grain-based spirits encompass a vast array of the world’s distilled beverages, including spirits as disparate as scotch whisky and Korean soju. Their unifying trait is that they are all distilled from the dry fruit of cultivated grasses—otherwise known as cereal grain, or simply grain. Unlike spirits distilled from fruit, sugar cane, or agave, which all contain sugar, grain-based spirits must rely on saccharification to convert a grain’s starch into sugar before it can undergo fermentation and thereby produce the ethanol (ethyl alcohol) that is subsequently concentrated by distillation. See saccharification; fermentation; and ethanol.
In the Western world, whisky is perhaps the spirit most closely associated with grain, if only because all whiskies are made from grain. See whisky. Malted barley serves as the traditional cornerstone for most of the whisky made in Scotland and Ireland (as well as in Japan and India), though grain whisky distilled in column stills from other grains makes up the lion’s share of most blends. See barley and whisky, grain. Scotland’s single malt whisky is distilled in pot stills entirely from unmalted barley, while Ireland’s pot still whisky is made from a blend of malted and unmalted barley. See Scotland and Ireland and single malt.
Corn (or maize) is the basic building block of many of the whiskies made in the United States and Canada. See corn and United States and Canada. Although Canadian whisky is often referred to as rye, corn is usually the predominant grain in blends. See rye. American whisky labeled “corn whisky” is made from a mash containing at least 80 percent corn. See mash. Both bourbon and Tennessee whisky are made from a mash containing at least 51 percent corn, with malted barley and either wheat or rye making up the remainder. The proportions of rye and corn are reversed in American rye whisky; likewise for wheat and corn in wheat whisky. American craft distillers have also experimented with whiskies made predominantly from other grains, such as spelt and triticale (a rye/wheat hybrid). Corn is also used extensively in Africa for a variety of spirits. Some are industrialized, but most are unbranded and made by small-scale pot distillation for local sale. Often the corn is combined with millet or cassava chips. See Central and East Africa and kwete.
Although there is a common misperception that vodka is typically made from potatoes, most vodka is actually made from grain—particularly wheat, but also rye, corn, and barley. See vodka. The same holds true for gin (which is essentially a juniper-flavored vodka). See gin. It’s not uncommon for producers of vodka and gin to purchase grain neutral spirits that they then redistill and dilute before bottling. See neutral spirits. Contemporary versions of genever, the precursor to gin, are made by blending neutral spirits with malt wine, a whisky-like spirit typically made from any combination of rye, corn, wheat, and malted barley. See
China’s national spirit, baijiu, is typically made mostly from sorghum, often mixed with wheat, though some baijiu is made from rice or other grains. See baijiu; sorghum; and rice. Rice is also the traditional foundation for Korean soju and Japanese shochu. See soju and shochu. In the Himalayan nations of Nepal and Tibet, millet is the basis for most raksi, a sort of moonshine made in rustic stills.
LaVilla, Joseph. “Grain-Based Spirits.” In The Wine, Beer, and Spirits Handbook, 359–370. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2010.
By: David Mahoney