What is Daqu in brewing?

Daqu is made of wheat, barley and peas, which are crushed, mixed with water, pressed into brick-like starter blanks, and cultivated under artificially controlled temperature and humidity. Daqu contains a variety of microorganisms, such as mold, yeast, bacteria and so on. And it is a multi-bacterial mixed (enzyme) preparation. The species and quantity of microorganisms in Daqu are influenced by the raw materials, koji-making temperature and environment. Because Daqu contains a variety of microorganisms, a wide variety of metabolites and flavor components are formed in the process of wine fermentation. At present, China famous liquor is mostly brewed by traditional Daqu method.