Brandy is a whole class of alcoholic beverages with a strength of 40 ° –60 °, made by distillation of grape, berry or fruit wort and aged in barrels. Almost every nation has its own brandy. For the French, for example, it is apple calvados and grape cognac, for Italians - grappa, which is made from grape presses, for Germans - cherry kirschwasser, for Greeks - metax from certain grape varieties, among Georgians - chacha known to all lovers of the Black Sea resorts. Depending on the variety of the manufactured product, various raw materials and various aging technologies are used.
The history of the origin of this drink is rooted in ancient times. However, brandy, as we know it, began to be produced only in the XII century, and it gained general popularity even later - around the XIV century.
In this publication we will understand how brandy is made and how to drink it.
Types of Brandy
First, let's talk about the types of brandy. The type of drink depends on what brandy is made of. The composition may include fruits or berries. There are three main types of this alcohol in production:
- grape - is made from fermented grape juice;
- fruit or berry produce, as the name implies, from fruits or berries. It can be apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, peaches - everything except grapes;
- brandy from grape extracts is made from crushed pulp and grape seeds - in general, all that remains after the juice is pressed.
How brandy is made in factories
Naturally, this type of alcoholic beverage has long been produced on an industrial scale. You can talk a lot about how brandy is made in production, since each brand of this drink has a different composition, its own manufacturing characteristics, as well as company secrets. It is not possible to describe them all. However, all manufacturers have in common - these are the stages of brandy production.
- Preparation of raw materials. Juice is made from fruits, grapes or other berries.
- Fermentation. From prepared raw materials, it is necessary to make mash.
- Distillation. Alcohol is isolated from the resulting wort. This occurs during the distillation process using special apparatuses. When the wort is heated, the liquid begins to evaporate, and then settles in the form of condensate in the tank of the distillation apparatus. This condensate is also used for the further production of brandy. However, the primary condensate contains fusel oils, acetone and aldehyde, which are very harmful to the human body. Therefore, in the production of high-quality brandy, distillation is carried out two or more times.
- Exposure This stage is of particular importance. Depending on the type of product being produced, the distillate is poured into barrels or bottles and sent to “reach”. It is believed that properly cooked brandy should languish for at least two years. Moreover, this rule applies to both the drink immediately bottled after distillation and the fact that it is sent to infuse in wooden barrels. Moreover, different varieties of brandy are kept in different barrels. For example, bourbon is only languished in containers of American white oak wood. Grappa - in barrels of cherry, acacia or ash. According to international rules, the aging period starts from the first of April after the crop year, since the alcohol obtained from the mash must be bottled no later than this period.
- Bottling. Aged in barrels, the drink is bottled and sent for sale.
How to make brandy at home
In order to prepare this drink at home, you will need large bottles in which juice, a distillation apparatus, bottles and, of course, raw materials: sugar and fruits or berries will ferment. For convenience, let’s take grapes as an example.
- The first step is to isolate the juice from the grapes. In everyday conditions, you can properly crush it or grind it using a blender, a meat grinder, a juicer - all that the kitchen of an average housewife is equipped with. For those who decide to make brandy their hobby, there are specialized stores where you can buy an electric or mechanical grinder. This will significantly save time and effort. After receiving the pulp from the grapes, it is necessary to squeeze the juice from the mixture. Do this with a sieve and gauze. Just as, for example, decanted kvass. In shops, again, they sell special presses, where ground berries are loaded and juice is squeezed out of them. The use of such devices will avoid the loss of raw materials, since squeezing the berries with your hands better than with the press will still fail.
- Once the juice is obtained, it is poured into bottles, sugar is added and left to ferment. The amount of sugar depends on the grape variety. To get a good mash naturally it needs to stand for 20-25 days at a temperature of 20 ° C – 25 ° C. To get a good, strong mash for a shorter time, you can use yeast. However, it is immediately worth noting that conventional bakeries are not suitable for this. They will give the final product a specific aftertaste and smell. In addition, it is likely that there will not be enough alcohol in the liquid. You can buy professional wine yeast all in the same specialized stores. Braga using such yeast is kept at a temperature of 27 ° C – 32 ° C. Compliance with the regime is very important, because at low temperature the yeast will die and the wort will not ferment. If it is too hot, the yeast will begin to grow too actively, they will not have enough nutrients, and they will also die. Under normal conditions, fermentation lasts from a couple of days to several weeks.
