Databases / Literature Notes

Assessment

Matt Strickland, Whiskey: Grain to Glass (White Mule Press / American Distilling Institute, 2026), foreword by Lew Bryson. ISBN 978-1-7369802-4-8. Supplied filename: From Grain to Glass.pdf. Citation key: Strickland2026WhiskeyGrainGlass.

Bottom line: A substantial practitioner handbook linking product goals to grain, process, maturation and blending decisions. Especially valuable for understanding why a mash bill alone cannot reproduce a whiskey, and why blending requires both a sensory brief and knowledge of available stocks. It is not a universally validated operating manual, a current legal reference, or proof that age, proof or price determines quality.

This note contains original analysis, not the book text. The complete PDF is preserved in the private Sources database in 26 sequential parts. No source files or sharing permissions were made public.

Coverage and locator rules

All 404 supplied PDF sheets were covered: prose and end matter read, numeric appendix sheets 359–387 visually inspected, technical diagrams and sparse pages checked as rendered images; the September 29 audit extended the visual examination to all relevant figures identified across the complete 404-sheet survey. This completion means full-source critical reading and preservation, not independent verification of every claim or every table cell.

Reader citations now use visually checked printed pages or named sections. The full-source coverage inventory below retains internal PDF-sheet ranges for preservation accounting; it is not reader-facing pagination. The scan repeats printed p. 349 (sheets 344 and 346) and p. 401 (sheets 396 and 398). Printed-number jumps and duplicates have not been smoothed over. The PDF-to-print crosswalk remains private.

Numeric tables are reference reproductions with imperfect OCR. Use authoritative tables and approved measurement methods for calculations; do not treat the extraction as a certified dataset. Selected illustrations were checked, but no exhaustive engineering or illustration-accuracy certification is claimed.

Full-source reading map

• 1–12 — Front matter: identity, publication details, foreword and organization. These establish the supplied edition, not independent endorsement of the technical claims.
• 13–28 — Definitions and flavor system: category labels differ from flavor descriptions. Grain, fermentation, distillation, wood and handling interact. Regional stereotypes and recipe-only explanations are inadequate.
• 29–37 — Grain analysis: moisture, extract, coarse/fine grind difference, diastatic power, nitrogen/protein, FAN and modification help evaluate suitability. Extract is not necessarily all fermentable. Supplier and lot records matter.
• 38–61 — Grain and malting: steeping, germination, kilning and smoke exposure alter available flavor and processing behavior. Grain variety and handling matter; phenol concentration in malt does not directly predict perceived smoke in a finished blend.
• 62–77 — Alternatives and recipes: work backward from the intended whiskey and realistic equipment capabilities. Pilot, measure and revise. The author's numerical recipes are starting examples, not guaranteed product formulas.