The production of grape spirit is established in almost all countries of the world in which there is no ban on alcohol. It is made from dry wine, the strength of which is about 8-10 degrees. The raw material is double distilled.
Briefly about production
Be sure to make sure that essential oils are also distilled, which will give alcohol a pleasant aroma. But fusel impurities must be eliminated. This is usually done by separating the “tail and head”.
How to get the highest quality grape spirit? For this, after distillation, only an average portion of alcohol is used. In the “head” there is an overabundance of volatile fermentation products that adversely affect the final product, and the “tail” is full of fusel oils.
Aging process
The result is grape spirit with a strength of over seventy degrees. This product is sent for aging in oak barrels. After this procedure, the liquid acquires a color, characteristic taste and aroma. The taste is positively affected by oxygen oxidation, which penetrates through the pores of the tree.
At some enterprises, oak chips are added to the beverage during aging. But only manufacturers of low-quality cheap cognac can afford it. During aging, a certain portion of the grape spirit evaporates. The French say that the angels are taking her. From this it follows that in order to obtain alcohol with high aging, initially the raw material must have maximum strength.
Grape alcohol and cognac
The technology described above leads to the fact that noble alcoholic cognac in its composition does not contain ethyl, but cognac. Its taste is much better, and for the human body it is much more useful.
Produce cognac from grape alcohols. Compose a blend, that is, combine several drinks together. If cognac contains only one grape spirit, then this drink cannot even be called brandy. It’s just brandy alcohol.
The number of stars on a drink depends on the age of the youngest alcohol in the blend. By the way, according to GOST, grape spirit for cognac should initially have a strength of at least 86% before aging. If the blend was a real professional, then the same brandy will be produced every time, regardless of the year and quality of the crop.
Home production
Now, unfortunately, the recipes for home-made cognac describe the technology of "ennoblement" of moonshine. But grape home-made alcohol is much tastier and healthier, although the process of its production is a bit more complicated. Of course, it’s hard to compete with French masters, but it’s quite possible to prepare a worthy drink.
Naturally, grape spirit is made from grapes. Muscat varieties are considered the ideal material for this business because of their bright aroma. But if you follow the technology correctly, you can get a great drink from the same Lydia, Isabella, Dove or Stepnyak. The main condition is the fully ripened berries. It is not recommended to prepare grape spirit from varieties such as Cabernet, Saperavi and Kakhet. Due to the high content of tannins, strong alcohol from such berries turns out to be tough.
How to make grape alcohol
To make high-quality home-made alcohol you will need:
- thirty kilograms of grapes;
- two and a half kilograms of sugar (you can not add);
- four liters of water;
- barrel or pegs made of oak wood.
Important! The amounts of sugar and water are approximate. It all depends on how juicy and sugary the berries are. If the grapes are sweet, then you can do without adding extra sweetness. But, for example, in the northern regions, fruits most often have a high acidity; from such berries without adding sugar at home, grape spirit will produce very little. Although in industrial production, sugar is not added at all. The exact proportions of the additives will be calculated below in the grape spirit recipe itself.
Preparation of wine material
In order to get brandy spirit at home, you need to distill the young wine two, or better three times, through a moonshine. But in order to do this, you must first prepare the wine itself.
To do this, first you need to separate the berries from the ridges, and then crush along with the seeds. You can’t wash the grapes, as wild wine yeast is on top of the peel. If they are washed off, the fermentation process will not begin. If the fruits are too dirty, then you can wipe them with dry wipes. If the berries have already been washed or picked after the rain, then in order for the grapes to ferment, you will have to add yeast or store wine yeast.
The resulting liquid is poured into a plastic or enamel bowl with a wide neck. At this point, you can add sugar (1 kg per 10 liters). Water is added at the rate of one liter of water per seven and a half kilograms of berries. Mix everything well.
Next, the container must be sent to a dark warm room for four days. So that midges do not attack the future wine, the container should be covered with gauze or a clean cloth. After half a day, a cap of pulp forms on the surface of the liquid, which stops the fermentation process. To get rid of it, the must must be mixed two to three times a day with a wooden stick or hand. So that the drink is not sour, it must be mixed from the first day.
Fermentation process
After the specified time, the first signs of fermentation should manifest themselves. The wort will begin to foam and hiss, the whole pulp will rise up and a characteristic aroma will be clearly heard. So it's time to filter the liquid. It is necessary to carefully drain the juice, and squeeze the pulp thoroughly through gauze or tissue, but carefully so as not to damage the bones. Squeezes can now be thrown away.
