Dr Stephen Cribb delivered his lecture entitled 'Whiskey & Water; A Geological Aide Memoire'.
The lecture was preceeded by a tour of the Teeling distillery and followed by a tasting session.
Whiskey and Water; A Geological Aide Memoire
Dr Stephen Cribb has over forty years of industrial geological experience from the UK and overseas having worked in gold, coal, industrial minerals and water and latterly, environmental management and renewable energy.
For well over twenty years he has provided a professional geological and hydrogeological service to breweries and malt whisky distilleries in the UK, relating to the nature, continuity and integrity of their specific water sources. This work has involved both desk studies and the design and supervision of drilling programmes to investigate and characterise current and potential replacement water sources.
Following on from this he has undertaken research into the very wide-ranging water chemistries of individual process waters and the effects that specific chemical ions have upon the brewing and distillation processes. He has provided written evidence and appeared in Court as an expert witness on this subject.
A further area of interest, highlighted in his talks and demonstrations, is the difference in flavour effects that occur when differing water chemistries are used during reduction prior to bottling and by the customer prior to consumption. This study is virtually unique in the Industry and continues to develop. In recognition of this work he was recently invested as a Keeper of the Quaich.
