A lorry at the silo
The malt lorry arrives. The delivery note is signed and put in a tray. The spec sheet from the maltster arrives separately by email. The malt goes into the silo on top of what was already there. Weeks later, yields seem lower and the new make a touch different. Which malt lot was in those mashes? The delivery note is in the tray, the spec in someone's inbox, and the silo has been topped up twice since.
Why intake links break
Grain and malt handling is physical and continuous. Deliveries go into silos or bins that already hold previous lots, so lots mix. Specs and certificates come by email. Mash records note the amount of grist, not the lot. Without a simple rule for how lots are tracked through storage, the link from grain to spirit is lost at the silo.
- Delivery notes are filed on paper.
- Spec sheets arrive by email and are not linked to the lot.
- Silos mix lots with no record of the order.
- Mash records do not note lots used.
- Intake checks, if done, are written in a notebook.
What the broken link costs
Changes in yield or character cannot be traced to a supplier or lot. Conversations with your maltster are based on impressions. Questions from customers or auditors about your raw materials are harder to answer. And records needed for your own quality work or adviser are rebuilt by hand.
An intake record per lot
- Each delivery is booked in on a tablet at intake: supplier, lot, quantity, delivery note photo, and the silo or store it goes to.
- Spec sheets and certificates from the supplier are attached to the lot, picked up from the email automatically where possible.
- Any intake checks you do, moisture, visual or others, are recorded against the lot.
- Silo contents are tracked as a sequence of lots, using the rules you choose, for example first in first out, or mixed proportions.
- Each mash records the grist taken, and the system estimates which lots it came from, using your silo rule.
- Mash, fermentation and still run records link through, so spirit and casks can be traced back to grain lots.
- Reports compare yield and your quality notes by supplier and lot.
| Link | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery to lot | Paper note | Intake record |
| Lot to specification | Attached | |
| Lot to silo | Unrecorded | Silo sequence |
| Silo to mash | Grist amount only | Lots estimated per mash |
| Mash to spirit | Separate records | Linked |
Tracing spirit back to the field
Every mash has a record of the lots most likely in it. Yield or character changes can be compared with supplier and lot. Specs and certificates are with the lot when anyone asks. Conversations with your maltster start from data. And your full chain, grain to cask to bottle, is traceable for the first time.
For distilleries that use their own grain or a single estate's barley, the same record supports the provenance story on the label, with the facts behind it recorded.
Is this your intake?
- Delivery notes are filed on paper.
- Spec sheets stay in email.
- You cannot say which lot went into a mash.
- Yield changes are hard to explain.
- Grain-to-spirit traceability depends on dates and guesswork.