Handout : Chapter 1 Alcoholic Beverages
No of session Topic covered
1 A. Introduction and definition
B. Production of Alcohol: Fermentation process
2 B. Production of Alcohol: Distillation process & Types
3 C. Classification of alcoholic beverages with examples
A. Introduction and definition
Alcohol is liquid obtained by the fermentation of any sugar containing liquid. Ethyl alcohol is the
principal alcohol found in all alcoholic beverages.
An alcoholic beverage is defined as “Any potable liquid having a minimum of 0.5% of ethyl alcohol by
volume.”
Reference reading:
Ethyl alcohol is also called as ethanol is a transparent, colourless, flammable, volatile liquid miscible
with water, ether or chloroform and obtained by the fermentation of carbohydrate with yeast. It is the
major ingredient of alcoholic beverages and is potable. Ethyl alcohol is having the chemical formula of
C2H5OH, having burning taste and is the intoxicating component of alcoholic beverages.
B. Production of Alcohol
Fermentation process
The chemistry of fermentation process is basic to the making of all alcoholic beverages. Fermentation
is a chemical reaction in which Yeast reacts on sugar & converts the sugar into alcohol & carbon
dioxide.
Alcoholic beverages are obtained from the ingredient containing sugar for example grape juice, apple
juice, pear juice etc.
They are also obtain from ingredient such as grain, cereals & potatoes which have no sugar but which
have sugar potential because they are rich in starch. Once the starch is converted into fermentable sugar
mainly maltose yeast is introduced & fermentation begins.
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In 1857 the great French biologist Louis Pasteur explained scientifically the principle of fermentation.
Fermentation is the breaking down of organic substances by enzymes which have been secreted by yeast
cells, resulting in chemical changes as follows: one molecule of sugar is split in to two molecules of
ethyl alcohol & two molecules of carbon dioxide.
Formula for fermentation
Yeast
There are two main category of yeast: natural yeast & cultured yeast
Natural yeast
Innumerable yeast, moulds & bacteria are all around, hovering & floating in the air eventually settling
on or being carried onto ripe fruit, grapes & grains husks.
A waxy substance formed on the grape skin & this dull whitish haze of yeast & micro organisms is
known as bloom.
Cultured Yeast
These are pedigree strains of natural yeast cultivated in laboratory.
They are used because they are efficient in converting sugar into alcohol & are less susceptible to
sulphur in the fermentation process.
Sometimes they are selected to do a specific job because they are more reliable than natural yeast for the
particular job.
They can also be used in situations where natural yeasts have been washed away by heavy rain or when
some of the yeast have been brushed off in transit.
There are up to thousand type of yeast some important varieties regarding production of alcohol are
given below
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (This is traditional beer & ale yeast which ferments at the top of the brew.),
Sacchromyces carlsbergensis (This is lager yeast. It is bottom ferments at the base of the brew.)
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DISTILLATION PROCESS
Distillation is the process of separating components of a
mixture based on different boiling points. Examples of
uses of distillation include purification of alcohol,
desalination, crude oil refining, and making liquefied
gases from air.
Principal of distillation
The principal of ‘Distillation’ is that ‘Ethyl Alcohol’
vaporizes at a lower temperature than water. Where
water evaporates at 100 ̊ C, ethyl alcohol evaporates
at 78 ̊ C.
Spirits have to be distilled (separation of alcohol from
water in the fermented liquid) to get alcohol with the desired flavours and aromas. This is done through
an apparatus called the still. The still can be of two types:
Pot Still
• A pot still is also called alembic still. It is typically made from copper.
• Copper was used traditionally because it is a good conductor of heat and it extracts sulphur from
the distillate.
• The classic pot still has different components; the bottom part is called kettle where the ferment
is heated.
• The ferment is evaporated and the vapours travel through the swan-shaped neck and it reaches
the worm, a spiral-shaped copper tube attached to the condenser where the vapour is condensed
to a liquid.
Generally, aged spirits (like whisky, tequila and rum) and crafted spirits are made in pot stills.
Pot stills also help add desired congeners to the spirit responsible for aromas and flavours in the spirit
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Column Still
• A column still is called coffey still, or
continuous still.
• It is relatively contemporary and designed
in such a way that pure alcohol is derived directly
from the ferment.
