Finding the right peat to produce a North American peated Whiskey
Most peated whiskey is produced using grain that is smoked during the malt-drying process in the Scotland, UK, Ireland area using peat from harvest zones in those areas.
Until recently, there have been very few whiskeys that used grains smoked with North American peat. And, there was very little research indicating how peat in North America may compare to the peat and whiskey produced in Scotland.
As a whiskey enthusiast myself, I wanted to see if I could answer the questions:
“Could North American peat be used to make whiskey? How would it compare to Scottish peat? Where would I need to dig and retrieve peat in order to achieve optimal end product results?”
As I was completing my Masters in GIS (Geographic Information Science), I leveraged my thesis as an opportunity to do formal research on peat in Minnesota and whether it could be used for whiskey production.
With some assistance from American Peat Tech, and some scientists at NRRI at University of Minnesota Duluth, I was able to successfully complete research on much of northern Minnesota to identify ideal known peat deposits and other areas likely to contain peat though they may not be in public registers.
Check out a copy of my thesis below.
Additional details about my work on peat area available.
Please use my Contact Me page to reach out and ask away.
Many thanks to the many people who made my work on this project lead to something in the real world!
