A new type of Chinese chestnut whiskey and a preparation method thereof

Abstract

The present application belongs to the field of food processing, and particularly relates to a new type of Chinese chestnut whiskey and a preparation method thereof. The present application uses fresh Chinese chestnuts and high-quality barley as raw materials, and the Chinese chestnut whiskey is prepared through pretreatment, mixing, saccharification, fermentation and distillation. The Chinese chestnut whiskey prepared by the method has bright color and mellow and smooth taste, and combines the natural sweet taste of Chinese chestnuts and the mellow aroma of malt. The Chinese chestnut whiskey not only retains the classic characteristics of whiskey, but also highlights the characteristics of Chinese local raw materials and process, and meets the needs of consumers for localized and diversified whiskey products, and promotes the innovative development of the Chinese local whiskey industry.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of food processing, and specifically relates to a method for preparing a novel chestnut whisky. Background Technology

[0002] Chestnuts are a unique nut native to China with a long history of cultivation, serving both medicinal and culinary purposes. Cultivation dates back over 3,000 years, and chestnuts are widely distributed across Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Yunnan, and other regions. China ranks first in the world in both planting area and total output. Hebei Province is a major chestnut-producing area, contributing 14.85% of the national total. The Yanshan Mountains in northern Hebei are the main chestnut-growing region, with varieties from Zunhua, Qianxi, and Kuancheng being particularly popular with consumers. Chestnut flesh is golden and delicate in texture, combining the satiety of grains with the unique aroma of nuts. It has a sweet, powdery taste and can be eaten fresh, roasted, or processed. It is an important economic forest product and specialty agricultural product in my country. However, fresh chestnuts are concentrated on the market and have a short shelf life, making them prone to spoilage and reducing their economic value. Therefore, improving the utilization rate of chestnuts through deep processing is crucial. Studies have found that chestnuts contain 50%–65% starch, mainly amylopectin, and are also rich in protein, fat, B vitamins, and other nutrients, offering benefits such as nourishing the stomach and spleen, and strengthening the kidneys and muscles. Therefore, chestnuts, as a brewing ingredient, not only provide a high-quality carbon source but also provide ample nitrogen for yeast fermentation and participate in the synthesis of flavor compounds, enhancing the complexity and complexity of the wine.

[0003] Whisky, a globally popular distilled spirit, typically uses grains (such as barley and corn) as its main raw material, developing its unique flavor through processes like saccharification, fermentation, distillation, and aging. Currently, the international whisky industry has established a stable production system and flavor standards centered on malt whisky and grain whisky. However, my country's whisky industry started relatively late, and existing grain whiskies are mostly based on grasses, lacking localized innovation attempts using specialty grains.

[0004] This technology aims to develop a new preparation process for chestnut whisky. The invention of this technology lays a theoretical foundation and has practical value for reducing the spoilage and waste of fresh chestnuts, developing refined processed chestnut products, and creating new whisky products. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the above problems, this invention provides a method for preparing chestnut whiskey, comprising the following steps:

[0006] (1) Raw material pretreatment: Chestnuts are screened and crushed. Fresh chestnuts without mold are selected, peeled and crushed. The crushed chestnuts are then baked in an oven. High-quality malt is selected, peeled and crushed.

[0007] (2) Mixing: After the two raw materials are mixed evenly, distilled water is added and the mixture is stirred thoroughly until the system is homogeneous;

[0008] (3) Saccharification: The raw material liquid is heated to saccharify, resulting in a saccharified liquid. After the chestnut-malt saccharified liquid cools to room temperature, it is filtered.

[0009] (4) Fermentation: The filtered saccharified liquid is evenly transferred to a fermentation tank, and the activated commercial yeast is added to it for fermentation; after fermentation is completed, fermentation mash is obtained;

[0010] (5) Distillation: The fermented mash is distilled twice using a pot still to obtain distilled liquor.

[0011] Furthermore, the baking conditions described in step (1) are 90°C for 50 minutes.

[0012] Furthermore, in step (2), the mass ratio of the two raw materials is chestnut: malt 2:5.

