PDF161 supports acidic backset and pH control, but conflates the process with the liquid and asserts an untested backset/sugar/lightness relationship. Exclude generic pressure-cooker, water-charged thumper and mandatory American-white-oak claims (159,165–166). Use as practitioner orientation, not operating parameters.
English-language image-only PDF; locator uses PDF-sheet number because printed page numbers are absent from the electronic edition.
Offringa presents bourbon as a sequence of grain formulation, cooking, backset addition, fermentation, distillation, new charred oak storage and batching. PDF161 describes acidic recycled liquid as helping control pH and bacteria. The broader interpretation of sour mash as process rather than style is a researcher synthesis grounded more securely in the other linked technical sources.
PDF sheet 171
PDF sheet 153
Chapter 3 — Bourbon
September29 fresh review: all423PDFsheets read;27visualsurveys and35enlargedpages inspected; exact ranges retained. Verified means faithful source attribution and locator, not endorsement of all source claims.
Evidence
Offringa presents bourbon as a sequence of grain formulation, cooking, backset addition, fermentation, distillation, new charred oak storage and batching. PDF161 describes acidic recycled liquid as helping control pH and bacteria. The broader interpretation of sour mash as process rather than style is a researcher synthesis grounded more securely in the other linked technical sources.
Location and context
Hans Offringa, A Field Guide to Whisky (Artisan, 2017), PDF sheet 153–171; Chapter 3 — Bourbon. These are supplied-PDF sheet numbers, not print pages.
Critical assessment
PDF161 supports acidic backset and pH control, but conflates the process with the liquid and asserts an untested backset/sugar/lightness relationship. Exclude generic pressure-cooker, water-charged thumper and mandatory American-white-oak claims (159,165–166). Use as practitioner orientation, not operating parameters.
Provenance and verification
Full literature review. Source relationship and original evidence identity preserved. September 29 full-copy reading and visual audit completed; Verified refers to source fidelity and retrievability, not automatic factual endorsement.