Basics Of Spirits: The Process Of Distillation And Maturation

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The Process Of Distillation

In any bar or nightclub you enter you will see that their top sellers are mainly spirits. These spirits are alcoholic drinks that have been distilled and made through a process known as distillation. Before we talk about the different types of spirits available, it is very important to know and understand the process of distillation and which types of spirits are made through this process. The word distillation means to “purify” a liquid by vaporizing it. If we vaporize a liquid, it means that we heat it to a point where is no longer a liquid, but a gas. This is the first half of distillation.

The second half of distillation involves cooling that vapor or gas until it condenses and becomes a liquid again. To have a better understanding of this process of distillation, think about a kettle full of dirty, brown water on the boil. Normally when the water reaches 100 Degrees Celsius and starts to boil, steam starts to come out from the kettle. This steam is the vapor or gas that comes out from heating a liquid. If you had to hold a cool metal tray against the steam, when the steam hits the metal, it condenses and turns back to a liquid on the cool metal surface.

If you were to collect all the stem that condenses against the metal, you would notice that the liquid is no longer brown and dirty but is clear and has no longer the dirty ”flavors” that were there before. Shortly, the dirty water has been distilled which results in you getting a cleaner, cleared liquid at the end of the process of distillation. This liquid is called “The Distillate” and it is cleaner because when it became a gas, it left all the dirt behind. If this “cleaner water” were to be put back into an empty kettle and the whole process repeated, you would end up even with an even cleaned and cleaner liquid. Each time a liquid is distilled, the result is a cleaner, clearer liquid with fewer of the colors and flavors that were there before. You now understand the basics of how the process of distillation works when making spirits.

Of course, the main difference between the kettle example and real distillation is that instead of water, alcohol is being used. Along with this, instead of using a kettle, what is known as a “Pot Still” is used as shown on the left side picture. A pot still is a giant copper pot that can heat the alcohol inside it. Now that we understand how the process of distillation works, we will have a look at how distillation works with alcohol.

The Process Of Distillation With Alcohol

The first thing to know is that alcohol boils at around 78 degrees Celsius while water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. This means that alcohol will vaporize and become a gas before water does when both are heated. In other words, as the alcohol becomes a gas at 78 degrees Celsius and rises, the water in the alcohol stays behind because it’s not hot enough to vaporize yet. This means that each time a spirit is distilled, more water gets left behind, leaving alcohol to make up more of the overall liquid. This raises the percentage of alcohol in the liquid each time distillation takes place. Basically, with each process of distillation, the percentage of alcohol in the liquid will double. If a beer has 4% alcohol and is distilled will become 8% alcohol. In other words, each time an alcohol is distilled, the more “pure” it becomes because it has less water in it.

Most spirits behind the bar, are distilled and “cut” with water until they are about 40-42% alcohol. This makes them very pleasant to drink and retains enough of the original flavors to allow your guests to appreciate them beautifully.

Spirit Bases

All of the spirits in the world are distilled at some point during the journey of making them. Let’s have a look at some popular spirits that you find almost everywhere in the world. To create a wide variety of different flavors in spirits, apart from their barrels, a whole range of different base ingredients can be used. The most common bases are grains such as rye, corn, wheat, and barley. Bases can be also something like potatoes and beetroots. The main thing to know is that each base ingredient provides a different dominant flavor profile. Let’s have a look at some common spirits and their bases:

• Whiskey: Whiskey is made by distilling a fermented grain-based liquid such as beer.
• Brandy: Brandy is made by distilling a fermented grape-based liquid such as wine.
• Tequila: Tequila is made by distilling a fermented agave-based liquid such as agave wine.
• Rum: Rum is made by distilling a fermented sugarcane-based liquid such as sugar wine.
• Vodka And Gin: Vodka and gin are made by distilling a fermented liquid made from one of a number of bases such as potatoes, grain, rye, and sugarcane.

So far by now, you should have a better knowledge of understanding the process of distillation and some of the popular spirit bases.

The Process Of Maturation

We already know the process of distillation, now let’s have a look into the maturation. Let’s find out how aged spirits get their wonderful colors and incredible flavours. Well basically, this is done through the process of maturation. In the life of a spirit, fermentation and distillation can be thought of as the first part of that’s spirit life. In other words, every single spirit that you know should go through these two processes. Despite that, you may have noticed that many spirits have different colors and appearances. The most common example is that while vodka is clear as water, whiskey is a beautiful yellow-gold color.

The reason why spirits have different colors, is because whiskey, brandy, aged rums, and aged tequilas, don’t get their color from the process of distillation. In fact, every single one of these alcohols is clear once they have gone through the process of distillation. The color is added after distillation, when they are stored on oak barrels for many years. The storing of these distilled alcohols inside of an oak barrel is called maturing the alcohol. To be more specific, the charred wood inside the barrels adds color to the spirit, eventually transforming them into that wonderful yellow-gold color.

Is important to note that during the maturation process, the distilled alcohol not only gets its color from the barrel, but it also draws many different flavours from the barrel, depending on the type of the barrel and its age. The more time a spirit spends on the barrel, the “softer” and gentler the spirit will be. This is why some spirits which haven’t been matured enough are quite strong and sharp. You may guess now why vodka is crystal clear while whiskey has the characteristic yellow-gold color? Well the answer is simple, vodka haven’t gone through the maturation process and have been bottled straight after distillation while whiskey have been matured for at least 3 years into the wooden barrels.

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