Design and operation of an artificial pit for the fermentation of Chinese liquor

• Published in: Journal of the Institute of Brewing Vol. 113; no. 4; pp. 374 - 380
• Main Authors: Yue, Y.Y, Zhang, W.X, Yang, R, Zhang, Q.S, Liu, Z.H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007; Institute of Brewing
• Subjects: alcoholic beverages; Artificial pit; Beers; Biological and medical sciences; brewing; Chinese liquor; Chinese new-style distilled liquor; distilled spirits; engineering design; Fermented food industries; flavor; Food industries; food quality; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gas production (biological); new methods; on-line determination; physicochemical properties; solid state fermentation; temperature; traditional foods; traditional technology; yields; Design; Chinese new-style distilled liquor; Artificial pit; Brewing; Fermentation; engineering design; on-line determination
• ISSN: 0046-9750; 2050-0416
• DOI: 10.1002/j.2050-0416.2007.tb00764.x

ABSTRACT
A laboratory‐scale artificial pit for solid‐substrate fermentation was designed and placed into operation to explore a new‐style of distilled liquor. This product recaptures the quality of Chinese traditional liquor. The on‐line parameters determined included temperature, gas production, and physicochemical and flavor characteristics of Huangshui. The quality of the liquor produced by the artificial pit was also monitored. Changes in the pit temperature reflected the fermentation conditions in the pit. The ratio between gas production and alcohol content of Huangshui was 1:2. On average, 6.24 litres per batch of the new‐style distilled liquor was produced using this non‐traditional pit and the basic quality was acceptable. Although the fermentation time was only 1 month, the yield ratio of alcohol from the artificial pit was 20.5% compared with a typical 3 month fermentation yield of 33% in the industry. This artificial pit was deemed feasible for fermentation research and for quality improvement for Chinese new‐style distilled liquor.