There may be thousands of brands and variations on themes in the alcohol world but all alcohol on the market comes down to one of eight family groupings. A well stocked bar will contain at least one representative of each family. You may want to possess many of each family to have different brands, quality and variants on hand as well.
Today we’re going to talk about the basics of what an alcohol is and how it’s made (in general, I’m not writing a distiller’s handbook) and later we’ll move on to our favorite ‘families’ of alcohols.
How is alcohol made? Taking things to the most basic level: a water solution, or wash, containing some sort of sugar is created. This liquid is then fermented until all the sugars that can be, are converted to alcohol. At this stage you basically have a form of beer or wine. Now things could stop here and with a tasty beverage to enjoy but our forebears were much more greedy for a happy drunk than that and proceeded to create the process of distillation where the mixture is heated and the alcohol, which has a lower evaporation temperature than the water, separates out of the mix only to be condensed out of the air into another bottle making much stronger alcohol than it was in the base mixture.
There’s also a technique where the water is frozen out of the mixture which effectively accomplishes the same thing but does have the side effect of leaving impurities and other things in the remaining alcohol.
The raw materials used for making the wash are of two basic types:
- Ingredients containing a high concentration of natural sugars or
- Ingredients containing other carbohydrates that can easily be converted to sugars by enzymes.
Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts to promote chemical reactions. Very small amounts of an enzyme can cause a fundamental change in a large amount of material. Most enzymes are specific in their action, so that a system of several enzymes is necessary, for example, to convert starch into sugar and ultimately into ethyl alcohol. The amylases are enzymes that convert starches into sugars; sprouting grains—especially barley—are natural sources of these enzymes. Yeast has a complex enzyme system that converts sugar into carbon dioxide and other products, including ethyl alcohol.
Reduced activity of any enzyme in the system distorts the results, often forming unwanted products. Enzymes are easily poisoned by certain compounds; they are also sensitive to temperature variations and to the degree of acidity of the medium.
Many types of materials are used in the creation of alcohol.
Grapes, cultivated in most of the subtropical and warm temperate zones of the world, are the major fruit employed as the raw material of distilled spirits, and the final product of their fermentation is brandy. Other natural fruits, such as apples and peaches, are used to a lesser extent, and many fruits are limited to local importance.
Sugary vegetables are also used which includes sugarcane, sugar beets, and agave tequilana (a type of cactus). Sugarcane and its products, including cane juices, molasses, and sugar, are the most important of the vegetable group. Grown throughout the tropics and semi tropics, sugarcane is used in making rum and any alcohol derived from rum. Sugarcane juice can be pressed from the cane for use as the base raw material for fermentation, or the juice may be concentrated for sugar production, with the molasses residue from the sugar crystallization used as a base for fermentation. This process is also applied to sugar beets.
Starches are also used. For many centuries, it was only feasible to employ local grain crops for liquor production, and, in this way, the basic characteristics of the local distilled beverage were established. Improved transportation removed this restriction, and today economic considerations frequently determine grain selection, with the principal grain used being the one available at the lowest price per unit of fermentable materials.
Corn is the most important cereal grain employed; it is produced worldwide. Rye grain, though less efficient in fermentation than corn, is used extensively in whiskey production, primarily for the flavor characteristics it imparts to the final product.
Rice has limited use in distilled spirits production outside of Asia. Barley grain, probably the first cereal employed for distillation in large quantities, was formerly a major crop throughout Ireland and Western Europe. Wheat, because of its high cost, is used only where corn is in short supply and is then limited to production of grain alcohol for blending or in production of liqueurs. Potatoes have been used in distilled spirits production primarily in central Europe; in the tropics, other starchy roots are employed.
Next time we’ll move on to the ‘families’ of base alcohols that contribute to our bar.
Until then, may all your drinks be tasty. Cheers.