Chinese liquor is a spirit liquor that is fermented and then distilled based on pure grain raw materials. It has essential differences in raw materials and brewing processes from other international liquors. Therefore, the trace ingredients contained are different, and the aroma and style of the liquor are also very different.
Liquor first evolved from rice wine, so the raw materials for brewing wine were not sorghum at the beginning, but rice, glutinous rice, yellow rice , etc., because these raw materials conflict with our staple food, so we began to look for alternative grains.
When trying to use other raw materials, I found that the liquor brewed by sorghum is more suitable. Therefore, liquor gradually developed into the main ingredient of sorghum, and mainstream famous liquors basically belong to sorghum wine.
The three common flavor types of liquors we have: Fenjiu , Luzhou Laojiao , and Moutai liquor are all sorghum wine. So why can't Moutai liquor use local sorghum? Isn't it possible to use foreign sorghum?
In fact, this idea is not only available to consumers. Moutai Distillery has also considered this issue. After personal trial, I came to the conclusion: It really doesn’t work, why not? Let’s learn about it together and also increase your understanding of sauce-flavored liquor .
Currently, there are two types of sorghum used in brewing wine. The first is the northern sorghum called "japonica sorghum"; the second is the "glutinous sorghum" grown in western Sichuan and in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
Daqu sauce-flavored liquor represented by Moutai liquor, the complex brewing process is based on the characteristics of glutinous red sorghum, and has been continuously summarized by predecessors, so sauce-flavored liquor and glutinous red sorghum are inseparable from each other.
The characteristics of sorghum, one is that it has small particles, second is thick skin, and third is that it has high content of amylopectin , which can withstand the repeated steaming and fermentation of the sauce-flavored wine process. At the same time, the plant components such as tannin in the sorghum skin will also make the wine brewed more mellow and richer. If it were other sorghum wine, the style of the wine brewed will be greatly reduced.
Moutai liquor not only tried to change sorghum, but also tried to build factories in other places, with the purpose of solving the production capacity problem. Finally, it was discovered that Maotai Town was found. Leaving the glutinous red sorghum, even with the slightest process, different Moutai liquor was brewed, which is also the mystery of Maotai town.
A bottle of Moutai liquor has driven the development of more than 2,000 wineries in Maotai Town. Every household is basically related to wine. Many wine friends who want to drink Moutai but are reluctant to give up money will choose an authentic Daqu sauce-flavored liquor from Maotai Town. There are still many brands with high cost performance, such as Guotai, Guokang, Diaoyutai , although brands such as Guotai are not as well-known as Maotai, but have the same work and the same ingredients, with high quality and higher cost performance. Especially Guokang's Kang 10, which is a leader in vintage wine.
In terms of raw materials selection, Kang 10 also does not knead the sand in his eyes. He carefully selects glutinous red sorghum produced in Maotai Town, with a crushing rate of no more than 20%. He brews it for a year with Kunsha technology and strictly follows 165 processes to ensure that every drop comes from sorghum and wheat.
sauce-flavored wine has another core difference between other aromatic liquors, which is that it takes longer to age. The 3-year foundation is just an entry-level, while Kang 10 is a full 10 years. After the new wine is raw, mature and esterified, the softness of the entrance is very full, round and delicate, and it passes smoothly along the tongue. The strong sauce and grain fragrance is thick, and the essence of grain and the years are contained.
One place of water and soil nourishes the people, and the same is true for brewing wine. Whether it changes the environment or the raw materials, it is a slight difference. Therefore, there are sauce-flavored wines across the country, and only from Maotai Town can it be called ", tangerine ". The unique, tangerine wine style is its biggest feature.
