What grain is liquor brewed from?

Liquor is also called shochu, liquor, fire liquor, strong liquor and high-alcohol liquor.

Liquor is a unique distilled liquor in the world. It is a beverage made of wheat, sorghum, corn, sweet potato, rice bran and other fruits through fermentation, koji and distillation. Its liquor is colorless and transparent, so it is called liquor. Liquor is rich in aroma, mellow and soft, and has various flavors. Because it mainly uses burning (steaming) process, it is also called shochu. Because of its high alcohol content, some places call it strong liquor or high-alcohol liquor. China liquor has a long history and is unique in the world.

Liquor is a high-concentration alcoholic beverage. According to the different saccharification, fermentation strains and brewing technology, it can be divided into three categories: Daqu liquor, Xiaoqu liquor and bran koji liquor, among which bran koji liquor can be divided into solid fermented liquor and liquid fermented liquor. The origin of liquor is later than that of rice wine. But there are different opinions about when it originated. Judging from the cultural relics unearthed in the Jin Dynasty, the name of a set of copper-made burning (steaming) wine was verified, which has a history of more than 800 years.

Liquor is different from rice wine, beer and fruit wine. Except for a very small amount of sodium, copper and zinc, there are almost no vitamins, calcium, phosphorus and iron, only water and ethanol (alcohol). Traditionally, liquor has the functions of promoting blood circulation, dredging veins, stimulating appetite, eliminating fatigue, cultivating sentiment, making people light, dispelling cold and refreshing. Drinking a small amount of low-alcohol liquor can dilate small blood vessels, promote blood circulation and delay the deposition of lipids such as cholesterol on the blood vessel wall, which is beneficial to the circulatory system and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

1. Liquor mainly uses grains, potatoes and various auxiliary raw materials as main auxiliary materials, Daqu, Xiaoqu and bran koji as saccharifying agents, and high-quality purified water as brewing water, and adopts unique production technology and brewing technology to form various liquors.

2. Daqu liquor: Daqu is used as saccharifying starter, which is first made into fermented grains and then distilled to obtain liquor. Daqu is mostly made of wheat, barley and peas. Is made of naturally propagating microorganisms in the shape of bricks. Microorganisms are mainly Aspergillus, Rhizopus, yeast and some miscellaneous bacteria. Because there are complex microbial groups in Daqu, Daqu liquor has a sticky and mellow flavor.

3. Xiaoqu liquor: Xiaoqu is saccharified and fermented to make fermented grains, and then distilled to make liquor. Xiaoqu is made of millet, wheat and rice bran. Its strain is inoculated by "koji mother" and contains Rhizopus, Mucor, yeast and so on. And various medicinal materials are added to Xiaoqu, so it is also called "medicinal qu" or "medicinal liquor". The wine brewed with Xiaoqu has elegant aroma and sweet taste.

4. bran koji wine: brewed with bran koji as saccharifying starter and yeast. Bran koji is mainly made of wheat bran, and the main strain is pure cultivated Aspergillus. All kinds of koji with beautiful flavor can be brewed with bran koji.

5. Maotai-flavor type: one of the flavor types of liquor, represented by Kweichow Moutai, also called Maoxiang type. Its sauce flavor is outstanding, elegant and meticulous, mellow and long aftertaste. After drinking, an empty cup leaves fragrance. According to the research of relevant departments, there are as many as 66 kinds of ingredients in Moutai, and most experts believe that its main aroma is cyclic compounds.

6. Fragrant flavor: one of the flavor types of liquor. Shanxi Xinghua Village Fenjiu is the representative, so it is also called fragrance type. It is characterized by pure fragrance, harmonious flavor, sweetness and mellow taste, and endless aftertaste. The main aroma components are ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate.