Origin of Chinese Liquor Distillation Technology

Where does Chinese liquor come from

As an ancient invention of human beings, liquor is not magical, but in terms of its profound influence on later generations, it can be called great. In China, there are legendary inventors such as Huangdi, Yidi, Du Kang, and Wu Gang. Some Chinese unofficial history notes even record: "Huangshan has many apes, and in spring and summer, miscellaneous flowers and fruits are collected in the stone depressions, brewed into wine, the fragrance overflows, and smells hundreds of steps." "Pingle and other prefectures in western Guangdong, in the mountains Many apes, good at harvesting flowers and making wine...".

In fact, no one knows how the first wine or liquor was born. All claims about the origin of alcohol are based on speculation and legend. A more reasonable picture is: in ancient times, the fruits collected by people had leftovers after maintaining their basic life. During storage, the fruits deteriorated and fermented, and finally the substances that could make people feel pleasant were found in them. This is the most primitive wine. The winemaking activities of human beings in prehistoric times simply repeated the self-brewing process of nature. The conscious winemaking activities of human beings should have only started after entering the agricultural civilization. Human beings have relatively abundant food, have made fine pottery utensils, and learned the control method, and gradually formed the winemaking process, wine production became possible.

Unveil the craftsmanship of modern liquor

 From shochu in the Yuan Dynasty to modern liquor, the birth of high-quality liquor in China has gone through centuries. But the current spirits(baijiu) is no longer the shochu it used to be, but this does not affect the main position of baijiu (Chinese spirits) in the Chinese liquor market.

As one of the three major distilled spirits in the world, Chinese liquor may be inferior to the other two in terms of history, but in terms of volume, relying on the single market of China, it has achieved an output value of hundreds of billions of scale (non-retail price comprehensive) . The history I am talking about should start from the merger of shochu houses into a state-owned liquor, and the beginning of setting the fragrance and making the tune! Before that, it could not be called Chinese spirits, only shochu. 

In fact, whether it is modern spirits or shochu, the produced koji and fermented grains produce aroma and fermentation reaction, and then the liquor is distilled at high temperature. However, as microorganisms, they are very sensitive to the environment, temperature, humidity and raw materials, so the spirits making process has been optimized in various places, and the spirits in each place have their own characteristics.

The more aging the liquor, the more valuable it is? Not necessarily

We often hear that the older the liquor, the more fragrant and more valuable it will. Is that true? In fact, this may be the case for most liquors, except those listed below.

The first kind is liquors with a lower alcohol content

Such liquor has no meaning of preservation value, and it is not easy to get drunk after drinking a low-alcohol liquor, and it is not pure because the manufacturer is not authentic when making this liquor, and To ensure that the combination of liquor and water is not in place, the workmanship is often rough, and the number of times of purification and distillation is limited, so this liquor does not meet the standard at all, and the more you drink it, the worse it tastes.

The second type is liquor that is blended with alcohol. 

There are many people in the market who often buy such liquor. The longer it is kept, the cheaper the price will be, even if it only takes a few You can buy a bottle for a dollar. Although it tastes like white liquor, it is not good to drink too much of this liquor. For this kind of white liquor, if it is kept for too long, it can be said that it is not much different from liquor. How can there be room for appreciation?

The third is those being opened. 

No matter what kind of liquor it is, if you open it, try to drink it up, because the liquor is strictly sealed, and after you open it, even if you snap the lid back on, it will not reach the original level at all. It is sealed. If this is the case, the aroma of the liquor inside will evaporate quickly, which will affect the taste when you drink it, so it has no meaning to save when you open the liquor. It is better to drink it as soon as possible.

If you also encounter liquor with the above three conditions, it is better not to store it for a long time, but to dispose of it as soon as possible. Those liquors that are more fragrant the longer they are stored are all purer liquors, and they are Good liquor, of course, the price of these liquors are also very expensive. Even if the time is left, it will not deteriorate. No matter when you open it, you will have a strong liquor aroma, and there is a certain amount of liquor. room for appreciation.

Effect of Alcohol on Sleep

More than one in ten people use alcohol to overcome stress-related insomnia. However, evidence shows that alcohol does not improve sleep. On the contrary, when alcohol passes through the body, it produces some biochemical effects, which often leads to worse sleep.

Does alcohol help sleep?

Although drinking alcohol before going to bed helps you fall asleep faster, this popular drink has a negative impact on overall sleep quality. When you drink alcohol before going to bed, your body metabolizes the alcohol throughout the night. As the blood alcohol level rises and falls, alcohol has different effects on your sleep.