The wort is bottled in glass or plastic bottles. It should be noted that during the fermentation process, carbon dioxide will be generated and foam will form, so that you can fill the containers with juice by no more than 70 percent.
On the dishes you need to install a moisture isolator or put on a medical glove with a hole. Capacity is put in a dark room. The air temperature should be in the range of 18-27 degrees. The fermentation process lasts from 20 to 40 days. When the water seal stops blowing bubbles or the glove is blown off - the wine is ready. Its strength will be 10-14 degrees.
Distillation of alcohol
First of all, from the young wine you need to remove the sediment, filtering it through cheesecloth. Then drive it through the moonshine at maximum speed. Then a minimum of harmful substances is released. It is too early to divide into fractions. The selection of alcohol ceases when its strength drops below thirty degrees. Next, the alcohol strength is measured.
Be sure to calculate the proportion of pure alcohol. To do this, multiply the amount of liquid obtained by the fortress in the fractional version. For example, if you get 4 liters of distillate with a strength of 68 degrees, then the calculation will look like this: 4 * 0.68 = 2.72 liters of pure alcohol. Then the distillate obtained is diluted with water to 20 degrees.
In the second distillation, you need to separate the "head", that is, ten percent from pure alcohol (in our situation, this is the first 270 grams) to select and pour. There is an overabundance of harmful substances in this fraction, such as methanol and acetone. The selection ends, as well as the last time, when the fortress falls below thirty degrees.
In order to get a really high-quality product, a third distillation is necessary. The drink is again diluted to 20 degrees and sent to the device. Here, too, it is necessary to separate the first fraction, but now it is not 10, but 4 percent of the volume of pure alcohol. And the selection is made before the alcohol strength does not fall below 45%. "Tails" from 45% to 30% can be used for domestic purposes, but they are not suitable for the preparation of cognac.
Home excerpt
To make homemade wine alcohol like cognac, it must be insisted on oak. There are two ways of exposure. The first option is to purchase an oak barrel and keep the drink in it. But for certain reasons, this method is used very rarely. It is much easier to use oak chips, and this method is cheaper. They can be bought or made at home. A tree must be at least fifty years old. Fresh wood is poured with boiling water for ten minutes, then the water is drained, and the material is again soaked, only in cold water for about half an hour. Next, the tree needs to dry.
You need to use a stump from ten to twenty centimeters long. It is divided into "chips" with a thickness of about five millimeters. The length must be calculated so that each peg fits in a container for insisting cognac. Most often they use three-liter cans. In each jar you need to put at least twenty chips. Before sending the distillate for aging, it must be diluted with clean water so that its strength does not exceed forty-two degrees. After the spill, the cans should be rolled up and left in the dark, cool place of the year on the floor, or better for a year. To sustain homemade cognac on oak pegs for more than three years is not recommended.
Caramelization
You can skip this procedure. It just adds color to the drink and makes it a little softer. The fact is that even a year of insisting on oak at home does not give a noble cognac color. It is worth noting that this process is required in the industrial production of any cognac, even French, or Georgian. How much to add caramel is everyone's personal business. The standard is fifty grams per three liters. Caramel syrup is also very easy to cook at home yourself. After adding the syrup, you need to let the drink brew for about a week.
Homemade brandy bottling
It is advisable to filter any strong alcoholic drink produced at home, including grape spirit, through cotton wool. Everything, then it remains only to pour into a suitable container and proceed with tasting.
Grape Alcohol Drinks
Brandy is a drink whose appearance is not exactly known. Strong alcohol was still produced in Ancient Rome, China, Greece, but brandy appeared only in the XII century, and gained some popularity already in the XIV.
They began to distill the wine so that it would be stored longer and not spoiled during transportation. It was assumed that before use it was simply diluted with water. But it quickly became clear that if you store wine that has been distilled in oak barrels, then it becomes much more interesting than the original product. So there was a drink - brandy.
Subsequently, the brandy, which was produced in the province of Cognac, was called cognac. The apple or pear brandy is called Calvados. But this is not about them now. Almost every country in the world has its own national drink made from grape spirit. In France, it is cognac and Armagnac produced in Gascony. In Greece, they love Metaxa, this is essentially the same brandy, only it is diluted with nutmeg wine and insist on fragrant herbs. Bulgarian brandy is called "Pliska". There are also drinks for which alcohol was prepared not from wine, but from oilcake (pulp). These are Italian grappa, Georgian chacha and Balkan rakiya.