ALCAHOLIC BEVERAGES

By Vikash Prasad

Introduction

Beverage refers to any potable drink suitable for drinking. Beverage is classified as
alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage.

Fermentation

Fermentation is conversion of sugar into ethyl alcohol and Carbon dioxide with the
help of yeast.
One molecule of sugar is converted into two molecules of ethyl alcohol and two
molecule of carbon dioxide.

Yeast

Yeast is a unicellular microorganism. It is of two types

1. Natural – Natural yeast is the yeast which is floating in the air, water, eventually
settling on fruits and grain husks. Example - Yeast on the grape skin in the form
of dust which is termed as blooms is wild yeast, scientifically termed as
Saccharomyces Apiculatus.

2. Cultured yeast – These are the yeast which is cultivated at laboratory.

• saccharomyces cerevisiae ( Ale beer – Top Fermentation )

• Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis (Lager Beer – Bottom Fermentation)

• Saccharomyces Ellipsodium (Wine Yeast)

Distillation

History

• Distilling was used as early as 3500 BC in Mesopotamia where perfume makers

had developed it as a technique for isolating the scented oils of flowers and plants,
what we know as “attar”.

• Around 1100 AD wine was first distilled to make spirit by Irish monks who travelled
around Europe.

• The results of distillation were considered to have magical powers and this led to
alcohol being called “water of life” or, “eau de vie” in French and “aqua vitae” in
Latin.

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Definition

• Distillation is the process of converting a liquid into gas or vapor by heating it and
then condensing it back into liquid form.

• When spirits are distilled the original liquid has already been fermented and is an
alcoholic ‘wine’ or wash. After the ‘wine’ or wash has been converted into vapor
and then condensed back into a liquid it is called a distillate. Impurities are left
behind in the original container.

• The equipment used to distill spirits is called a STILL. A still has three essential
parts : the original container in which the wash or wine is heated to turn into vapor,
the condenser in which the vapor is cooled, and the receiver in which the distillate
or distillated spirit is collected.

• This system works because ethanol boils at 78.5⁰C and water at 100⁰ C. When
the alcoholic wash (“wine”) is heated to 78.5⁰C the alcohol boils off leaving other
constituents, mostly water behind.

• The first part of the distillate is the “heads” followed by the “heart” and lastly the
“tails”.

• The “heads” and the “tails” contained mostly impurities which also add to the
flavor.

• The distiller would decide the amount of impurities required and for what purpose.

• The original liquid from which drinkable spirit is distilled can be grape wine (as in
the case of Brandy), sugar wine (for Rum), fruit wine (for Cherry Brandy), or malted
or un-malted grain wine (for Whisky, Gin and Vodka).

Stills

Pot still

The pot still or the ‘alembic or alambic’ is the earliest and traditional form of still. These
were basically enclosed kettles, which narrowed towards the top to collect vapor
created by boiling. A downward pipe from the head carried the vapor through cold
water and caused it to condense and it could be collected in a receiving chamber.

In this method the fermented beverage is put inside the still and heated, it is said that
the ethyl alcohol evaporates at the temperature of 78.5 degree celcius.As the
temperature reaches 78.5 degree celcius the ethyl alcohol present in the fermented
beverage starts evaporating. These vapors move to the condenser and getting in the
form of liquid spirit.

The first distillate is called HEAD/Fore shot (feints/Tete) – Not used for drinking.

The second Distillate is called as HEART (Coeur) – Best for drinking.

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The third distillate is called as TAIL/Aftershots(Feints/Queue) – Contains lots of
impurities and not considered for drinking.

Copper was the best metal for making the still as it drew out the impurity from alcohol.
It produced distilled spirits in batches, one batch at a time. It is a laborious and time
consuming process. The stills have to be loaded up, boiled off, cleaned and recharged
for every run.

Advantages of Pot Still

• It produces spirits that are individualistic due to presence of congeners.

• Spirits with pronounced aromas are produced.

• Spirits with heavy body produced.

• Small quantity of wash can be distilled.

Disadvantages of Pot Still

• It needs more time and labour.

• It is costly to operate.

• Needs frequent cleaning and refilling, after each distillation.

Patent still

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It was not until the late 1830’s that a new form of still was invented which produced
spirit as long as the wash was fed into it. It was called the continuous still or patent still
or “Coffey Still” or the columnar still. It had two columns, the “analyzer” and the
“rectifier” columns.

