Wset Advanced: Section 7/51 Spirits: Factors Afecting Quality And Style

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Base Materials

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- Any agricultural corp who contain sugar can be used for spirit production
- Grains and many vegetables contain staches that must convertirse into sugar before fermentation, this proces is called conversion.
- The final spirit must gain some of character from its base materials.
- Quality base materials is needed for quality spirit

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Fermentation

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*wash - fermented liquid
- after fermentation wash contain around 10% abv and much flavours (known as congeneres) which will be found in final spirit
- amount of congeneres depends of style of spirit, whiskey have long proces of fermentation where is allowed numer of congereres to developed, Vodka and some white rum need to be much more neutral in flavour so only a few congeneres is needed

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The Principles of Destilation

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- Ethanol and Water are bigest compounds in wash, the arget of destilation is to separate this two compounds
- Ethanol have boiling point on 78.3C and water on 100C, when thay are mixed boiling point is in the midle. When teperature reach boiling point to lower compounds thay tend first to vaporate in this case Ethanol and other alcohols, also flavours vaporate on lover point than water.
- When vapours are condesed the liquid has higher concentration of flavour and ethanol.
- Destiler can controled with temperature what compound want to vaporate
- Spirit has a very high concentration of ehanol and need to be rectified.
- higher rectification means lower number of congeners, hugest possible rectification is 96% abv, to reach this level it need to boiled on higher temperature but in this case cannot separate from water so it is imposible to with clasic destilation.

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Pot Stills

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- consist container where is hited wash (the pot) and tubing (swan's neck or lyne arm) to take vapours to the condenser where can colected as liquid spirits
- This type of still is not efficent and need to make double or triple destilation for harder spirit
- First destilation fritify 10% of wash on 25% abv
- Second can create spirit up to 75% abv
Althouhg this process is expencive its can ratain much more congeners
- The size and shape of the head of still affect to amount and nature of cogeners
*Reflux - proces when alcohol with high boiling point can cool suficiently and condese and fall back into boiling wash.
- this proces is desirable to reduce congeners which in higher level can give pungent intensity to spirit.
- more Reflux is happend in taller neck still and such a spirt will have lighter flavour intensity than spirits made in short neck.

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Pot Stills

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- Destiler can increase level of congeners by raise heating pot. Udesirable efect from increase temperature of boiling is lower control to undesirable alcohols and flavours.
- Colected liquid is divide in three parts, firs is head and this is not use , second is heart where is highest concentration of ethanol is used for spirit and last is tail whichs is not use for consumption.
- Heads and tails is used for second destilation
- There is no fixed rule wehre destiler will cut the head or tail.

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Column Stils

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Fractional Destilation - simultaneously destilation one of a top of another is possible to make high rectified spirits in one step.
- Colum that makes up is divided on number of plates with holes. Hot alcoholic vapour entres at the botom of a stull and goes up through plates, contesed and form a layer of liquid on every plate. Once a layer is filed with condesed liquid it overflows on to the tray below. Because heater is down higher parts of still are cooler.
- Mini destilation happened between each tray
- Destileries are able to separate fractions in a wash very precisely and because ethanol only condenses on top thay are able to colect in highly rectified spirit.
- most sophisticated stills are very high and have over 40 trays
- most volatile alcohol metanol is allowed to pass out of the top of the still as vapour
- spirits in this still are have less character with exception of Bourbon and Armagnac
- most basic of this stills have two colums, Analyser and Rectifier.

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Maturation

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- spirit which comes from still are clear and colourless
- Maturation affect spirit in four distinct ways
- wood coloured spirit, wood allow slowly oxidation which softnes and mellows alcohol and its character, third some components evaporate and made more concentrated other components and change overal balance, fourth components interact with each other and produce new flavour
- small oak barrel will promote first three mentonied affects.
- spirits can gain up to 70% of wood flavours (vanilla, dryed fruit, spice, toast, smoky) depend of wood.
- maturation in wood barrels must be monitored because spirit can became astringent.
- high storage temperature and new oak barel can speed maturation, this is why Bourbon matured faster than Scotch whishies
- lost of volume during the long period of maturation can be significantly high.
- not all spirits undergo maturation, vodka, gin ...

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Blending and Finishing

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- blend is importand for producer, must be constantly quality to achive this need mvast range of ingredians.
- bottling on streinght around 40% abv for decrease aclohol level is using demineralised water.
- most destileries coloured its product with caramel and this is done for brand consistency
- Most spirits is filtred to ensure that remain bright and clear colour.