hive of activity. The barley leaves the steeps after a weekend soaking and escapes through hoppers into our Chariots. No one knows how old these chariots are as they have been repaired so many times. They're perfect for the job they have to do so, as always, we don't change them. One man lays the green barley and his partner spreads. They work constantly in pairs until about 7 tonnes are spread on the floor. The colder it is the deeper we lay the barley, to ensure the correct germination temperature, 15/16oC, over the seven days. The process gives off its own heat which we control manually by opening the windows and constantly turning the grain. You will always see a thermometer in the barley, which is carefully monitored to ensure the temperature remain constant.