In the industry for a long time, often some friends joke that there is a liquor ah, is not water plus alcohol to do things ~ ~ ~
At first glance, there is nothing wrong with it, but in fact, people who understand it will not understand this problem, the main ingredient of liquor is alcohol and water, basically accounting for 99%, the other accounts for 1%, but it is the remaining 1% that really reflects that liquor is really not so simple, it can be said that it is still a scientific and chemical category problem, otherwise it cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to buy a mixture of hundreds of milliliters of alcohol and water, it seems a bit wronged ah ~ ~
Let me tell you, what are the ingredients of liquor besides alcohol and water, and what role do they play?
In terms of chemical composition, the first is ethanol:
Ethanol is very high in wine, such as 53% VOL sauce wine example, that is, 100ml of sauce wine contains 53ml of alcohol at 20 degrees Celsius, ethanol is slightly sweet, of course, everyone knows that the higher the ethanol content, the stronger the wine;
The second is lipids:
There are many classifications of lipids, including ethyl acetate, ethyl butyrate, ethyl lactate, amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, etc. Many kinds, lipids are mainly related to the aroma of liquor, ethyl caproate and ethyl acetate are the main body of aromatic liquor, the fragrance type is mainly ethyl acetate, the sauce flavor type is relatively complex, the more uniform statement is: 4-ethyl guaiacol (4-EG), furfural (furan formaldehyde), high content of various kinds of organic acids, high content of polyols and ethyl caproate and other components, It constitutes a unique style of sauce-flavored sake.
Again, acids:
We all know that Daqu Kunsha sauce wine follows the "12987" process, generally the first round of wine is acidic, acids are produced in the fermentation process of wine, including formic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, malic acid, gluconic acid and so on;
Then there are the aldehydes:
Yes, yes, we often hear aldehydes, liquor aldehydes include formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, furfural, butyral, a small amount of acetaldehyde is the aroma component of high-quality liquor, aromatic acetaldehyde is generally 20mg/100ml, too high on the strong irritation and spicy taste, easy to cause dizziness;
Finally, there are polyols:
This includes glycerin, 2,3-butanediol, butylene teretol, arabinolate, mannitol, etc., of which glycerin, butylene teretaterol, arabinolates, mannitol are sweet, these sweet tastes form the mellow flavor of liquor;
Talked to you before, the special aroma and style of sauce-flavored liquor is closely related to the "Maillard reaction", until now there is no clear conclusion about how these aromas are compounded, the fermentation and brewing process of liquor itself is a very magical chemical reaction process, continuous oxidation, reduction, esterification and hydrolysis and other chemical reactions, to achieve the last new balance, and finally presented to us is the bottle of wine on our table ~ ~ ~
In fact, it seems to be quite complicated, in fact, it is very simple, we drink alcohol does not need to study so deeply, but there is a concept, a good wine brewing process is not water plus alcohol on the end, but also hope that everyone can drink cost-effective good wine, these are right when we drink some of the talk on the table to the "rookies" just ~ ~ ~
Find a pot of good wine, make friends for a lifetime, welcome everyone to exchange and learn from each other on any questions