Blending Matured and Unmatured Grain Malt Distillates Training

Learning Outcomes

• Apply blending techniques to combine matured and unmatured grain and malt distillates to achieve desired flavour profiles.
• Evaluate the sensory characteristics of distillates to determine appropriate blending ratios.
• Demonstrate the correct procedures for transferring distillates between vessels while minimising losses and contamination.
• Analyse the impact of maturation on distillate quality and adjust blending accordingly.
• Implement quality control checks to ensure the final blend meets specification and regulatory requirements.
• Document blending and transfer processes accurately for traceability and compliance.

Target Audience

This course is designed for distillery operators, production supervisors, and quality assurance personnel involved in the blending and maturation of grain and malt distillates.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment

Course Outline

Practicals

Overview

Practical sessions are integral to this course, enabling learners to apply blending theory through hands-on exercises. Learners will conduct sensory evaluations, formulate blends, and perform scale-up trials, reinforcing the skills needed for commercial production.

Practical Activities

• Sensory Evaluation of Distillates — Learners taste and evaluate matured and unmatured grain malt distillates, recording sensory profiles. (3h)
• Small-Scale Blending Trials — Learners design and prepare small blends using given components, adjusting ratios to meet a target profile. (4h)
• Scale-Up and Quality Control — Learners scale a successful small blend to a larger batch and perform quality checks including alcohol strength and clarity. (3h)
• Final Blend Presentation — Learners present their final blend with documentation, including recipe, sensory notes, and quality results. (2h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total

Component	Out of	Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored)	100%	30%
Daily Average (multiple choice)	100%	20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice)	100%	50%
Final Total	—	100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

How it works

• Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
• Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
• You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
• If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.

Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates	Discount
5	3% off
10	6% off
15	9% off
20	12% off
25	15% off
30	18% off
50	30% off
75	35% off
100	40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.