The Short History of Whiskey

The History Of Whiskey Explained Briefly

Whiskey is distilled using malted grain and is a very strong alcoholic beverage. Various grains are normally use to manufacture it including rye, barley, maize and wheat. What differentiates the various types are the varying methods applied to ferment these grains, how it is aged in wood know as casks and how it is distilled. Understanding the history of whiskey is important for you to appreciate it.

Originally, distillation was used for making perfumes plus aromatics before this alcoholic drink was discovered. The art of distillation spread to Ireland with monks plus pharmacists using the drink for its medicinal value. They used it to treat such ailments as sinuses and chest congestion, indigestion, cleaning of open wounds and cold colds.

In Ireland, the distillers found out that even without grapes it was possible to make alcohol using barley; this brought about the Irish whiskey. Around that time, King Henry VII got rid of monasteries and this forced monks to go back to the community. For survival, they used their distilling knowledge to make this alcoholic beverage for sale. This art soon spread to households plus farms in the community.

In formative years, they produced an alcoholic drink that tasted very bitter since they did not give it sufficient period to mature. The current brand was accidental discovered when someone found an old barrel that had been forgotten. After tasting it, the owner discovered that it has a sweet, soft taste. It was purer and also richer in color and very intoxicating.

During the American revolution, the drink was used as a beverage and also as some kind of currency. It was exported to America from Ireland and was used for trading purposes also. Later, those Irishmen that moved to America took their distillation knowledge there.

That is how the American whiskey was born. It continued to become popular and different methods of distilling were invented including 'continuous still' plus the 'Coffey Still' method. These two methods made it simpler to distill this brew. The brew produced was however of a lower quality compared to the Irish one. Costs of production dropped and the quantity produced increased.

However, the Irish were not ready to embrace these new distillation methods from Americans. They decided to stick to their very traditional ways of distillation. This gave birth to the newer invention of blending. The Coffey Still brand would be blended with traditional Irish brew. This was named Scottish Whiskey which was easier to process. This led to an increase in the volumes of the drink manufactured.

Around the 1880s, the French also embraced this drink after some pests attacked their grapes. As Scottish brew dominated markets completely the French brand became finished completely. Up to now, this beverage continues to gain popularity worldwide. The Irish and Scottish and Irish brews are still distinctly different. Scotch goes through triple distillation. This means a number of flavors are blended then they are distilled two times. The production of the Irish brew is more natural as it emphasizes more on the taste of barley. The history of whiskey may be quite long but it remains a very popular brew in all regions of the world regardless of where it is produced.

Whiskey is an alcoholic beverage that is prized in some locales. You can find whiskey merchandise in various forms available on the Net.