Our Third Annual Malt Floor Trials

Last month we conducted our third annual floor malting trials at the distillery. As you read this, that barley is currently making its way through production to be turned into signature Lochlea new make spirit.

Our Production Supervisor, Darren, shares how this year's trials went:

Steeping

The malting process begun with steeping the barley. Just like humans, the barley doesn’t like it when the temperature is too hot or too cold, and luckily good weather conditions meant that the water temperature for steeping was ideal for the barley. Each batch enjoyed 2.5 days of steeping, and at night, the steeps were drained so that the barley had a natural air rest. This all went to plan (for the most part)!

Germination

After the final half day of steeping, the germination floors were laid down. Due to the warm weather, we had to ensure that the floors were laid pretty thinly to avoid hot spots and to allow air to flow over naturally. Laying the floors thin also benefits us when it comes to turning the barley, as this will ensure an even germination. Floors were turned twice per day with the warm weather encouraging the growth to happen quickly. After 3.5 days of germination, the green malt was ready to go to the drying floors at our neighbours farm ‘Drumdroch’

Drying/Kilning

Each batch was loaded into trailers and taken over to the drying floors, where we spread the green malt between two floors, then applied air through the perforated floors. This process took around 3 days to complete, during which time we would go over the surface with a 3 pronged fork (also known as a ‘grape’) to “fluff up” the green malt and allow air to flow through evenly.

Overall, this year’s trials were successful, with approximately 21 tonnes of malt yielded from 24 tonnes of barley.