Bushmills Irish Whiskey, a world-renowned brand of Diageo plc, is distilled in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The Old Bushmills distillery has been in operation since 1608 and currently markets five dis tinct whiskeys under the Bushmills brand. Whiskey production is essentially a five-part process. The basic raw materials are barley and natural water. The first process, malting, allows barley corns to germinate for four days. An enzyme called diastase is formed inside each grain, which converts the starch in the grain to sugar. The corns are then dried in an oven. The second process, mashing, takes the dried barley and grinds it into a flour called ‘grist’. Hot water is added to the grist to produce a sugary liquid called ‘wort’. The wort is now ready to be transformed into alcohol by fermentation. The third process, fermentation, is a simple natural process which occurs when yeast and sugar are mixed. The wort is pumped into a large vessel, where yeast is added. Fermentation is allowed to proceed for two days. The resultant liquid, called the ‘wash’ is now ready for transfer to the still house for distillation, the fourth process.
Distillation involves heating the wash gradually in a large copper kettle called the pot still. As alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, the alcohol vapours condense first, run off and cool down to a liquid. Two further distillations are performed to ensure purity. The resulting liquid, called spirit, is a clear liquid with a high alcohol content. The final step, maturation, sees the spirit placed in seasoned oak casks for a number of years – ranging from three to 21 years. The casks tend to be former American bourbon or Spanish sherry casks. The spirit acquires its colour and flavour from the casks. Once matured for the required period, the whiskies are bottled in the bottling plant at Bushmills, typically in 750ml bottles.
Questions:
1 Why is job costing not appropriate to a process such as whiskey production?
2 Do you think losses of spirit might occur during the maturation process?