Brewing technology of Shaoxing yellow rice wine

Shaoxing rice wine has a lot to do with the water used. The source of famous wine, there must be a good spring. The water for brewing Shaoxing yellow rice wine has been taken from Jianhu Lake, and the water quality is excellent. Jianhu water comes from Huiji mountain area, where mountains are high and bamboo is planted in Maolin. It is filtered and purified by layers of sandy soil and injected into the lake to make it clear. According to laboratory tests, lake water contains trace minerals, which is beneficial to the growth of some microorganisms, so it is extremely suitable for wine making. In addition, the exquisite skills and hard work of the vast number of wine-making masters make Shaoxing yellow wine have good color, flavor and fragrance.

Shaoxing wine is generally brewed in July of the lunar calendar, with wheat koji in September and rice drenched in October (wine girl). Brewing began around the heavy snow and ended in the spring of the following year, with a fermentation period of more than 80 days. Using glutinous rice as raw material, the finished wine was made by screening rice, soaking rice, steaming rice, cold spreading, cutting materials (adding wheat koji, drenching rice and Jianhu water), main fermentation, harrowing materials, canning and post-fermentation, pressing wine, clarifying, blending, frying wine, canning and aging (more than 3 years). The main varieties of Shaoxing wine are Yuan red wine, yellow wine, good wine and Xiangxue wine. The tools for brewing Shaoxing wine are mostly wood, bamboo and ceramic products, and a few are tin products, mainly including crocks, jars, grass pot covers, rice screens, steaming barrels, bottom barrels, bamboo poles, wooden harrows, big strokes, small strokes, wooden hooks, wooden shovels, barrels, funnels, wooden presses, frying pans, jig pots and so on. Six, Shaoxing rice wine varieties

Shaoxing yellow rice wine is only a geographical concept, that is, it refers to the general name of yellow rice wine produced by Jianhu water system in Shaoxing that meets certain national standards. In fact, there are many varieties of Shaoxing yellow rice wine, which have the characteristics of sweetness, aroma and orange purity, and each has its own unique flavor. Its main famous products are as follows:

Yuan red wine, also known as Zhuangyuan red, was named after painting cinnabar outside the altar wall in the past. It is a representative variety and bulk product of Shaoxing yellow wine. This wine is completely fermented, with little residual sugar, clear orange color, unique flavor and slightly bitter taste. It contains 16~ 19% alcohol, sugar is less than 0.4~0.8 g/100 ml, and total acid is less than 0.45 g/100 ml, which is very popular among alcoholics. It is a typical representative of dry yellow rice wine.

Yellow rice wine-the best variety of Shaoxing yellow rice wine. Gami, as the name implies, is compared with wine. In the proportion of raw materials, the amount of water added is reduced, while the amount of rice added is increased. Because of the high concentration of mash and the high alcohol content of finished products, liquor is very mellow, commonly known as "thick meat". This wine is as deep yellow and reddish as amber, transparent and crystal clear, with abnormal aroma and mellow and fresh taste. It contains 17.5~ 19.5% alcohol, 1.5~3.0 g sugar/100 ml total acid less than 0.45 g/100 ml. It is a typical representative of semi-dry yellow rice wine.

Good wine system-a double set of wine made from yuan red wine stored for 1~3 years. Deep yellow. The fragrance is fragrant, the texture is strong and the taste is sweet. It contains 13.5~ 16.5% alcohol, 6 ~ 7g sugar and 0.5 ~ 0.55g/100 ml total acid. It is a high-grade variety of Shaoxing yellow rice wine. This wine was created by Shen Yonghe in Qing Dynasty. The workshop brewed soy sauce at the same time, and the brewer was inspired by soy sauce brewing, that is, using soy sauce instead of water as the principle of mother-child soy sauce to brew Shaoxing yellow wine, thus improving the quality and achieving success. Therefore, good brewing is a mother-child wine with good quality. It is also a typical representative of semi-sweet yellow rice wine.

Xiangxue wine is also a kind of double-mixed wine, which is made by pouring rice with aged grain instead of water. The wine is light yellow and clear, fragrant and elegant, mellow and sweet. Alcohol content17.5 ~19.5g/100ml, sugar content 19 ~ 23g/ 100ml, and total acid content below 0.4g/ 100ml. Chen Xueben's History of Shaoxing Processing Technology records that in 19 12, master Wu Ahui of Zhouyunji Distillery in Dongpu Township and other brewers tried to brew an jar of Shaoxing yellow wine with glutinous rice, medicated wine and distiller's grains, and got 12 jar of wine. After the successful trial brewing, the worker's master thought that this wine was very strong because of the addition of distiller's grains, and because it was brewed without adding wheat koji to deepen the color of the wine, only white wine was used, so the distiller's grains were as white as snow, so it was called Xiangxue wine. It is a typical representative of sweet yellow rice wine.