WHAT ARE SPIRITS?

Spirits are defined as beverages in which the alcohol content of a fermented liquid has been concentrated by the process of distillation, resulting in a high alcohol content.

Distilled spirits may be produced using different base ingredients like: wine produced by grapes and another fruits, also can be produce from other natural materials such as honey, sugarcane, molasses, or from starchy materials such as rice, potatoes and grains.

TYPES OF STILLS

THE POT STILL

This one was developed from the original alembic stills used in the 13th & 14th centuries. consist of an enclosed vessel in which the liquid is heated. Alcohol vapor rises through a narrow neck at the top, called the swan's neck, then through a tube that passes through cold water, which condenses the vapor inside the tube into liquid alcohol. The basics of Pot Still:

Pot still can distill only small batches of spirits at a time, and at the first distillation gains just around 20% of alcohol.
The spirit must be redistilled to reach the desire alcohol level.
Pot Stills are prefer for artisanal quality spirits as they allow more of the flavoring agents. This makes for a more rustic and flavorful spirit.

THE COLUMN STILL

In 1826, Robert Stein, a member of a famous scotch Whisky distilling family, invented the column still. It was later perfected by Aeneas Coffey, whose patent replaced Stein's This type of still also known as a patent or Coffey still, that allows continuous stream of liquid to be distillated to a set strength in a single distillation include:

Column stills are faster- often required a single, cyclical distillation-and are, therefore, less labor-intensive than pot stills.
Column still produce spirits with higher levels of alcohol and fewer congeners than spirits produce via pot still.

THE MULTIPLE-COLUMN STILL

When a very pure strength spirit is desired, along with significant efficiency, the basic column still can be further adapted by adding more columns. This type of still is called Multiple column still or a Continuous still.

THE HYBRID STILL

This type of still is basically designed as a column still sitting on top of a heated pot still so that the initial distillate is transferred from the pot still to the column for distillation to a higher concentration

DISTILLATION

The boiling point of pure water is 212*F / 100*C

The boiling point of Ethyl Alcohol is 173*F / 78*C

As heat is applied to a solution of water and Ethyl alcohol, the temperature of the heating liquid slowly rise. When the temperature reaches a point where the alcohol is above 173*F /78*C. the alcohol will transform from the liquid state into a gas (vaporization).

The vaporized alcohol vessel and cooled. As they cool, the vapors will return to a liquid form; the resulting liquid will thus have a higher concentration of alcohol than the original alcohol-water mixture.

RESOURCES

BEVERAGE SPECIALIST