Distilling wines into brandy

Chemical Aspects of Distilling Wines into Brandy... 

Many processes are used throughout the world for distilling wine into brandy. Continuous distillation in plate columns, discontinuous or batch distillation using pot stills (with and without adjunct rectifying columns), and even distillation apparatuses involving both continuous and discontinuous aspects are used. 

Thus, the concentrations of fatty acids and esters found in brandy distillates are greatly affected by the nature of the wine at the time of distillation, particularly the time interval between fermentation and distillation since most of the yeast cells settle out fairly quickly after fermentation has ceased. Obviously the degree of resuspension of the settled lees into the wine when distilled affects the amount of fatty acids and esters recovered in the distillates. The method and techniques of distillation are also very important since this class of congeners, having relatively high boiling points and weak solubility in water, exhibit wide ranges of volatility as affected by the alcohol content of the liquid volatilized. 

Aldehydes and Other Low-Boiling Components. As mentioned, a low-boiling fraction, called heads, is normally taken from the vent condenser during the distillation of wine into brandy. The principal impurities removed are acetaldehyde, diethyl acetal, ethyl acetate, and acetalde-hyde-sulfurous acid. 

A set of sequential samples taken during the simple batch or pot distillation of a charge of low wines into brandy were analyzed for higher alcohols and fatty acid esters as shown in Table III. These represent the... 

Alcoholic beverages are labeled according to their proof. Proof is twice the percent alcohol in the beverage. Thus, 100-proof alcohol is 50 percent alcohol. Distillation turns beer into whiskey and wine into brandy. 

I have found that distillation is better understood than gas absorption. I believe that this is because everyone knows that distillation is how you concentrate ethanol from water Distillation is how you turn wine into brandy. In contrast, few know what gas absorption is for. What specific gases are absorbed, anyway What liquids absorb the gases What happens to the liquids afterwards I find this ignorance ironic because of increased environmental concerns. Gas absorption is the chief method for controlling industrial air pollution, yet many with environmental interests remain ignorant of its nature. 

Spirits may be divided roughly into two classes, (1) pot-still spirits, including brandy and whiskey and (2) gin spirits, made by the suitable treatment of plain rectified spirit or alcohol. The manufacture of spirits was made possible only by the discovery of the process of distillation, and is not, therefore, of such antiquity as the wine and beer industries. The products differ from fermented liquors from which they are produced, mainly in the larger content of... 

Alcoholic Beverages.—Alcoholic beverages may be divided into two classes,—those which have been distilled and contain a high percentage of alcohol, and those which are the direct product of fermentation. To the first class belong whisky, brandy, gin, rum, and liqueurs, and to the second, wine, champagne, and beer. 

These two volatile compounds are distilled into brandy. The concentration in brandy depends on that in the wine, and also the distillation technique, making it possible to distinguish between Cognac, made by double distillation, and Armagnac, which is distilled only once. 

Ethyl alcohol, ethanol, or alcohol is the active constituent of alcoholic drinks, in which it is contained in various concentrations (3-5% in beer 9-12% in wines and 20-60% in alcoholic distillations, such as brandy, whisky, etc.). Immediately after consumption, the reception of alcohol follows its absorption from the gastrointestinal tract and its rapid distribution into tissues, depending on their water content. Blood is an aqueous tissue thus, a high percentage of alcohol will exist in blood after consumption of an alcoholic beverage. 

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