M – as in Malt Silo

Where is barley malt stored?

Barley malt is required as a raw material for the production of single malt whisky. St. Kilian Distillers primarily obtains this malt from two malt houses, and it is temporarily stored in silos in Rüdenau. The minimum shelf life of the Pilsner malt we process most frequently is given by the manufacturer as 18 months – with dry storage within a temperature range of 0°C to 30°C. However, the residence time of barley malt in our malt silos is significantly shorter.

Where does St. Kilian obtain its barley malt from?

At St. Kilian Distillers, the first step of production begins with the delivery of malt, our raw material for the production of the finest single malt whisky. We source the barley malt directly from two main suppliers. The peated malt – our Heavy Peated and Ultra Heavy Peated Malt – we obtain directly from Scotland from the Glenesk Maltings in the Eastern Highlands. Glenesk was founded in 1897 as "Highland Esk" distillery and, over the course of its history, had many name changes until its closure in 1985. In 1968, the distillery expanded to include the Glenesk Maltings, which still supplies various distilleries in Scotland with malt today. Malts that have not been kilned with peat smoke are supplied by Malzfabrik Weyermann, based in Bamberg, Franconia, a producer of the highest quality malt products. In addition to Pilsner and Munich malt, this includes beechwood smoked malt and various specialty malts, which we also process at St. Kilian.

What is a manual quality check?

The malt we need is delivered to Rüdenau by truck. Such a truckload comprises 26 tons (to). But before the malt is unloaded, a sensory inspection, the so-called manual quality check, takes place. During this process, we assess the quality of the delivered barley malt based on external characteristics. We check the appearance of the malt grains, look for any discolorations, and evaluate the smell. Although malt houses carry out extensive quality checks and remove foreign materials from the malt before delivery, the manual quality check is an indispensable and important analytical step at St. Kilian Distillers for the final verification of the quality of the delivered goods.

How does the malt get into the silos?

After a successful sensory inspection, the dry and very free-flowing malt is transported from the truck into our three malt silos via a special opening, the so-called movable chute, and various conveyor systems for bulk material – such as trough chain conveyors and elevators. The two large silos each have a capacity of 21 tons, while the smaller malt silo can hold 11 tons of malt. This gives us a maximum storage capacity of 53 tons of barley malt.

How long does the quantity of barley malt last?

For the mashing process step, we fill approx. 2.2 tons of crushed barley malt, together with hot water, into our mash tun. In a three-shift operation, the mash tun is filled a total of nine times a week. This results in a weekly consumption of barley malt of approximately 20 tons. This means that new malt must be delivered again after two weeks at the latest to fill our malt silos. However, to avoid bottlenecks, a truckload of the coveted raw material reaches us every week. In two-shift operation, the amount of barley malt removed from the silos is reduced accordingly.

What is the key to good whisky?

The long-standing relationship with our suppliers and the high quality of the respective barley malts are the key to producing the finest St. Kilian Single Malt Whisky. Because only with the best quality raw materials can high-quality whisky made in Germany be produced.