Monday, June 13, 2011

Fairest Rose And The Five Yeasts.

Once upon a time there was a rose, a rose so blessed with elegance and beauty that it was said she was more fair than any four ordinary roses. Her name was Fairest Rose. One day, while strolling on the forest path, Fairest Rose came to a fork in the road. Five forks, as a matter of fact.

At the foot of each fork stood a tall yeast. From the first two forks, a man and woman stepped forward. The man spoke. "Hello, I'm Herb Yeast." This is Flora Yeast and those three are Big Fruit, Little Fruit and Spicy. Here's how this works."

Herb explained that if Fairest Rose wanted to walk their paths, she would have to accompany each of them in turn. Along the way they would meet two farmers, each with a wry sense of humor, but one much more wry than the other. She would walk for a while with each of them as well.

Each walk would change Fairest Rose. Together they would complete her.

And that is how Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is made.

3 comments:

Ed Maurer said...

At least as good a story as the one the Four Roses puts out about how the brand name came to be. Probably more factual too.

Appreciate your wry wit.

R.L. Haynes said...

Ten grain bills, five yeast strains: there has to be an equation here somewhere. Their web site is a little overwrought, but a rose by any other name...

Thanks for some fun connecting the dots!

Snakeman said...

R.L,
I thought it was 2 grain bills, and 5 yeast strains = 10 different expressions.
-----------------------------------
Letter Abbreviations
O - The 1st letter = Produced at the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY.
B or E - The 2nd letter =
The mashbill.
S - The 3rd letter=Straight whiskey Distillation
V/K/O/Q/F - The 4th letter =
The yeast strain

Mashbills
B=60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley
E=75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley

Yeast Culture
V=Delicate Fruity Flavor
K=Slight Spice Character
O=Robust Fruitiness
Q=Floral Essence
F=Light Herbal Essence