- When fermentation stops, the wort must be carefully filtered. This can be done with a sieve and gauze, it is advisable to do this several times. No foreign particles should remain in the liquid. Now you can start distilling the mash with the help of a distillation apparatus. We remind you that two times is the minimum number of distillations, otherwise there is a risk of poisoning. As a result of distillation, a liquid will be obtained for further manufacture with a strength of 40% –60%. If it seems too strong, it can be diluted with clean, filtered water.
- According to production technology, after distillation, the future brandy must be maintained. How, in what and how much - depends on the capabilities and desires of the manufacturer. The final result also depends on this. The drink can languish both in wooden barrels, which can be purchased in a specialized store, and in glass bottles.
How to drink brandy
Drinking this strong drink is recommended after eating. As utensils, large glasses with thick walls are used. It can be tulip-shaped glasses: pot-bellied at the bottom and narrowed at the top. Or cognac glasses.
The temperature of the drink consumed directly depends on its variety. So, grape brandy is drunk at room temperature or even a little warmer. Connoisseurs even heat it above the flame of a candle or simply holding it in your hand. Thus, the aroma of the drink just poured from the bottle is enhanced.
Drink fruit brandy slightly chilled or add a couple of ice cubes to the glass.
How to bite brandy
Brandy is usually drunk without a bite. But sometimes before taking a sip, a small piece of chocolate is placed under the tongue. When it begins to melt, take a sip, after which they bite a small slice of lemon.
Brandy varieties
Since there are no strict rules for the production of brandy, and there is only a general manufacturing technology, there are a great variety of varieties of this drink. Here we will talk only about a few, the most popular of all. These are torres, cognac, metaxa and kirschwasser.
Spanish drink
How do brandy Torres? This brandy comes from Spain. Although the company, founded by the Torres brothers in 1870, was originally involved in the production of wine, and brandy production technology was mastered only in 1928 by Miguel Torres, brandy of this brand is widely appreciated throughout the world and is one of the twenty best varieties of this drink.
Brandy Torres is kept in a special way, according to the Solera principle. It is based on a multi-level barrel storage method. They fit into the cellar in the form of a pyramid, at the base of which is stored alcohol of early sourdough, that is, aged for several years. The higher the level of the pyramid, the younger the alcohol in the barrels. Three times a year from the barrels of the lower tier, one-third of the contents are poured and sent for sale. The vacated volume is filled with alcohol from barrels a floor higher. In them - from the next tier and so on, to the very top. Due to the mixing of alcohols of varying degrees of aging, the final product has a unique flavoring bouquet.
How do brandy
As previously mentioned in this article, the birthplace of cognac is France. It is produced in the province of the same name in the south-west of this country. The main raw material in the manufacture of cognac is the white grapes of the Uni Blanc variety. It is used to make wine containing 9% alcohol. Then the wine is twice distilled using a Charente distillation cube. Ultimately, cognac alcohol has a degree of the order of 68 ° -72 °. It must be aged in oak barrels, while the aging time can reach 70 years. Barrels are made of white oak with an age of at least 80 years.
Brandy from France
How do brandies “Jean Louis Mollet”? Jean Louis Mollet is a well-known French brandy manufacturer. The drink here is made exclusively from French wines and aged in oak barrels for at least seven years. Ultimately, the brandy becomes a golden amber color. The bouquet felt notes of oak, dried fruit and vanilla.
How to make metax
Brandy Metaxa was born in the 19th century in southern Greece. The founder of the production was Spyros Mataksas. Inspired by French cognac, he decided to produce brandy from aged cognac, mountain herbs and national Greek wine. Thanks to this, the drink has a dark amber color, the aroma of dried fruits and a mild taste.
How do kirschwasser
Despite the fact that kirshwasser is translated from German as “cherry water”, they drive it out of shallow black cherries. Thanks to its sugary-sweet taste, the final distillate has a sweetish aftertaste. In the production of kirsch, the berries are driven through the press along with the seeds and together with them the raw materials are sent to ferment in oak barrels. Due to this, the brandy has a characteristic almond flavor and a slight bitterness. After double distillation, the alcohol is kept in a clay or glass container. The strength of the finished product varies between 38 ° and 50 °.
How do calvados
Calvados is made from apples or pears. The French prefer to use small-sized apples growing on stunted trees. It is believed that such fruits have a pronounced taste and aroma. Currently, only apples picked from a tree are used for production. Already fallen fruits are not suitable for this. From the washed fruits, puree is made, which is then run through a press. Cider is made from the resulting juice, which naturally wanders for five weeks. Neither yeast nor sugar is added to it.
The resulting mash with a strength of 6% –8% is sent for single or double distillation.
The final product has a strength of 70 ° –75 °. It is aged in oak barrels for two to ten years.