Vodka mashing

Vodka mashes are fermented with yeast (Saccharomyces cereviceae) in large stainless steel vats under anaerobic conditions. The fermentation time lasts from 2 to 4 days depending on the fermentation temperature, which varies according to region. Most vodkas are fermented at temperatures ranging from 25°C to 30°C. 

Mr. Boughalem, whose hair brushes his collar, understands how to be casual without forfeiting the formalities that make a drink a cocktail and not a glass of punch. The Snack Bar s vodka, with a light twist of the taste of lemon (the restaurant infuses its own in a big picnic jar at the bar), strikes tart to grapefruit s sweeter acidity. Creme de framboise, a raspberry liqueur, is soured slightly by a mash of fresh raspberries. This is science, not kids in the kitchen. 

Mash berries to extract the juice. Strain through several layers of cheesecloth or process through a food mill. Add the honey and cinnamon and simmer for 35 minutes. Add the lime juice. Cool. Add vodka. Pour into pretty bottles and cap. A shot of this before bed ensures a wonderful sleep ... 

DISTILLATION A heat-dependent process used to produce alcoholic beverages, such as whiskey, rum, and vodka. In this process, a fermented mash (of grains, vegetables, or fruits) is heated in a boiler, causing the alcohol to evaporate. The alcohol vapors are then collected and cooled in a condenser to produce the beverage. 

Rye is very largely used in distilleries which produce potable spirit such as whiskey, gin and vodka, and in the manufacture of compressed yeast. It is also used in relatively small amounts in the yeast mashes of alcohol distilleries. It is not suited to use as the chief ingredient of the mash in an alcohol distillery, on account of the tenacious quality of the mash which it forms. Furthermore, it gives a low yield in proportion to the amount of starch which it contains. Though it usually contains over 60... 

Genuine vodka is made from a mash of unmalted rye and either barley or rye malt. Potatoes and corn have been used as substitutes for rye in the cheaper grades. The alcoholic content of the better grades ranges from 40 to 60 per cent. 

If the mash in the big can boils over or floods over, it will contaminate the 12-oz can with bad-tasting, water-rich licjuid. If all this contaminated liquid cannot drain down through the loop seal fast enough, then the 12-oz can will also flood over into the bottle. The resulting weak, foul-tasting vodka will never be sold in Lithuania. 

The fermented mash is distilled in traditional pot stills or stainless steel columns where heat or steam strips the alcohol from the fermented mash. The alcohol vapors are recondensed and redistilled up to nine times. The vodka distillation process removes the heads and tails rich in ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate as well as fusel alcohols, so the finished beverage mainly consists of pure ethanol with some water. Most distilleries obtain 95% ethanol after distillation and rectification and dilute the vodka to obtain liquor with 40% ethanol. There are some vodkas that contain as low as 37° alcohol and some that contain up to 70° alcohol. The water used to decrease the alcohol content is important and is generally obtained from wells, glaciers, lakes, or springs. The distillation process concentrates the alcohol. Some distilled alcohols are filtrated through charcoal obtained from the apple tree (Malus domestica) or abedul (Betula alba) wood. 

Vodka Neutral alcoholic beverage obtained after distillation of fermented mash from barley malt, rye, potato, and other adjuncts rich in starch or sugars. The distilled alcohol is treated with charcoal or other materials to produce a neutral spirit without distinctive character, aroma, taste, and color. The charcoal treatment is optional nowadays. 

Distillation is a ubiquitous process, used for a huge variety of chemical separations. In the popular imagination, it is associated with the production of ethanol. Wine is distilled to make brandy beer is distilled to make whiskey and corn mash is distilled to make gin, vodka and other white spirits. Distillation originated in efforts to increase the alcohol concentration of wine, thus making the wine more stable to heat. Many cultures seem to have been involved the stills shown on the labels of Irish whiskey bottles are aliqui-taras, a form of Spanish still based on designs by the Moors, who are believed to have gotten their ideas from the Chinese. 

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