This is a book about the science behind whisky: its production, its measurement, and its flavor. The main purpose of this book is to review the current state of whisky science in the open literature. The focus is principally on chemistry, which describes molecular structures and their interactions, and chemical engineering which is concerned with realizing chemical processes on an industrial scale. Biochemistry, the branch of chemistry concerned with living things, helps to understand the role of grains, yeast, bacteria, and oak. Thermodynamics, common to chemistry and chemical engineering, describes the energetics of transformation and the state that substances assume when in equilibrium. This book contains a taste of flavor chemistry and of sensory science, which connect the chemistry of a food or beverage to the flavor and pleasure experienced by a consumer. There is also a dusting of history, a social science.

Autorentext
Greg Miller is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Davis.   By teaching chemical laboratory classes involving distillation, he combines his technical interest in chemical process modeling with his passion for the spirit.  Outside the university, he farms, makes whisky as Yolo County's first licensed distiller, and has been known to enjoy a dram.

Klappentext

This is a book about the science behind whisky:  its production, its measurement, and its flavor. The main purpose of this book is to review the current state of whisky science in the open literature. The focus is principally on chemistry, which describes molecular structures and their interactions, and chemical engineering which is concerned with realizing chemical processes on an industrial scale. Biochemistry, the branch of chemistry concerned with living things, helps to understand the role of grains, yeast, bacteria, and oak.  Thermodynamics, common to chemistry and chemical engineering, describes the energetics of transformation and the state that substances assume when in equilibrium. This book contains a taste of flavor chemistry and of sensory science, which connect the chemistry of a food or beverage to the flavor and pleasure experienced by a consumer.  There is also a dusting of history, a social science.

Inhalt
1 What is whisky? 1.1 The origins of whisky 1.2 Scotland 1.3 America 1.4 Summary
2 Sensory evaluation 2.1 The biology of flavor 2.2 A digression on chromatography2.3 Flavor is multisensory 2.4 Sensory science and whisky2.5 Bourbon and scotch 2.6 Rye vs. bourbon 2.7 Summary 
3 Malting 3.1 Germination 3.2 Green malt 3.3 Kilning 3.4 Nitrosamine 3.5 Ethyl carbamate 3.6 Malt tax 3.7 Summary 
4 Mashing 4.1 Milling4.2 Gelatinization 4.3 Saccharification 4.4 Energy considerations 4.5 Lautering 4.6 Other chemical extractions and reactions 4.7 Summary 
5 Fermentation5.1 Yeast5.1.1 Alcohols 5.1.2 Acids and aldehydes 5.1.3 Esters 5.1.4 Sulfur compounds 5.2 Lactobacilli5.3 Summary 
6 Distillation experiments and observations 6.1 The shape of stills 6.2 Copper and tin 6.3 Copper and sulfur 6.4 Foam 6.5 Reactions 6.6 Fractionation 6.7 Fusel oil 6.8 Fire and explosions 6.9 Chugging begets puking 6.10 Summary 
7 Distillation theory 7.1 The VLE equations 7.2 Why does whisky evaporate? 7.3 Batch (Rayleigh) distillation7.4 Rayleigh distillation with reflux 7.5 Passive doubler7.6 Continuous distillation 7.6.1 Overall balance 7.6.2 Rectification or enrichment 7.6.3 Stripping 7.6.4 A complete column 7.6.5 Live steam beer still7.6.6 Trace components7.6.7 A model calculation 7.7 A comparison of distillation methods 7.8 Methanol 
8 Maturation 8.1 Changes over time 8.2 The structure of oak and barrels 8.3 Tannins 8.3.1 Condensed tannins 8.3.2 Hydrolyzable tannins 8.4 Polysaccharides 8.5 Lignin and other phenolics 8.6 Glycosidically bound compounds and miscellaneous extractives 8.7 Seasoning 8.8 Toasting and charring 8.9 Barrel history 8.10 Barrel size 8.11 Entry proof 8.12 Post-maturation processing 8.13 Summary 
9 Structure9.1 The structure of ethanolwater 9.1.1 Entropy, enthalpy, and the Gibbs free energy 9.1.2 Heat capacity 9.1.3 Differential scanning calorimetry 9.1.4 Volume9.1.5 Compressibily and sound speed 9.1.6 Viscosity 9.1.7 Surface tension9.1.8 Infrared and fluorescence spectroscopies 9.1.9 Nuclear magnetic resonance&nbs...