[0013] Furthermore, the saccharification conditions described in step (3) are 65°C and saccharification for 60-75 minutes.

[0014] Furthermore, the commercial yeast used in step (4) is Angel W19, and the fermentation temperature is 28°C.

[0015] Furthermore, in step (5), the distillation method is pot distillation, and the alcohol content is 62±2% voL.

[0016] The present invention also provides a whiskey prepared by the above-described method.

[0017] The present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0018] 1. To develop chestnut-malt whisky;

[0019] 2. Compared with the existing saccharification process of chestnut fermentation wine, the process parameters were optimized to address the characteristics of chestnuts, such as high starch content and easy retrogradation, thus solving the technical pain points of complex and inefficient traditional chestnut brewing process;

[0020] 3. The use of malt-assisted saccharification technology replaces the large-scale use of traditional exogenous enzyme preparations, which is closer to the traditional whisky brewing concept, reduces the dependence on chemical additives in the production process, and enhances the naturalness and safety of the product.

[0021] 4. This new type of chestnut whisky uses commercially available yeast to ferment chestnuts, which can quickly start fermentation, inhibit contamination by other microorganisms, and avoid problems such as rancidity, stagnation, and flavor fluctuations that are prone to occur in natural fermentation, thus ensuring consistent quality between batches.

[0022] 5. The chestnut-based whisky produced using this method has a bright color and a mellow, smooth taste, combining the natural sweetness of chestnuts with the rich aroma of malt. It retains the classic characteristics of whisky while highlighting the unique features of local Chinese raw materials and craftsmanship, meeting consumers' demand for localized and diversified whisky products, and promoting the innovative development of China's local whisky industry. Attached Figure Description

[0023] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0024] Figure 1 and Figure 2 Radar graph showing the response value of the electronic nose sensor for the novel chestnut whisky of this invention;

[0025] Figure 3 This is the GC-IMS fingerprint of the fermentation mash of the novel chestnut whisky of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 This is the GC-IMS fingerprint of the distillate of the novel chestnut whisky of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a production process diagram of the novel chestnut whisky of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0028] Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention are now described in detail. Unless otherwise specified, the methods used in the embodiments are conventional methods, and the reagents used are commercially available reagents or reagents prepared using conventional methods. This detailed description should not be considered as a limitation of the present invention, but rather as a more detailed description of certain aspects, characteristics, and embodiments of the present invention.

[0029] It should be understood that the terminology used in this invention is merely for describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the invention. Furthermore, with respect to numerical ranges in this invention, it should be understood that each intermediate value between the upper and lower limits of the range is also specifically disclosed. Any stated value or intermediate value within a stated range, as well as each smaller range between any other stated value or intermediate value within said range, is also included in this invention. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may be independently included or excluded from the range.

[0030] Unless otherwise stated, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. While only preferred methods and materials have been described herein, any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein may be used in the implementation or testing of this invention. All references to this specification are incorporated by way of citation to disclose and describe methods and / or materials associated with those references. In the event of any conflict with any incorporated reference, the content of this specification shall prevail.

[0031] Various modifications and variations can be made to the specific embodiments described in this specification without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Other embodiments derived from this specification will also be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. This specification and embodiments are merely exemplary.

[0032] The terms “include,” “including,” “have,” “contain,” etc., used in this article are all open-ended terms, meaning that they include but are not limited to.

[0033] Please see Figure 1 - Figure 5 The present invention provides a technical solution, including a method for preparing a novel chestnut whisky.

[0034] (1) Raw material pretreatment: Chestnuts are screened and crushed. Fresh chestnuts without mold are selected, peeled and crushed. The crushed chestnuts are baked in an oven at 90℃ for 50 minutes. High-quality malt is selected, peeled and crushed.

[0035] (2) Mixing: Mix the two raw materials (chestnut: malt = 2: 5) and add distilled water, then stir thoroughly.

[0036] (3) Saccharification: Heat the liquid in (2) to 65°C and saccharify for 60-75 minutes until there is no reaction of iodine solution.

[0037] (3) Filtration: After saccharification is completed, filter and separate the malt trough to obtain the first chestnut-malt wort.

