Why is liquor bitter?

Compared with red wine and beer, white wine is a very strange kind of wine, because white wine does not have a slightly sweet taste like red wine and beer. Instead, it tastes bitter. Many children do not quite understand why adults like to drink white wine so much, because in the eyes of children, white wine not only tastes bitter but also has a taste that irritates the throat. At this time, it is very necessary for everyone to understand the reason why white wine tastes bitter.

For wine brewed from pure grains, it is normal for the wine to have a bitter taste. However, this bitterness will become weaker and weaker over time until it disappears. Therefore, the reason why it is said that the older the sauce-flavored liquor becomes, the more fragrant it becomes is reflected in these details.

But why does wine taste bitter? It turns out that the bitterness in wine is caused by excessive higher alcohols, succinic acid and a small amount of tannin, as well as more glucuronic acid and phenolic compounds. In fact, the higher alcohols in trace substances do not taste good. Except for isoamyl alcohol which is slightly sweet, the rest of the alcohols are bitter, and some have a strong and long-lasting bitterness.

In addition, the cause of bitterness is also related to the raw materials and processing technology.

1. The raw materials for brewing liquor are generally grains. If moldy grains are used, the liquor will taste bitter. Therefore, it is required to steam the raw and auxiliary materials.

2. Too much koji is used. In the process of brewing liquor, koji is needed as a saccharification and fermentation agent. If the amount of koji used is too large, the protein content of the dregs will be high, and the tyrosine in the fermentation will produce tyrosol through the biochemical reaction of yeast. It is not only bitter, but also has a long taste.

3. Infection by foreign bacteria. This may be caused by equipment and facilities that do not meet the standards during the production process. For example, there is a large amount of Penicillium in the fermentation tank; the barrel mud is not properly sealed during fermentation, resulting in a large amount of air and sewage entering the barrel. Therefore, these can cause bitterness and odor in the wine.

4. The fire is too high during distillation, which causes some unpleasant flavors to be distilled into the wine, causing it to taste bitter. Because many bitter substances have high boiling points, due to the high fire and atmosphere, the high temperature and pressure will cause the bitter substances that cannot be evaporated under normal pressure to flow into the wine, which leads to the bitter taste in the wine.

From the above we can see that in the process of brewing liquor, we must ensure that the raw materials are clean, full, and free of mold, that the proportion of koji is appropriate, and that the distillation temperature and facilities are clean. Only in this way can we reduce the probability of the liquor becoming bitter.