What Is The Process Followed By Distillers To Manufacture Alcohol?
Alcohol is manufactured in the distilleries and a series of processes are followed to get the final output. The output is tested for quality and a detailed analysis and measurement of the output are done. The output is then bottled using strict compliance standards set by the regulatory bodies.
The different alcoholic beverages are beer, rum, vodka, brandy, whisky and other beverages.
Distilled beverages are made from a variety of plant materials like grains, leaves, fruits, stems and seeds. Beer is made from rice, hop, corn or malt. Whisky is made from fermented grains like barley, corn, rye and wheat. Rum is made from distilling sugarcane molasses and sugarcane juice. Brandy is made from distilling wine. Vodka is mainly water and ethanol with some flavouring.
Different processes
The main processes used by the distillers to manufacture alcoholic beverages are fermentation, distillation and finishing. They are as follows:
Fermentation
In this process, yeast is used to convert sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide. It begins with the process called glycolysis where yeast is used to break down the sugars into pyruvate molecules. The pyruvate molecules are broken down into ethanol and carbon dioxide. This is one of the most crucial processes as it can be changed to get the characteristics like taste. The yeast used in alcohol fermentation is called Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Distillation
This process is used to get the concentration of ethanol above the level of that produced in the fermentation process. The water is removed from the mixture of ethanol and water. The mixture is heated in a still and the still consist of three things: a boiler, a column and a condenser.
The temperature of the liquid is increased slowly and the liquid evaporates and rises through the columns. It then comes in contact with the condenser which has a cold surface. It condenses back to the liquid state. It still exists in the form of different chemicals and all that is required is ethanol.
A process called ‘cutting’ is followed to separate the different chemicals and get ethanol in the pure state.
Finishing
In this step, different processes can be followed depending on the type of alcohol you produce. They are as follows:
● Filtering
This process is used to remove the flavours and smooth out the overall taste and flavour.
● Flavouring
This process is used for flavouring using an essence, soaking fruit in the spirit or using spice to influence the taste and more.
● Ageing
The alcohol does not get its flavour from what is used in the fermentation process, instead, it comes from the oak where it is stored. Another layer of flavour is added using oak or hardwood. This is called the ‘Aging’ process. This step is decided during the fermentation process itself.