[0038] (4) Washing the lees: Rinse the lees with hot purified water at 75 ℃ to obtain the second chestnut-malt juice.

[0039] (5) Cooling: Mix the first-grade chestnut-malt juice and the second-grade chestnut-malt juice, cool quickly to room temperature, and transfer to a fermentation tank.

[0040] (6) Yeast activation and inoculation: Inoculate activated commercial yeast (Angel W19) at an addition rate of 0.5 g / L.

[0041] (7) Fermentation: Control the fermentation temperature at 28℃ and weigh the product once a day. When the weight difference is less than 0.1g to 0.5g after 2 to 3 consecutive weighings, the fermentation can be judged to be basically complete. Remove the precipitate and obtain the fermentation mash. Its physicochemical properties are shown in Table 1.

[0042] Table 1. Basic Physicochemical Indicators of Fermentation Mash

[0043]

[0044] (8) Distillation: The raw spirit is distilled using a small stainless steel still. During the first distillation, the distillation is stopped when the alcohol content reaches 1% vol. During the second distillation, 2% of the volume of the distillate is collected as the "heads," and the distillate with a combined alcohol content of 61%–63% vol is collected as the "body." The remaining distillate is the "tails." The "body" is retained to obtain the new chestnut whisky product. Its physicochemical properties are shown in Table 2.

[0045] Table 2 Basic Physicochemical Properties of Distilled Spirits

[0046]

[0047] (7) The aroma profile and volatile compound composition of the new chestnut whisky were analyzed using electronic nose (E-Nose) and gas phase ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS).

[0048] Radar image of fermentation mash for the new chestnut whisky. Figure 1 Radar chart of the distillate of the new chestnut-flavored whisky is shown below. Figure 2 .

[0049] GC-IMS fingerprints of chestnut-based new whisky fermentation mash and distillate are shown below. Figure 3 and Figure 4 .

[0050] The composition of volatile compounds in the new chestnut whisky is shown in Table 3.

[0051] Table 3. Relative content of volatile compounds in chestnut-flavored new whisky

[0052]

[0053]

[0054]

[0055] The results above show that by selecting, peeling, crushing, and temperature-controlled roasting fresh chestnuts, combined with malt-assisted saccharification, commercial yeast fermentation, and pot still distillation, a novel chestnut whisky with distinctive flavor characteristics can be successfully produced. The chestnut whisky produced using this invention exhibits significant optimization and improvement in physicochemical properties, aroma composition, and taste.

[0056] The embodiments described above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Various modifications and improvements made by those skilled in the art to the technical solutions of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention should fall within the protection scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for preparing chestnut whiskey, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: (1) Raw material pretreatment: Chestnuts are screened and crushed. Fresh chestnuts without mold are selected, peeled and crushed. The crushed chestnuts are then baked in an oven. High-quality malt is selected, peeled and crushed. (2) Mixing: After the two raw materials are mixed evenly, distilled water is added and the mixture is stirred thoroughly until the system is homogeneous; (3) Saccharification: The raw material liquid is heated to saccharify, resulting in a saccharified liquid. After the chestnut-malt saccharified liquid cools to room temperature, it is filtered. (4) Fermentation: The filtered saccharified liquid is evenly transferred to a fermentation tank, and the activated commercial yeast is added to it for fermentation; after fermentation is completed, fermentation mash is obtained; (5) Distillation: The fermented mash is distilled twice using a pot still to obtain distilled liquor.

2. The preparation method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The baking conditions described in step (1) are 90℃ for 50 min.

3. The preparation method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step (2), the mass ratio of the two raw materials is chestnut: malt 2:

5.

4. The preparation method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The saccharification conditions described in step (3) are 65°C and saccharification for 60-75 minutes.

5. The preparation method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The commercial yeast used in step (4) is Angel W19, and the fermentation temperature is 28℃.

6. The preparation method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step (5), the distillation method is pot distillation, and the alcohol content is 62±2% voL.

7. A whiskey, characterized in that, It is prepared by any one of the preparation methods described in claims 1-6.

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