Classification of Chinese liquor

The brewing of Chinese liquor must first be made into koji, then mixed with grain, saccharified and fermented to make grain wine, and then distilled. Various kinds of foods such as beans and wheat are used in the koji making, and sorghum and corn are mainly used in the fermentation of wine.

The ancestors concluded in the long-term winemaking practice: "The bone of the wine is the bone of the wine, the water is the blood of the wine, and the grain is the soul of the wine." In addition, the decisive factor is the wine kiln. The strong fragrance is the old clay kiln, the sauce is the stone kiln or the mud kiln, and the fragrance is generally the earthen cylinder. In addition, there are regional factors, and the local climatic conditions that generally lead to the production of famous wines are very suitable for the snare of natural microorganisms.

               

Alcoholism is the use of yellow mud to build a pool in a sealed environment, and then the raw materials such as grain are fermented in the Dianchi Lake. One gram of yellow mud contains 1 billion microbes in the fermentation, and then yellow mud. The trace elements act to cure and catalyze the formation of aroma. Usually, the longer the storage time in the Dianchi Lake, the longer the fermentation time, the better the scent of the scent and the taste of the wine, and the higher the degree of alcohol.

The mud in many places has different microbes due to its unique geographical environment. The taste of the fermented wine will vary. For example, Wuliangye is the mud in the Yibin area, Maotai is the mud in the Maotai area of ​​Guizhou, and the wine is the mud in the Linyi area of ​​Shanxi.

                

Liquor classification is also an extremely complex system. At present, the most commonly used is the classification of the characteristics of the aroma components of the wine. In the national wine evaluation, the wine is often classified according to this method. Specifically, it is divided into sauce type, strong fragrance type, fragrance type, rice fragrance type, and complex fragrance type. Now with the development of winemaking technology, there are also sesame flavors.

Habitually, people usually divide into the following five flavors according to the style of their main aroma:

 

1, sauce flavor, also known as Maoxiang

The so-called sauce flavor refers to the aroma of the wine having a similar sauce food. It is generally considered that the sauce is a composite aroma composed of a high-boiling acidic substance and a low-boiling alcohol. This type of wine is represented by Guizhou Moutai and Sichuan Langjiu. The aroma is not too light, and the aftertaste is long. It is poured into the cup and the fragrance remains for a long time. It is said that the empty cup is more fragrant than the real cup. Sauce-flavored white wine is usually blended with wine, wine, liqueur and liqueur.

 

2, strong flavor, also known as musk

It is represented by the old song of Sichuan Luzhou. Luzhou-flavored wine has the characteristics of rich aromaticity, sweet entrance, falling cotton, and long net length. This is also the main basis for judging the quality of Luzhou-flavor liquor. The main form of the typical style of Luzhou-flavored wine is ethyl acetate. The variety and yield of Luzhou-flavor liquor are the first of the national Daqu liquors. Among the eight famous wines in China, Wuliangye, Luzhou Laojiao Qu, Jiannanchun, Yanghe Daqu, Gujing The tribute wine is an excellent representative of Luzhou-flavor liquor.

 

3, the fragrance type, also known as musk type

Shanxi Xinghuacun wine is the main representative. The scented liquor is mellow and mellow, and the main body of the wine is ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate. The combination of the two forms the main aroma of the wine, which is clear, cool, mellow and pure. The fragrant style basically represents the basic scent characteristics of China's old white dry wine.

 

4, rice flavor

It is a kind of Xiaoqu liquor represented by Guilin Sanhua Liquor. It uses rice as raw material and Xiaoqu as saccharifying agent. Its characteristics are soft, elegant and elegant, with soft entrance and smooth aftertaste, giving people a simple and pure beauty. The aroma composition of the rice-flavored liquor is that the ethyl lactate content is greater than that of ethyl acetate, and the higher alcohol content is also more, which forms the main fragrance of the Xiaoqu liquor. Guilin Sanhua Liquor, Guangxi Xiangshan Liquor, and Guangdong Changle Roast are among the top grades in Xiaoqu Liquor.

