Method for aging alcoholic beverage in the sea

Abstract

To provide a method for aging alcoholic beverage in the sea capable of aging alcoholic beverages in an early stage.SOLUTION: A method is for aging in the sea 50, alcoholic beverages are held on a supporter 10. The method has a support step where the supporter 10 is fitted to one end side of a rope body 20 and is caused to sink in the sea 50, and the other end side of the rope body 20 is supported by a support medium 30 floating on a sea level 51. In low tide, the supporter 10 contacts a sea bottom 52, and in tide, the supporter 10 separates from the sea bottom 52 and floats, by setting a length of the rope body 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for underwater maturation of alcoholic beverages. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART It has been a conventional practice to store alcoholic beverages in containers underwater to mature the beverages and improve their aroma, mouthfeel, taste, and the like.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method of aging alcoholic beverages by suspending a case containing alcoholic beverage containers from an oyster raft into the sea.

[0004] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses a method of aging awamori or other alcoholic beverages by sinking a container containing the alcoholic beverage to the bottom of the sea. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-108589 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-153954 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the aging method of Patent Document 1, aging is promoted by constantly gently shaking the alcoholic beverage in the sea, but the shaking of the alcoholic beverage tends to become monotonous, and therefore the aging process is not sufficiently accelerated.

[0007] The aging method of Patent Document 2 can accelerate the aging of alcoholic beverages on the seabed, where the water temperature changes little, by using sounds and vibrations transmitted from the seabed to the container. According to the results of an aging test conducted by the inventors of the present application, it was possible to aging alcoholic beverages in a shorter period of time by leaving the container containing the alcoholic beverage on the seabed than by keeping it underwater, but there was room for further improvement in aging the alcoholic beverages in a shorter period of time to improve the aroma and flavor.

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for underwater maturation of alcoholic beverages that enables the rapid maturation of alcoholic beverages. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The above-mentioned object of the present invention is achieved by an underwater maturation method for alcoholic beverages held in a holder, which includes a support step of attaching the holder to one end of a rope body and lowering it into the sea, and supporting the other end of the rope body with a support floating on the sea surface, and setting the length of the rope body so that the holder is in contact with the seabed at low tide and floats away from the seabed at high tide.

[0010] In this method for underwater maturation of alcoholic beverages, the supporting step is preferably carried out in a fishing port, and the transparency of the seawater in the fishing port is preferably less than 100 cm. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the present invention, there is provided a method for underwater maturation of alcoholic beverages that enables the rapid maturation of alcoholic beverages. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a method for underwater aging of alcoholic beverages according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an underwater aging method for alcoholic beverages according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figures 1(a) and 1(b), the underwater aging method for alcoholic beverages of this embodiment includes a support step in which a holder 10 holding alcoholic beverages is attached to one end of a cord 20 and lowered into the sea 50, and the other end of the cord 20 is supported by a support 30 floating on the sea surface 51.

[0014] The holder 10 has its interior divided into multiple sections by dividers 11, and multiple containers 40 containing sealed alcoholic beverages are housed in each of the sections. The holder 10 can be, for example, a case for a one-liter bottle, a metal basket, or a wooden box, but is not particularly limited as long as it can securely hold one or more containers 40 made of bottles, cans, bags, etc. inside. It is also possible to form the holder 10 into the shape of a container such as a bottle, can, bag, barrel, or tank, and to directly house and seal alcoholic beverages inside the holder 10. The alcoholic beverage is preferably one whose quality improves with aging, and examples of such alcoholic beverages include shochu, sake, wine, whiskey, and brandy.

[0015] Mounting parts 12 are provided at the four upper corners of the holder 10, and one end of a plurality of cords 20 is attached to each mounting part 12. The cords 20 are made of rope, wire, chain, etc., and the other end of each cord 20 is attached to a mounting part 31 of the support body 30. The number of cords 20 is not particularly limited, and there may be only one.

[0016] The support 30 may be any object that floats on the sea surface 51 and moves up and down with the tides, and examples thereof include floating piers, fish pens, ships such as fishing boats, buoys, etc. A drift prevention rope 32 fixed to the seabed 52 can be attached to the support 30 so that the support 30 moves up and down in the same position. The location where the drift prevention rope 32 is fixed is not particularly limited, and for example, the support 30 can be attached to a quay or the like so that the support 30 moves up and down in the same position.

