The origins of wine can be traced back to prehistoric times. The history of human winemaking began about 40,000 to 50,000 years ago in the Paleolithic "new people" stage. At that time, human beings had enough food to maintain basic life, so that they had the conditions to imitate the natural biological instinct of the winemaking process. The earliest winemaking activities of human beings were simply and mechanically repeated nature's self-brewing process.
The 9,000-year-old wine-drinking pottery found in China is the earliest trace of the history of drinking that we can trace back. But the distillation of alcohol was invented long after that
Although in Babylon in the second century BC there were already primitive forms of purification processes, this technique was used in perfume making and extracting essential oils from plants. It was not until the 8th century in Persia, thanks to the alchemist, philosopher, and mad pioneer Jaber ibn Hayan, also known as geber, that alcohol distillation was introduced.
Only an imaginative person like Jebel has the potential to harness the potential of alcohol. Jebel created countless things, he added glowing effects to black ink, he invented fireproof paper, and he even tried to recreate life in his laboratory —though without success. It is said that every word and sentence he wrote was ciphered—the English word "gibberish" probably came from this—so maybe he really used some magic to create creatures, but we are too stupid to understand.
Jebel invented the alembic distiller, which was not much different from today's tank stills: one distillation pot was used to heat liquids, one jug neck was used to divert steam, and a second container was used to collect alcohol. Both the words alembic and alcohol are derived from the Arabic language that prevailed during that period
However, Goebel was not a genius. He famously said that alcohol is "not very useful, but it is essential for science" - from this point of view he did not fully understand alcohol. His successor, Kendy, was the first to use distillation to separate pure alcohol from wine, while Lazi, after Kendi, popularized the concept of ethanol for medicinal purposes— close to the attitude of today's bartenders towards spirits.
Through the Middle East, the birthplace, these technologies quickly spread to both the East and the West. Distillers were adopted in China around the Yuan Dynasty, and at the same time, Europe was in the midst of a frenzy for this alcohol, known as the "water of life," and new types of spirits emerged everywhere, from grappa in Italy to whiskey in Ireland and Scotland, the earliest recorded in 1405. It seems to me that spirits silently catalyzed the Renaissance movement, what do you think?
Although the technological update was rapid, it was not until 1830 that another breakthrough was produced. That year, Inha Kofi invented and patented a continuously distilled whiskey distiller, which was called a continuous distiller or Kofi still. It can produce purer and stronger alcohol, and can be produced in large quantities, and the modern wine-making industry has been born.
The birth of distilled spirits stems from alchemy
ferment
During fermentation, yeast feeds on sugar and converts them into alcohol. Yeast is a living organism, made up of different fungi, and since it is alive, fermentation occurs naturally. Because of this, if sugar and water are placed in the air, wild yeasts in the air ferment the sugar-water mixture, which in turn converts the sugar into alcohol. You've probably heard stories of monkeys getting drunk because they ate rotten fruit, or you've probably tasted juice or puree in your bar that started bubbling because it was left too long. It's all fermentation. If the moisture is well balanced, the end result is a liquid that contains about 5% alcohol capacity, like beer. This effect is called wild yeast fermentation.
Because it is a natural process, wild yeast fermentation predates human history, but there is evidence that humans used it to brew beer and red wine dating back to 7000 BC. Today, spirits manufacturers (as well as beer and wine makers) already have the ability to grow yeast – the corresponding strain for a specific purpose. Some strains act quickly and can be used for rapid fermentation, but the resulting alcohol is low and the flavor is not good; some slow fermentation rates have different effects on the finished product. The yeast used is just one of many factors that can affect the final taste of alcohol.
We need organic materials to provide carbohydrates to yeast, which break down into sugars and provide nutrients for yeast. For alcohol, this organic material is usually a variety of grains or fruits and vegetables. This material is mixed with water to produce a "raw pulp" (mash). When the fermentation of the original slurry is complete, the next step is to distill the "wash" that is well fermented but contains alcohol compounds. We won't talk about overly complicated processes here, so let's focus on two common types of stills.
The first is copper tank distillation. This is one of the oldest types of stills, and it is similar to the one used by early alchemists. It has a simple pot-shaped bottom with a pot neck at the top that plugs into the condenser at a specific angle. Distillation tanks are usually made of copper because copper has good thermal conductivity and the chemical reaction of copper with alcohol can remove unwanted sulfides.
The key to distillation is the boiling point. The boiling point of alcohol is 78.4 degrees Celsius and the water is 100 degrees Celsius - it is precisely because of this feature that water and wine can be separated. First, the "raw pulp" is poured into a distiller and heated to a boiling point. When it boils, the alcohol in the liquid vaporizes first – hence the name of the precious "alcohol". If our initial "fermented slurry" alcohol content is 5%, the remaining 95% is composed of water and debris. When the alcohol vaporizes, it separates from water and debris and is close to the condensing tube. At this time, the steam has a higher alcohol content, and after cooling it returns to the liquid state, which we call distillate.
The lower the alcohol content of the distillate, the more water and other flavors in the original mixture are retained. Sometimes this is not to blame, as they give alcohol a unique flavor. If you continue to distill, the purity of alcohol will continue to increase until the highest 96.5%. At this point, however, you can no longer continue distilling in the traditional distillation method, because the alcohol vapor will begin to absorb moisture from the outside air.
The second is a column distiller, which is a new thing you need to increase alcohol purity. It is tall and thin, made of stainless steel, and copper sheets are placed in different positions of the still. A typical column distiller actually has two cylinders. Inside the first cylinder, the "fermenter" is poured from the top, heated and raised from the bottom as steam. The mixed flow is separated when passing through layers of copper sheets, like a series of mini tank stills. Lighter alcohol rises as the steam rises, while denser water and impurities precipitate down to the bottom and are washed away. Alcohol vapors accumulate at the top of the cylinder and are taken to the bottom of the second cylinder (i.e. the still, the still), where further distillation takes place, removing more impurities and increasing the alcohol content to nearly 96.5%. The alcohol enters the collector after being condensed.
Precise control of the proportions of "fermenter pulp", steam and alcohol imported and exported is a very difficult task that requires experienced distillers. Because column stills use multiple steps of distillation, the alcohol available tends to be more alcoholic and lighter. This trait is crucial for spirits like vodka. Canned distillers are popular with whisky, rum and brando makers because they retain specific flavors. After distillation, the distillate is diluted with pure water and bottled, and the alcohol content is generally 40% to 50%.
This is the basics about distillation. So the question now is, where can we get stills and yeast? Would anyone want to try distillation at home?