 

5, fragrant type (also known as compound type)

It has more than two main body aromas. This kind of wine absorbs the essence of fragrance, aroma, sauce and rice wine in the brewing process, and is uniquely created on the basis of inheriting and carrying forward the traditional brewing process. The style of the fragrant liquor is quite different. The smell, the mouth and the aftertaste are different, and it has a style of wine and fragrance. The fragrant wine is represented by Dongjiu. The Dongjiu wine has the rich aroma of Daqu wine, the soft alcohol of Xiaoqu wine, and the characteristics of Xiaokou Shutian. The style is unique. Now the clever bartender has developed a complex-flavored wine with a thick sauce and aroma.

 

The above scent types are only the obvious scent types in Chinese liquors. However, sometimes the scent of white wines of the same scent type is different, because the unique flavor of various famous wines depends on the fragrant content of the main body. It is also affected by the mutual setting, buffering and balancing of various flavor components.

                        

People also often divide liquor into high-alcohol according to the level of alcohol (the degree of alcohol is above 41 degrees, more than 55 degrees, generally not more than 65 degrees) and low-grade liquor (the degree of alcohol is generally 38 degrees, and there are more than 20 degree).

             

According to the process, it can be divided into three types: solid state method, solid-liquid combination method and liquid method liquor. Solid-state liquor is saccharified, fermented and distilled under solid conditions, all of which are made from grain and are brewed according to traditional techniques. The solid-liquid combination method is firstly saccharified under solid conditions, then fermented in a semi-solid or semi-liquid state, and then distilled; or the solid-state liquor (not less than 10%) and liquid liquor or edible alcohol are appropriately proportioned. It is blended. The liquid fermentation method is also called “one-step method”. The production process is similar to alcohol production, but some traditional techniques of liquor are absorbed in the process. The wine quality is generally indifferent; some processes are made up with raw yeast; or the flavored liquor This is made up of edible alcohol as the wine base, blended with edible flavors and special flavored white spirits.

In addition, according to the quality of wine, it can be divided into national famous wine, national high-quality wine, ministerial-level famous wine, general white wine and so on.

                         

Blending in the liquor process

“Mixed” is a part of the liquor brewing process. Because of the different time of fermentation and storage in the brewing process, the flavor and degree of the wine are different. In order to maintain the quality of the wine, they need to be complementary. The way (using the different characteristics of wine and wine) is blended in a certain proportion, which is the blending in the traditional wine making process. The blending is only a step in the finished liquor, and it must be properly modified after the blending. This process is called seasoning. The role of the tweak is not only to make the wine more style, but also to ensure the stability of the wine quality, improve the quality of the wine, and maintain the consistency of its style in mass production.

 

In modern technology, people will (not less than 10%) solid-state liquor (according to the traditional liquor fermentation process, all use grain as raw material, after crushing, add koji as a saccharifying agent, naturally ferment in mud pool or pottery tank. For a certain period of time, the white wine obtained after high-temperature distillation is called (pure grain) solid-state liquor, and it is blended with liquid liquor or edible alcohol in an appropriate ratio to make white wine, which is also a common process of modern liquor technology. The liquor produced in this way costs only one-third of the cost of traditional solid-state methods.

 

In another case, after adding water to the high-alcohol, some aroma components (including a small amount of alcohol, acid, and aldehydes) mainly composed of higher fatty acid ethyl esters are removed, and some of the liquor itself is included. The aroma components are also reduced in concentration due to dilution with water, resulting in a weak aroma, which must be solved by tweaking. Because of the blending process, all kinds of miscellaneous wines are not necessarily bad wines. They can be used as seasoning wines, especially bitter, sour, simmered, hemp, and may be good wines. After the bitter wine, it can increase the aging taste of the wine; after the miso wine, it can increase the scent of the wine; if there is a odor and other odor, if the odor is mild and has its own characteristics, it can also be used as a hangover. The aroma of the wine.

 

However, with the advancement of technology, people discovered different substances that make the wine aroma difference, and developed such artificial flavors, so some people artificially blended artificial flavors, edible alcohol and water into "wine". This inferior blending wine is essentially different from brewing wine.