• It is used for industrial and mass
commercial alcohol production.
• Column stills are made from stainless
steel and comprises a tall column structure
attached above the top of the boiling kettle
designed to attain purer vapours.
• It is divided into chambers using
perforated plates.
• The still is constantly heated at the
bottom, so when the ferment is poured from the
cooler top part and when it hits the steam, it
vapourises and sends the alcohol back to the top.
• When the alcohol carrying vapour passes
through the perforated plates, it condenses the
heavier particles and only alcohol carrying
vapours continues to the top, travels through the
pipes attached to the condensers where the
vapours are condensed to the desired liquid.
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• Column stills are used to derive white or neutral spirits like vodka, gin and white rum.
• Column stills, also known as patent, continuous, or Coffey stills, became common during the
first quarter of the 19th century. Scotsman Robert Stein is credited with one of the earliest
designs, which Aeneas Coffey, an Irishman, later improved.
Distillation creates a high ABV spirit by evaporating ethanol from a fermented alcoholic base liquid
(sometimes called a wash). Ethanol boils at a lower temperature than water, so it can be drawn off as
vapor while water remains in liquid state. The process never makes pure ethanol, and the distillate
always contains a proportion of water, as well as flavor- and aroma-giving compounds called
congeners.
SPIRITED CHOICES
Because pot stills produce a more flavored distillate, they’re favored for producing spirits like single
malt Scotch, Cognac. Column stills, on the other hand, are preferred for neutral spirits, like Gin and
vodka, and are also often used in bourbon, brandy, and white rum distillation.
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POT STILL PATENT STILL
• Pot stills look like kettles. • Column stills are more industrial-
• The “pot” refers to the large, spherical main looking than pots.
chamber, from which a swan neck and lyne • They’re often much taller than pot stills
arm protrude like a spout. The arm feeds into and contain multiple chambers stacked
a coiled condenser, also known as the worm, on top of each other, sometimes
Design
and finally into a collection vessel. reaching several stories high.
• Pot stills are almost always made of copper. • Column stills, on the other hand, can be
• Copper was used traditionally used because it copper or stainless steel, and
is a good conductor of heat and it extracts occasionally a mix of the two.
sulfur from the distillate. • Stainless steel columns usually contain
copper elements inside the still, as the
metal is essential in removing sulfur,
which adds sour flavors to the distillate.
• During pot distillation, the wash heats in the • Column distillation works like a series
main chamber until boiling ethanol vapor rises of pot distills taking place on top of one
to the head of the still and exits via the lyne another.
arm. From here, vapor passes into the cooling • In this process, the heat source (steam)
coil, where it condenses and flows as a liquid exists inside the still, running from the
into a collection vessel. base through its many chambers, and up
• Traditionally, distillers used direct heat to the top of the still. Wash enters near
sources like fire to heat the pot, but nowadays, the top of the column and sinks down
temperature-controlled steam is a common through the chambers in liquid state. As
Procedure
alternative. The modern technique is desirable the ethanol heats and evaporates, it rises
because it reduces the risk of burning the back through the chambers, condensing
wash, creating undesirable flavors. Yet some and re-evaporating at each stage.
pot distillers continue to use direct heat. • In each of the chambers, ethanol loses
impurities like water and congeners
before it finally reaches the top of the
still in a very pure form. From here, the
ethanol vapor exits, passing through a
cooling condenser and into a collection
vessel.
• Pot stills is not continuous process, as it • Column stills allow continuous
require cleaning of still after each batch. distillation, meaning they’re capable of
drastically higher production than pot
stills.
• Spirits distilled in pots top out between 60 and • Column stills also provide a purer,
Outcome
80 percent ABV (after multiple distillations), cleaner distillate than pots, though pot
while columns can reach an ABV of up to 96 stills produce a more flavorsome spirit,
percent. richer in congeners.
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C. Classification of Alcoholic Beverages
Alcoholic beverages are broadly classified in 3 major categories
• Fermented beverages
• Distilled beverages
• Compound beverages
Fermented beverages
In this alcoholic beverages are produced by fermentation procedure. The raw material used are mostly
fruits contain high amount of naturally occurred sugar which can easily converted by the action of yeast
to alcohol & carbon dioxide.
