Source: "Li Xun's Bar" public number
Drinkers often ask what kind of wine is good to drink, and the answer to this question is somewhat complicated. Friends who have read some books about liquor brewing will see the introduction of liquor grains, there is a simple saying, called "sorghum fragrant, rice net, corn sweet, barley punch, glutinous rice soft." ”
Sorghum incense because it contains more tannin components, converted into more aromatic substances such as vanillin acid, etc., and the aroma of wine is better.
The use of sorghum as the staple food for winemaking is a characteristic of Chinese liquor, and the history can be traced back to the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties. When Tao Yuanming was the county commander, he once gave him half of the public land to plant sorghum for winemaking. After the development of long-term production practices, China's winemaking technicians and drinking consumers have jointly recognized the aroma of sorghum winemaking, which has been liked by the public and passed down to this day. About 80% of China's various aromatic liquors use sorghum as the main ingredient, but there are aromatic types. In addition to the raw materials, there are many other factors, such as the temperature of koji making, the brewing process, including distillation technology, etc., especially the natural geographical environment and many other factors determine the aroma characteristics of the wine. So sorghum is fragrant, but not an important factor that leads to differences in fragrance type.
Rice net I understand is clean, because the traditional brewing fermentation workshop, people who have been to know that there is a smell of fermentation. In rice-flavored wine, rice needs to be steamed, and rice wine always carries the aroma of rice that has just been steamed, that is, a relatively clean aroma. Analyzed from the trace components, rice-flavored wine is based on the aroma of β-phenethyl ethanol.
Corn sweet corn has more phytic acid, easy to produce sweet substances, such as glycerin, etc., so the wine is somewhat sweet. The fat content in corn germ is relatively high, and it is easy to produce odors, so regular manufacturers must remove the germ when producing corn wine. Germ has another role to produce corn oil without wasting.
Barley punch also says wheat punch, probably wheat is more punched. The so-called punch is volatile, the sense of stimulation is strong, and it is spicy. However, when we make wine, especially in the north, we generally use barley to make koji, so this "punch" cannot be completely removed, and if it is removed, it is not the style of wine.
Glutinous rice is all amylopectin, and the wine is softer.
There is also buckwheat, which is more bitter, Wuliangye once did experiments, wanted to use buckwheat instead of wheat, and then felt more bitter, so it gave up. Buckwheat is made alone, but it does not feel particularly bitter, so the aroma and taste we feel are relative, not absolute.
Each kind of grain has incense, there is net, there is sweet, there is a flush may also have soft characteristics, rice steamed out is fragrant, sorghum steamed out is also fragrant, so some wine processes, such as hawthorn mixed steaming, to have fermented good lees in the new grain, when taking the wine together distillation, is to bring the aroma of grain steaming to the wine, it is called grain aroma. Other grains are also fragrant, but the aroma of the wine is not the same as that of sorghum, the aroma of sorghum, there is a very comfortable sugarcane aroma, fruit aroma; if it is a strong aroma of liquor and the aroma of the southern tropical fruit pineapple and banana. Chinese wine is a mixture of a variety of grains fermented, the aroma and taste of various grains are mixed together, which has a problem of coordination. Well coordinated, the advantages of various grains will be brought into play, then the wine will be more delicious; if the proportion of grain or a certain process is not suitable, there will be uncoordinated problems, and the wine will have a miscellaneous taste.