How does alcohol affect sleep?

Alcohol may shorten the overall sleep time and interrupt sleep, which can lead to fatigue and sleepiness the next day (e.g. hangover). The more alcohol you drink, the greater the negative impact on sleep.

Alcohol changes sleep stages

For most people, alcohol induces deeper sleep than usual in the first half of the night, followed by interruption of sleep in the second half of the night.

On a normal night of sleep, we cycle through light sleep, deep sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Each sleep stage plays an important function, but deep sleep and rapid eye movement sleep are considered to be the most important stages of physical and mental recovery.

Alcohol was originally used as a sedative, increasing the proportion of deep sleep at the beginning of the night. However, as the effects of alcohol begin to fade, the body spends more time in light sleep, which is less robust and may lead to more night awakenings. Because of these frequent awakenings, people tend to reduce their sleep time after drinking alcohol.

Studies have found conflicting information about how alcohol affects rapid eye movement sleep. Alcohol seems to have been delaying the first onset of REM sleep, and higher doses of alcohol seem to reduce the total amount of REM sleep. Inhibition of REM sleep can have adverse consequences for memory consolidation and other cognitive processes.

People who continue to drink too much alcohol may eventually develop tolerance to its initial sedative effects. Research on chronic alcohol users found that these people’s sleep patterns are usually disrupted, slow-wave sleep is reduced, and rapid eye movement sleep is increased.

Alcohol affects adenosine levels and sleep homeostasis

Alcohol increases the level of adenosine, which is a key component of the balance drive. Static drive is responsible for maintaining the balance of our body. It is one of the main mechanisms that regulate the sleep-wake cycle. When we are awake for too long, the balance drive promotes sleep by raising the level of adenosine.

After drinking a few glasses, these increased adenosine levels put us into deep sleep. However, once the body realizes that it has too much slow-wave sleep, the steady-state drive compensates for it by allowing us to reduce deep sleep later in the night.

In the short term, these changes in our sleep patterns can cause restlessness in the second half of the night. In the long term, frequent disturbances to our natural sleep cycle may change the static drive in a more lasting way. Long-term alcoholics do not seem to exhibit the deep restorative sleep that most people exhibit after sleep deprivation, which suggests that the homomorphic drive no longer functions as it should.

Alcohol changes melatonin and circadian rhythm

Alcohol may also have some effects on sleep by affecting the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is responsible for fixing the body in a 24-hour cycle. As part of this 24-hour cycle, the body releases a hormone called melatonin to prepare us for sleep at night. Earlier studies have found that drinking alcohol before going to bed reduces melatonin levels and interferes with core body temperature, which in turn affects sleep quality.

A newer study found that a dose of alcohol had no effect on the circadian rhythm of rodents. However, the researchers suggested that perhaps these effects on the circadian rhythm only appear after several consecutive days of drinking.

To support the link between alcohol and melatonin, researchers have noticed that people who suffer from severe alcohol withdrawal tend to have less pronounced levels and release of melatonin.

Alcohol can increase symptoms of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea

A lot of evidence shows that alcohol can aggravate the symptoms of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. These sleep-related breathing difficulties can occur when the soft tissue collapses and blocks the upper airway. In mild cases, breathing difficulties can cause snoring. In more severe cases, the individual suffers a momentary interruption of breathing, followed by waking, interrupting the progress of the sleep phase.

Alcohol is a muscle relaxant, so drinking alcohol before going to bed can make a person more likely to have a blocked airway. People who usually snore or have obstructive sleep apnea tend to show more severe snoring and lower blood oxygen levels after drinking, especially when they drink near bedtime.

People who drink alcohol regularly are 25% more likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea, although this link may be partly due to other common risk factors, such as obesity.

Alcohol exacerbates existing health conditions and sleep disorders

Many people turn to alcohol to cope with feelings of difficulty, but if alcohol interferes with sleep, it may eventually have the opposite effect. For example, people with moderate or severe anxiety who use alcohol in the hope of sleeping better are actually more likely to have sleep problems.

Similarly, research on bereaved people found that using alcohol to cope with sadness increases the risk of major depression, and major depression itself is a risk factor for sleep disorders.

Unsurprisingly, research on patients with insomnia also found that heavy drinking can exacerbate insomnia. People who don't feel energetic after waking up may be more likely to rely on alcohol again the next night to help them fall asleep, leading to a counterproductive drinking pattern.

Can you drink within a certain range?