Examples of Fermented beverages
Name Basic ingredient
Wine is the alcoholic beverage obtained from the fermentation of the juice of
Wine freshly gathered grapes. Types of wine: still wine, sparkling wine, aromatized wine
& fortified wine.
Beers are fermented drinks, An alcoholic beverage made from fermented malted
barley or other cereals and flavoured with hops. Two major categories of beer: Ale
Beer
(Top fermented beer & also general term covering all forms of brewed beer) &
lager (bottom fermented beer).
Cider is an alcoholic beverage obtained through the fermentation of apple juice, or a
Cider
mixture of apple juice and up to 25 per cent pear juice.
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Cider is available in main two type
• Draft: This is unfiltered. Its appearance, while not cloudy, is also not ‘star-
bright’. It may have sugar and yeast added to give it condition. Draft cider
may be completely dry (known as ‘scrumpy’) or sweetened with sugar. It
is marketed in oak casks or plastic containers.
• Keg/bottled. : The characteristics of keg and bottled ciders are:
Medium sweet (carbonated): 4% vol alcohol.
Medium dry (carbonated): 6% vol alcohol.
Special (some carbonated): 8.3% vol alcohol – some special ciders undergo
a second fermentation to make them sparkling.
Perry is similarly obtained from pear juice and up to 25 per cent apple juice.
Perry is usually made sparkling and comes into the special range. It may be
carbonated or the sparkle may come from a second fermentation in sealed tanks. In
the production of perry the processes of filtering, blending and sweetening are all
Perry
carried out under pressure.
Perries were traditionally drunk on their own, chilled and in saucer-shaped
sparkling wine glasses. Today the tulip-shaped sparkling wine glass is more
commonly used.
originating from Japan, this is a slightly sweet, clourless rice beer, usually served
Sake
warm but may also be served chilled.
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Distilled beverages
In this alcoholic beverages are manufacture by distillation process. Distillation is process of separating
water from alcohol is achieved by heating the mixture obtain by fermenting or brewing & then
condensing the alcohol vapours.
*The principle of distillation is that ethyl alcohol vaporizes at a lower temp (780C) than water (1000 C).
They are also called as spirits or liquor, due higher & concentrated alcohol content in it.
Examples of distilled beverages
Name Basic ingredient Bases for spirits
Vodka Grain Potatoes Or Molasses Barley, maize or rye (i.e. beer)
Whisky Malted Barley Barley, maize or rye (i.e. beer)
Gin Rye, Maize Or Malted Barley Barley, maize or rye (i.e. beer)
Rum Sugar cane molasses Molasses
Brandy Grapes Wine
Pulque (fermented juice of the
Tequila Agave plant
agave plant)
Compound beverages
Compound beverages are alcoholic beverages other than distilled & fermented beverages. They are
broadly found in following categories
• Aperitifs – are alcoholic drinks taken as an appetizer before meal.eg. Vermouth, Martini,
Manhattans etc. The term aperitif covers a wide range of drinks that may be served before a
meal. Aperitifs may be offered at the table once customers have been seated or may be offered in
the lounge/ reception area.
• Liqueurs – is a compound sweetened & flavored spirit based alcoholic beverage they are
commonly used in recipes for desserts, cakes & pastries, confectionary & fruit dishes.eg.
Aquavit, Arrack, Capricot, Cointreau, Curacao etc. For all liqueurs a spirit base is necessary and
this may be brandy, rum or a neutral spirit. Many flavoring ingredients are used to make
liqueurs.
• Cocktails – cocktail is a mixed drink consisting of two or more ingredients. It usually contains
an alcoholic base & a special flavoring & coloring ingredients. e.g. Gimlet (Gin), Screwdriver (
Vodka), Bloody Mary ( Vodka) , Cuba Libra ( Rum) etc
England, Mexico, America and France all claim to have originated the cocktail and while there
are many stories, no one knows their authenticity. However, it was in the USA that cocktails first
gained in popularity. At this stage, the cocktail was as much a pre-mixed stimulant mixture for
taking on sporting occasions as it was a bar drink. A modern cocktail is normally a short drink of
up to about 10 cl (3½–4 oz) – anything larger often being called a ‘mixed drink’ or ‘long drink’.
However, the term cocktail is now generally recognized to mean all types of mixed drinks.
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Reference Reading
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