The “analyzer” vaporizes the alcohol from the hot wash. The rising alcohol vapors
proceeded to the “rectifier" column where they cooled down on coming in contact with
the cold wash. This purifies, increases the strength and condenses the alcoholic
vapors.

This process produces lighter styles of the spirit (Light body spirits).

Advantages of Patent Still

• It does not require too much labour, cleaning and refilling.

• More quantity is produced as compared to pot still.

• It is cost effective.

Disadvantages of Patent Still

• It is not suitable for distilling small quantities of spirits.

• Aroma and other essential elements that are required in a drink may not be
achieved.

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Difference between Pot Still distillation and Patent Still distillation.

Pot still distillation Patent still distillation

The spirit is produced in batches, one Only one operation needed

after the another
One batch only

It need frequent cleaning and refilling It does not need cleaning after every
boil.

Required constant attention to Not as much attention is needed

maintain the required temperature

Spirit made by this method contains It removes all impurities to give a pure
more impurities spirit

Distillation needs to be carried out This is very cost effective process

twice in order to reach acceptable
drinking alcohol

Examples – Malt Whisky,Irish Examples – Brandy

whisky,dark Rum,Tequilla etc

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Classification of beverages

1. Non Alcoholic Beverages

The beverage which either contains less than 0.5 % ethyl alcohol or does not contains
any amount of ethyl alcohol is termed as non-alcoholic beverages.

Nonalcoholic beverages are classified into three types

a) Stimulating Beverages – It increases the heart beat and body pressure.

Example Tea or coffee.

b) Refreshing Beverages - It replenishes the fluid loss from the body. Example
water.

c) Nourishing Beverages – It provides the nutrients to the body. Example Fruit

juices, shakes etc.

2. Alcoholic Beverages

The Beverages which contains 0.5% to 95% of ethyl alcohol is termed as Alcoholic
beverages.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

FERMENTED DISTILLED COCKTAILS

BEER WINE SPIRITS LIQUEURS BITTERS

WHISKY VODKA GIN RUM BRANDY TEQUILA

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Fermented beverages

The Beverages which is obtained by the process of fermentation is known as

fermented beverges.It normally has 3% to 14% ethyl alcohol.

Beverage Base/Ingredient Alcohol % Examples

Wine Grapes 3% - 14% Chablis,

Champagne

Beer Barley 3% - 8% Kingfisher ,Fosters

Cider Apple 5% Red Rock,Bulmers

Perry Pears 5% Tesco, Brothers

Mead Honey 8% Moonshine

Sake Rice 15% Oychi Dry

Fermented and distilled beverages

Beverage Ingredients Examples

Brandy Grapes Remy martin

Rum Molasses Bacardi, Capt. Morgan

Whiskey Grains Johnnie Walker

Gin Grains Old Tom, Beefeater

Vodka Grains/Potatoes Absolute, Smirnoff

Calvados Apple Pere Maglovie

Tequilla Blue Agave Jose Cuervo

Short Notes

Refractometer – The equipment which is used for measuring alcoholic content of

any beverage.

Wine - Alcoholic beverage obtained from the fermentation of Grapes juice.

Still Wine - The wine that does not contains carbon dioxide.

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Sparkling Wine – The wine which contains carbon dioxide.

Fortified Wine – The wine which is fortified is termed as Fortified Wine.Fortificaion is

the step in which extra spirit( Brandy) is added to increase the alcoholic content of
wine leading it to increase its self-life.

Aromatized Wine – aromatized wine are the fortified wines which has been flavored
with herbs, spices, fruits or other flavor.

Aperitifs – Any alcoholic drinks taken before the meal to stimulate appetite.

Digestive – Any Beverage taken after the meals which helps in digestion.

Liqueurs – Liqueurs are flavored and sweetened spirits having high alcoholic content,
they are usually served in small quantity at the end of meals. It is also use in making
various cocktails.

Spirits – Spirit is the general term used for all distilled liquor.

Malting – Malting is a process to convert insoluble sugar present in grains to soluble

sugar.

In this method grains are soaked in water and allowed to germinate, after germination
the grains will be dried off in sun light/heating, during this process the insoluble sugar
is converted into soluble sugar.

The germination should not go for long.

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Bibliography
singarvelvan, R. (2011). Food and Beverge Service. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Vara Prasad, G. K. (2010). F&B Simplified. delhi: Pearsons.

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