Be cautious when drinking alcohol before going to bed, because alcohol may have a greater impact on sleep than you realize. This may be especially true if you drink to help you fall asleep faster, and then unknowingly experience sleep interruptions at night. Since even a small amount of alcohol can affect your sleep, the overwhelming consensus in the medical community is that alcohol is not an appropriate sleep aid.

Since alcohol affects everyone differently, it is important to understand where your limits are and how much alcohol you can drink before it starts to affect your sleep. If you are looking for ways to improve sleep, a simple start is to adopt healthy sleep hygiene habits, such as maintaining a consistent sleep time and creating a calm bedroom environment.

What are spirits alcohol

What are spirits alcohol?

Spirits are high-concentration alcoholic drinks, also called distilled alcohol. Distillation is an indispensable method of spirits making.

Because the concentrated ethanol solution produced during the fermentation process can kill the yeast and prevent it from further fermenting, the alcohol concentration of the fermented alcohol can only reach 10%-15%. But the boiling point of alcohol is 78.2℃. After heating, the temperature of vinasse exceeds the boiling point of alcohol but below that of water (100℃). Alcohol becomes vapor which will then be condensed to alcohol with a concentration of 80%-90%.  High concentration can be produced by blending. Of hard liquor.

Eight Types of Spirits

Spirits are usually divided into eight categories: Gin, Whisky, Brandy, Vodka, Rum, Tequila, and Chinese spirit, Japanese sake.

Brandy

Brandy means "fired wine" and is usually called "the soul of wine". Brandy is the transliteration of English Brandy. It is a wine made from fruit, fermented and distilled. And it originally came from the Dutch word Brandewijn, which means "burnable wine". The famous brandy has CALVADOS, which is distilled from apples and has an excellent taste.

Brandy has a degree of 40-43 degrees. Although it is a strong wine, after a long period of aging, its taste is soft and the fragrance is pure. After drinking, it gives people an elegant and comfortable feeling.

The origin of brandy-France.

Main brands: Martell, Remy Martin, Hennessy and Napoleon, etc.

Gin

Gin is the first spirit made by mankind for special purposes. The hometown of gin is in the Netherlands. It originated in 1660. It was invented by Schilbis, a university professor in the Netherlands, whose purpose was to prevent Dutch people from contracting tropical diseases. It was originally used as a diuretic and heat-clearing agent. Soon people discovered that this diuretic had a harmonious aroma, a harmonious taste, a mellow and elegant wine, a clean and refreshing natural style, and was soon consumed as a formal alcoholic beverage. The world-renowned Martini (Martini) cocktail is blended with gin, so it is called "the heart of the cocktail".

The origin of gin-the Netherlands.

Tequila

Tequila is a specialty of Mexico and is called "Mexico's soul". Tequila is a small town in Mexico, and this spirit is named after the place of origin. Tequila is sometimes called "tequila" spirits because the wine is made of very special ingredients, using agave as its raw material. Agave is a plant of the agave family. It usually grows for 12 years. When it matures, it is cut and sent to the winery, where it is cut in half and soaked for 24 hours. Then the juice is squeezed out, the juice is added with sugar and sent to the fermentation cabinet to ferment for two to two and a half days, and then distilled twice.

The origin of Tequila-Mexico.

Rum

Rum is a distilled liquor produced from sugar cane molasses, also known as rum, rum or rum. The sugar juice pressed out of sugarcane is fermented and distilled. The main production characteristics of this kind of wine are: selecting special aroma-producing (ester producing) yeast and adding organic acid-producing bacteria, after co-fermentation, and then distilling and aging.

Rum is a yellowish, brown liquid with a delicate, sweet taste and a fragrant alcoholic aroma. It doesn’t matter whether the rum is aged or not, it mainly depends on the origin. It is divided into two styles, light type and strong type.

The origin of rum-Cuba.

Vodka

Vodka uses grains or potatoes as raw materials and is distilled to make alcohol up to 95°, then diluted with distilled water to 40°-60°, and filtered through activated carbon to make the wine more crystal clear, colorless and light and refreshing , Makes people feel not sweet, not bitter, not astringent, only the flame-like stimulation, forming the unique characteristics of vodka. Therefore, vodka is the most flexible, adaptable and adaptable wine among various base wines for making cocktails.

The origin of vodka-Russia.

Whisky

Whiskey is called the "water of life". It is an alcoholic beverage made from barley, rye, oats, wheat, corn and other grains as raw materials, fermented and distilled, aged and blended in oak barrels. The main production countries are English-speaking countries.

Whiskey is mainly divided into Scotch whiskey, Irish whiskey, Canadian whiskey and American whiskey.