[0017] The length of the cable 20 is set so that at low tide as shown in Figure 1(a), the support 30 drops with the sea level, causing the retaining body 10 to be in contact with the seabed 52, while at high tide as shown in Figure 1(b), the support 30 rises with the sea level, causing the retaining body 10 to float away from the seabed 52.

[0018] In the underwater aging method of alcoholic beverages of the present invention, at low tide as shown in Figure 1(a), the holder 10 is in contact with the seabed 52, making it easier for natural sounds and the sound of a ship's propeller to be transmitted from the seabed 52 to the holder 10, thereby promoting the aging of alcoholic beverages through sound and vibration.

[0019] At high tide as shown in FIG. 1(b), the holder 10 is reliably separated from the seabed 52, which makes the holder 10 more likely to shake due to waves traveling through the sea 50, thereby promoting the maturation of alcoholic beverages through the shaking.

[0020] When the tide changes from low to high or from high to low, if the holder 10 is slightly separated from the seabed 52, the holder 10 repeatedly collides with the seabed 52 due to the influence of waves in the sea 50, etc., and the impacts can promote the maturation of alcoholic beverages.

[0021] In this way, the underwater aging method for alcoholic beverages of the present invention utilizes the periodic ebb and flow of the tides to repeatedly apply multiple aging techniques (sound, vibration, shaking, impact) to the alcoholic beverages, thereby enabling the aging of alcoholic beverages to be completed in a shorter period of time than conventional methods. After the predetermined period of aging, the holder 10 can be easily recovered by pulling up the cable 20 without having to dive.

[0022] The above-mentioned support step of supporting the holder 10 is preferably carried out within a fishing port. Because the water depth within a fishing port is shallow (for example, 2 to 4 m), the holder 10 can be quickly and easily lowered and pulled up from the sea 50, which reduces the cost of underwater maturation. Furthermore, because there is a lot of fishing boats coming and going within the fishing port, the holder 10 is likely to be affected by the propeller noise of the fishing boats and by the rocking caused by the wake of the fishing boats, which makes it easier to achieve early maturation of alcoholic beverages.

[0023] Furthermore, since fishing ports generally have low transparency, even shallow waters are impervious to ultraviolet light, ensuring that alcoholic beverages are not degraded by ultraviolet light. Specifically, the support process is preferably carried out in fishing ports where the seawater transparency is less than 100 cm. Transparency refers to the depth at which a white disk with a diameter of 30 cm submerged in the sea cannot be distinguished from its surroundings.

[0024] To confirm the effects of the present invention, underwater aging tests were conducted for approximately two and a half months for awamori and sweet potato shochu within Takamatsu Fishing Port. The examples were conducted in the same manner as the underwater aging method for alcoholic beverages of this embodiment, while the comparative examples were conducted by constantly resting the support holding the alcoholic beverage on the seabed. Six evaluators (including one who only evaluated aroma) rated the aged and unaged samples for three items: aroma, mouthfeel, and taste. A significant change was scored as 2 points, a noticeable change was scored as 1 point, no significant change was scored as 0 points, and a worsening was scored as -1 point.

[0025] The total average scores for the above three items by the evaluators (out of a total of 6 points) was 4 points for the Example and 3.67 points for the Comparative Example for Awamori, and 3.67 points for the Example and 2.84 points for the Comparative Example for Imo Shochu. Despite the short maturation period of about two and a half months, the Examples outperformed the Comparative Examples for both Awamori and Imo Shochu. [Explanation of symbols]

[0026] 10 Holder 20 Chord body 30 Support 40 containers 50 Undersea 51 sea level 52 Undersea

Claims

1. A method for aging alcoholic beverages held in a support in the sea, comprising: a supporting step of attaching the holder to one end of a rope body, lowering it into the sea, and supporting the other end of the rope body with a support floating on the sea surface, This method for underwater maturation of alcoholic beverages involves setting the length of the cord so that the holder is in contact with the seabed at low tide and floats away from the seabed at high tide.

2. 2. The method for underwater aging of alcoholic beverages according to claim 1, wherein the supporting step is carried out within a fishing port.

3. 3. The method for underwater aging of alcoholic beverages according to claim 2, wherein the transparency of seawater in the fishing port is less than 100 cm.

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