Alcohol Distillation in the Beverage Industry
Alcohol distillation is one of the cornerstone processes in the beverage industry, extracting water and non-alcohol molecules in order to produce pure ethanol for use in various alcoholic drinks. Alcoholic drinks we know and enjoy come in an array of varieties, ranging from gin and sake to sake, mead and wine – each has their own fermentation process, ingredients and alcoholic content which influence its final taste and character. But what gives each spirit its distinctive qualities? Answering that question lies with congeners. Congeners are organic chemical compounds present in fermented wash that give it its unique flavor profile, such as alcohols, aldehydes, acids and esters. Congeners give each whiskey or rum its distinctive aroma while also helping determine how its spirit tastes after distillation.
Distillation works by applying heat, and taking advantage of how different molecules vaporize at different temperatures; pot stills use this technique by controlling time; column stills use positioning instead.
Foreshots or heads contain volatile compounds known as alcohol and off-tasting fatty acids like acetaldehyde – often blamed for hangovers – and acetone, which has an unpleasant paint thinner odor. While foreshots must be discarded, certain heads can be retained for their fruity aromas such as esters.
As spirit passes through the columns, its purity and proof increase with every distillation process. At each step it passes through a series of taps on a Perkin triangle which allow a fresh collection vessel to connect and evacuate so a fraction can be collected continuously by distillers who can select and control each fraction in turn.