Chinese Liquor

Baijiu (Chinese spirits), also known as shochu, laobaigan, etc., use grains as the main raw material, use Daqu, Xiaoqu or bran yeast as saccharification starters, after cooking, saccharification, and fermentation , distilled liquor made by distillation. It is obtained by distilling mash or fermented mash from starch or carbohydrate raw materials.

Chinese liquor is colorless (or slightly yellow) and transparent, with a pure aroma, sweet and refreshing taste, high alcohol content, and after storage and maturity, it has a compound aroma with esters as the main body. Various types of wines are brewed by using koji and wine mothers as saccharification starters, using starch (sugar) raw materials, through cooking, saccharification, fermentation, distillation, aging and blending.

The origin of Chinese liquor-China.

Sake

Sake is light yellow or colorless in color, clear and transparent, pleasant aroma, pure taste, soft and refreshing, its sour, sweet, bitter, astringent, and spicy flavors are harmonious. The alcohol content is more than 15%, and it contains a variety of amino acids and vitamins. It is a nutritious drink wine.

The craftsmanship of Japanese sake is very sophisticated. The selected rice should be polished to make the rice white, absorb water quickly when dipped, and be easy to steam; the fermentation is divided into two stages: pre-fermentation and post-fermentation; sterilization treatment is performed once before and after bottling to ensure The shelf life of wine; pay attention to specifications and standards when blending wine. For example, the quality standard of "pine, bamboo and plum" sake is: the alcohol content is 18%, the sugar content is 35g/L, and the acid content is below 0.3g/L.

The origin of sake-Japan.

What is grain alcohol

Grain alcohol or fermented alcohol, also known as rectified spirit, uses yeast to ferment grain materials containing starch and carbohydrate to produce. Its chemical term is ethanol. 

What is grain alcohol?

What is grain alcohol made from?

Its production process includes saccharification, fermentation, filtration, sterilization, etc. Grains used as raw material can be sorghum, corn, rice, batata, potatoes, rye or wheat, though you can also use fruits or even just sugar. 

How is grain alcohol made?

In the brewing process, starch absorbs water and swells and heats to gelatinize to form a starch with a loose structure, which is decomposed into low-molecular monosaccharides under the action of amylase. Monosaccharides are decomposed under the catalysis of decarboxylase and dehydrogenase, and gradually decompose to form carbon dioxide and alcohol. Brewing with starch as raw material requires two main processes, one is the starch saccharification process, and the other is the alcohol fermentation process.

1. The saccharified starch of starch is hydrolyzed into monosaccharides under the action of the catalyst amylase. Amylase is derived from microorganisms in koji, and the reaction process is shown in the figure:

2. Alcohol-fermented starch is converted into glucose under the action of amylase, and glucose is converted into alcohol under the action of alcoholic enzyme, which is secreted by yeast. Most distiller's yeast also contains yeast (except gluten yeast). The reaction process is as follows:

This reaction formula was first proposed by French chemist Guy Lussac in 1810. Later, scientists studied and measured that theoretically 51.149 alcohol can be produced per 1009 glucose (the actual output is lower than the theoretical one). In 1857, another French chemist, Louis Pasteur, discovered that alcohol fermentation was carried out in the absence of oxygen. For this reason, he made the famous thesis that "fermentation is life activity without air".

Fermented Grain Alcohol 

US and Brazil Use Crops to Make Ethanol While China Uses Coal

On March 17, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shaanxi Yanchang Group announced in Beijing that the world's first coal-based ethanol industrialization project with my country's independent intellectual property rights - Shaanxi Yanchang's 100,000-ton/year synthesis gas-to-ethanol industrial demonstration project has opened up the entire process , to produce qualified anhydrous ethanol, the device has been running smoothly for two months. This is another major breakthrough in the application of my country's new coal chemical industrialization technology, which is of great significance to ensuring my country's energy security, food security, clean utilization of coal and alleviating air pollution.

Ethanol (alcohol) is a premium clean fuel

Ethanol is alcohol. It can be blended with liquor and medical disinfection. In industry, it can be used not only as a solvent for varnishes, cosmetics, inks, and paint removers, but also as a raw material for the manufacture of pesticides, rubber, plastics, rayon, and detergents. In fact, the biggest use of ethanol is as a gasoline additive, and 66% of the world's ethanol is added to gasoline as fuel ethanol. Academician Liu Zhongmin, deputy director of the Dahua Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that gasoline added with ethanol increases the oxygen content, and the gasoline burns more fully. Significant reduction, comprehensive emissions reduced by more than 1/3.