Glossary: W

Wort is the sugary liquid that’s drawn off the mash-tun in which cereals (both /either malted and un-malted) have been mashed with warm water. Once cooled, it is passed to the fermenting vats. 

For those trying to understand how Wort is different to Wash and Mash – to save you clicking around: Mash is a term given when the liquid is water plus malted cereal. Wort is the term for when that liquid has become sugary and extracted everything from the cereal (at the end of the mashing process). Wash is the term given to the liquid once it’s been fermented and good to go to the still for a first distillation. They are three terms for the same liquid, they just relate to three separate stages of the brewing process.

See Mash

Wash is the finished product of fermentation that is destined to be distilled for the first time. It is a term used in the production of almost all distilled beverages that are made from scratch (although most overheard in Whisky and Rum). 

It’s worth noting that there’s a huge crossover between wash and wort, and that while different, for all essence and purposes, they are used very interchangeably by many distillers. For the pedants like ourselves however… to clarify: Wort technically becomes Wash as soon as yeast is added to start fermentation (even if the term is usually used to refer to the liquid at the end of the fermentation).