What are the raw materials of Moutai and how to brew it?

Maotai uses local high-quality waxy sorghum as raw material and wheat to make high-temperature koji, but the amount of koji used is more than raw material. Unique techniques, such as using more koji, long fermentation period, multiple fermentations and taking wine for many times, are the important reasons for the unique style and excellent quality of Moutai.

Maotai liquor is brewed by twice blanking, nine times cooking, eight times spreading koji (seven times fermentation) and seven times taking wine. The production cycle is as long as one year, then it is aged for more than three years and stored for one year after blending, which makes the quality of liquor more harmonious, mellow and soft and can be bottled and delivered from the factory. The whole production process lasted nearly five years.

The water used for brewing Maotai liquor is mainly from Chishui River, and the water quality is very good. The wine distilled with this slightly sweet and insoluble impurity is especially sweet. Therefore, poets in the Qing Dynasty once praised Chishui River with the chant of "gathering spiritual springs in one body and gathering clear water in the east".

Maotai Town also has a very special natural environment and climate conditions. It is located in the lowest basin in Guizhou Plateau, only 440 meters above sea level, far away from the plateau airflow, with dense clouds all day long. In summer, the high temperature of 35-39℃ lasts for five months, and most of the year is shrouded in hot and humid rain and fog.

This special climate, water quality and soil conditions are very conducive to the fermentation and maturity of wine materials, and also play a decisive role in the production and refining of microorganisms and the increase and decrease of aroma components in Moutai. It can be said that if we leave the special climatic conditions here, some aroma components in the wine will not be produced at all, and the taste of the wine will be lacking.

The style and quality characteristics of Kweichow Moutai are "outstanding sauce flavor, elegant and delicate, full-bodied, long aftertaste and lasting fragrance in empty cups". Its special style comes from the unique traditional brewing technology formed over the years. The brewing method is combined with the agricultural production in Chishui River Basin, and influenced by the environment, seasonal production, Dragon Boat Festival outing and Chongyang feeding, some original traces of local life are preserved.

Moutai is a traditional specialty wine in China. It is one of the world's three largest distilled spirits, which is as famous as Scotch whisky and French cognac, and also one of China's three famous wines. It is also the originator of Daqu Maotai-flavor liquor with a history of more than 800 years.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Moutai

Reference: People's Network-Maotai Liquor