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FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 170 - Wine and Beer in Western Culture

Lecture 17 - Distilled Spirits

Objectives

• Describe the methods for distilling alcohol from wine

• Detail the steps in cognac making

• Outline the process for making Armagnac and contrast with Cognac making

• Describe distilled spirits found in various countries

Definitions

• Heads - vapors coming off early in a distillation

• Tails - vapors coming off late in a distillation

• Hearts – vapors coming off mid-distillation

• Boiling point - the temperature at which compounds go from a liquid to a gas

• Pot still - vessel for distilling wine in a batch operation

• Condenser - cooled pipe for changing vapors back into liquids

Distilling alcohol from wine

• When you heat wine, the ethanol boils before water

• Capture alcohol vapor and leave the water behind

• Can start with wine with any alcohol concentration, taste, etc.

• Remove heads and tails, retain hearts

Types of Stills

• Batch (pot still) - (higher quality) and Continuous still - (lower quality)

Making Cognac

• Comes from the Cognac region of France (north of Bordeaux along Atlantic coast)

• Poor quality wine with little market and high shipping costs caused region to decide to reduce costs by distilling wine

• Cognac processing steps

– Usual wine making, primarily from trebbiano grapes

– Double distillation in wood fired pot still

• 1st distillation is Broullis ® 30% alcohol

• 2nd distillation is Bonne chauffe ® 68% alcohol

• Aged in older (Limousin) oak barrels for ³1 year(s)

• Blended for consistency

• Adjust sweetness with sugar, color with caramel color

• Dilute with rainwater, aged 3 yrs in oak, to 80-100 proof

• Store in warehouses called “paradise” until release

Quality levels

• The AC of cognac requires at least 2 years aging

• VS (3 star): brandies at least 3 years old

• VSOP – Very Special (or Superior) Old Pale (5 star) –must spend >5 years in wood

• XO, Reserve,Extra, Napoléon, etc. (typically the oldest brandies made by producer)

– blended from >6-year old brandies (no longer legally claim >7 years aging on label)

• Fine Champagne: 60% of the grapes came from a superior grape-growing section of Cognac called “Grande Champagne”

– Grande Fine Champagne - all grapes from there

Armagnac - region in France near Cognac

– Made from a blend of a variety of grapes

– Aged in a local black oak (not Limousin)

– Continuous still or single pot distillation (Results in more aromatics, lower proof)

– Flavor is drier since not adjusted with sugar

– Color not adjusted with caramel and typically lighter than cognac of same age

– Not all blended; Some carry vintage date

– Aged less time

– 1/10 as much produced as cognac

Cheap Brandy Production

• Artificial colors and flavors; Alcohol from continuous distillation; Little aging

Other Brandies

• Unlike table wine which must come from grapes because of the level of fruit sugar, brandy can be made from any fermentable fruit

• Types of fruit brandies

– Metaxa (Greece) – from grapes

– Pisco (South America) – from grapes

– Applejack (US), Calvados (France) – from apples

– Slivovitz (Serbia, Bosnia) – from plums

– Eau de Vie (Alcools blancs) – France, elsewhere

• Fraise (strawberry); Framboise (raspberry); Mûre (blackberry); Kirsch (cherry)

– Grappa (Italy), Marc (France) – from pomace

Difference between brandy and liqueurs

• Brandies are distilled form fermented fruits

• Liqueurs, such as Schnapps or Aquavit, are made by adding fruit as a flavoring to neutral spirits (double-distillation, usually of fermented potatoes and malted grains)

History of Whisky

• In 15^th C, surplus grain was distilled to make a potent drink for clan chieftains, primarily valued as medicinal

– Malted barley was soon valued over other grains

• Now made all over the world

– 5 major whisky-producing countries:

• Scotland, the United Stated, Ireland, Canada, and Japan

• Just as brandy was the obvious first distillate of southern Europe, so malted grains provided the starting point further north

• Like brandy, a double distillation by the pot still method results in a spirit that can be matured in oak barrels

• 1826 - Continuous distillation invented by Robert Stein

– New method produced lighter spirit of greater commercial appeal

• By late 1800’s, common to blend true malt whisky with spirit made by continuous distillation

• In 1909 (modified 1915), a Royal Commission determined parameters for Scotch Whisky (Still followed today)

– Method of distillation, rules on blending, minimum maturation times, and salient geographical points

• Scotch can only be distilled and aged in Scotland

Types of Scotch Whisky

• Scotch whisky (40% alcohol)

– Single malt (most highly prized)

• Entirely from malted barley, double-distilled and made at a single distillery

– Vatted malt: blended produce of several single malts

• Often assembled within a particular region

– Blended Scotch: mixture of malt and lighter grain spirits (whiskies made from corn or unmalted barley)

• This is the market-leading category (J&B, Johnnie Walker, Famous Grouse, etc.)

Making Scotch “Malts”

• Barley grains soaked to start germination

• Heated in kiln; varying amounts of peat added to fuel

• Mashed, drained, fermented in large tanks with natural or cultured yeasts

• Double-distilled in copper pot

• Aged in (usually American) oak barrels that previously contained sherry or bourbon

Other Types of Whisk(e)y

• Bourbon (Kentucky) – Jim Beam is leader

– Aged in new charred barrels; Sweet and Sour mash (differ in yeast handling)

• Tennessee sour mash – Jack Daniel’s, George Dickel

– Filtered through sugar maple “charcoal” then aged

• Irish Whiskey – Leader of export markets is Jameson

– Triple-distilled mash of malted/unmalted blend

• Canadian Whiskey – Hiram Walker’s Canadian Club

Continuous distillation; Permitted to add <1/100 of other drink products, like sherry

FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 170 - Wine and Beer in Western Culture

Lecture 17 - Distilled Spirits

Objectives

• Describe the methods for distilling alcohol from wine

• Detail the steps in cognac making

• Outline the process for making Armagnac and contrast with Cognac making

• Describe distilled spirits found in various countries

Definitions

• Heads - vapors coming off early in a distillation

• Tails - vapors coming off late in a distillation

• Hearts – vapors coming off mid-distillation

• Boiling point - the temperature at which compounds go from a liquid to a gas

• Pot still - vessel for distilling wine in a batch operation

• Condenser - cooled pipe for changing vapors back into liquids

Distilling alcohol from wine

• When you heat wine, the ethanol boils before water

• Capture alcohol vapor and leave the water behind

• Can start with wine with any alcohol concentration, taste, etc.

• Remove heads and tails, retain hearts

Types of Stills

• Batch (pot still) - (higher quality) and Continuous still - (lower quality)

Making Cognac

• Comes from the Cognac region of France (north of Bordeaux along Atlantic coast)

• Poor quality wine with little market and high shipping costs caused region to decide to reduce costs by distilling wine

• Cognac processing steps

– Usual wine making, primarily from trebbiano grapes

– Double distillation in wood fired pot still

• 1st distillation is Broullis ® 30% alcohol

• 2nd distillation is Bonne chauffe ® 68% alcohol

• Aged in older (Limousin) oak barrels for ³1 year(s)

• Blended for consistency

• Adjust sweetness with sugar, color with caramel color

• Dilute with rainwater, aged 3 yrs in oak, to 80-100 proof

• Store in warehouses called “paradise” until release

Quality levels

• The AC of cognac requires at least 2 years aging

• VS (3 star): brandies at least 3 years old

• VSOP – Very Special (or Superior) Old Pale (5 star) –must spend >5 years in wood

• XO, Reserve,Extra, Napoléon, etc. (typically the oldest brandies made by producer)

– blended from >6-year old brandies (no longer legally claim >7 years aging on label)

• Fine Champagne: 60% of the grapes came from a superior grape-growing section of Cognac called “Grande Champagne”

– Grande Fine Champagne - all grapes from there

Armagnac - region in France near Cognac

– Made from a blend of a variety of grapes

– Aged in a local black oak (not Limousin)

– Continuous still or single pot distillation (Results in more aromatics, lower proof)

– Flavor is drier since not adjusted with sugar

– Color not adjusted with caramel and typically lighter than cognac of same age

– Not all blended; Some carry vintage date

– Aged less time

– 1/10 as much produced as cognac

Cheap Brandy Production

• Artificial colors and flavors; Alcohol from continuous distillation; Little aging

Other Brandies

• Unlike table wine which must come from grapes because of the level of fruit sugar, brandy can be made from any fermentable fruit

• Types of fruit brandies

– Metaxa (Greece) – from grapes

– Pisco (South America) – from grapes

– Applejack (US), Calvados (France) – from apples

– Slivovitz (Serbia, Bosnia) – from plums

– Eau de Vie (Alcools blancs) – France, elsewhere

• Fraise (strawberry); Framboise (raspberry); Mûre (blackberry); Kirsch (cherry)

– Grappa (Italy), Marc (France) – from pomace

Difference between brandy and liqueurs

• Brandies are distilled form fermented fruits

• Liqueurs, such as Schnapps or Aquavit, are made by adding fruit as a flavoring to neutral spirits (double-distillation, usually of fermented potatoes and malted grains)

History of Whisky

• In 15th C, surplus grain was distilled to make a potent drink for clan chieftains, primarily valued as medicinal

– Malted barley was soon valued over other grains

• Now made all over the world

– 5 major whisky-producing countries:

• Scotland, the United Stated, Ireland, Canada, and Japan

• Just as brandy was the obvious first distillate of southern Europe, so malted grains provided the starting point further north

• Like brandy, a double distillation by the pot still method results in a spirit that can be matured in oak barrels

• 1826 - Continuous distillation invented by Robert Stein

– New method produced lighter spirit of greater commercial appeal

• By late 1800’s, common to blend true malt whisky with spirit made by continuous distillation

• In 1909 (modified 1915), a Royal Commission determined parameters for Scotch Whisky (Still followed today)

– Method of distillation, rules on blending, minimum maturation times, and salient geographical points

• Scotch can only be distilled and aged in Scotland

• In 15^th C, surplus grain was distilled to make a potent drink for clan chieftains, primarily valued as medicinal