What are Spirits?
A spirit is distilled alcohol. Spirits distillation is the process of heating a fermented liquid, evaporating off the alcohol as vapor, and then condensing it back into liquid form.
How Are Spirits Made?
Spirits are made when an alcoholic liquid, typically fruit or grain based, is heated so that alcoholic vapors can be reconverted into liquid form, leaving the majority of its water content behind. This is possible because alcohol boils at 173 degrees F/ 78.3 degrees Celsius. The alcohol content can be further increased by additional redistillations that further concentrate the alcohol and reduce the total volume of liquid.
Distillation, the process by which spirits are made, is performed in a ‘still.’ There are basically two different types of stills: a pot still and a column still.
A pot still is an enclosed vessel (the kettle or "pot") that narrows into a tube at the top to collect alcohol vapor that evaporates when the fermented contents are boiled. The tube bends downward off the top of the pot and runs through a bath of cold water. This causes the alcohol vapor to condense back into liquid and drain into a container at the end of the tube. Most pot stills are made from copper. They are considered "inefficient" in that they carry over a percentage of water and chemical compound vapors along with the alcohol vapor. This "inefficiency" can be considered an advantage when producing spirits such as brandy and whiskey that have distinctive flavors.
The column or continuous still has two enclosed copper or stainless steel columns. The fermented liquid is slowly fed down into the top of the first column while steam is sent up from the bottom. The rising steam strips the alcohol from the descending liquid and carries it over into the second column where it is recirculated and concentrated to the desired percentage of alcohol. Column stills are more "efficient" than pot stills in that they extract a higher concentration of alcohol. They are favored for neutral-flavored spirits such as vodka and white rum and also for industrial alcohol.
A spirit is distilled alcohol. Spirits distillation is the process of heating a fermented liquid, evaporating off the alcohol as vapor, and then condensing it back into liquid form.
How Are Spirits Made?
Spirits are made when an alcoholic liquid, typically fruit or grain based, is heated so that alcoholic vapors can be reconverted into liquid form, leaving the majority of its water content behind. This is possible because alcohol boils at 173 degrees F/ 78.3 degrees Celsius. The alcohol content can be further increased by additional redistillations that further concentrate the alcohol and reduce the total volume of liquid.
Distillation, the process by which spirits are made, is performed in a ‘still.’ There are basically two different types of stills: a pot still and a column still.
A pot still is an enclosed vessel (the kettle or "pot") that narrows into a tube at the top to collect alcohol vapor that evaporates when the fermented contents are boiled. The tube bends downward off the top of the pot and runs through a bath of cold water. This causes the alcohol vapor to condense back into liquid and drain into a container at the end of the tube. Most pot stills are made from copper. They are considered "inefficient" in that they carry over a percentage of water and chemical compound vapors along with the alcohol vapor. This "inefficiency" can be considered an advantage when producing spirits such as brandy and whiskey that have distinctive flavors.
The column or continuous still has two enclosed copper or stainless steel columns. The fermented liquid is slowly fed down into the top of the first column while steam is sent up from the bottom. The rising steam strips the alcohol from the descending liquid and carries it over into the second column where it is recirculated and concentrated to the desired percentage of alcohol. Column stills are more "efficient" than pot stills in that they extract a higher concentration of alcohol. They are favored for neutral-flavored spirits such as vodka and white rum and also for industrial alcohol.