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AD's WSET L2 Spritual > *Production, Style & Quality > Flashcards

*Production, Style & Quality Flashcards

1
Q

Fermentation produces 3 things…

A
  1. Alcohol (mainly ethanol) to about 10% ABV
  2. CO2
  3. Flavours, aka “Congeners” (including Esters)
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2
Q

Distillation serves to concentrate 2 things:

A
  1. Alchohol (Ethanol) from c.8%-10% to between 75% and 96%

2. Specific congeners (flavours)

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3
Q

Post-distillation tweaking serves what purposes?

A

‘Batch consistency’

Ensuring that the spirit is identical to previous bottlings…
Colour, sweetness, ABV, aroma.

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4
Q

Food for yeast comes in two forms…

A
  1. Naturally occurring sugar (cane, grapes)

2. Converted complex carbohydrates (malting or cooking in the case of agave)

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5
Q

Congeners derived from fermentation come from (2)

A
  1. Either from the fermentation itself, called “Esters”

2. From the the raw materials

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6
Q

How are consistent esters achieved from one fermentation to the next?

A

Specially selected yeasts

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7
Q
  1. With a Pot Still, the first distillation raises the ABV to roughly what?
  2. The collected liquid is called?
A
  1. 25% - 30%

2. The “Low Wines”

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8
Q

Why is the first distillation carried on for several hours until the condensate has fallen from c.50% down to 1% ABV?

A

To ensure that the lovely congeners also make it out of the still, along with some water which dilutes the condensate to 25% - 30%

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9
Q

Pot distilled spirits have a medium to pronounced aroma intensity because?

A

There are loads of congeners that pot-stilling cannot separate from the ethanol heart.

Remember that heads and tails from the previous 2nd Distillation have been added to the Pot Still for precisely this reason: to enable the capture of positive congeners always present, but hitherto uncaptured, in the heads and tails of the previous distillation.

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10
Q

At what ABV does a column still’s spirit become so congener free that it can legally be called “Neutral” in

  1. The USA
  2. The EU
A

From 95% in the USA
From 96% in the EU

So the EU is kind of Soixante-Neuf…

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11
Q

What feature of a column still determines the highest ABV it can make?

A

The number plates, and therefore the height.

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12
Q

What are the post-distillation processes - in the correct order!

(M)(A) (B)esht (F)riend

A
  1. Maturation
  2. Adding (other) flavours
  3. Blending
  4. Finishing

MABF - Ma Besht Friend

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13
Q

Maturation in oak achieves 4 things:

COCS

A 
Adding:
  Colour
  Oxygenation  
  Concentration
  Smoothing

COCS
(yeah, ho! ho!)

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14
Q

Barrel maturation adds colour. What are the 4 colours?

A

Lemon, Gold, Amber and eventually Brown.

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15
Q

What are the commonest early oak matured congeners found?

A

Vanilla, coconut, cinnamon, clove

VCCC

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16
Q
  1. How do “Rancio” characteristics develop?

2. What are common Rancio flavours?

A
  1. Within an oak barrel, and given time.
    Congeners react with each other and/or with oxygen.
  2. Leather and mushroom.
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17
Q

A maturing spirit loses volume through evaporation.

What is this commonly called?

A

The Angels’ Share

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18
Q

Barrels of very old spirit can lose as how much to the thirsty Angels?

A

50%… or more.

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19
Q

Barrels for maturing spirits are charred on the inside.

How does this make the spirit smoother?

A

The ‘char’ (or ‘toast’) captures (filters out) harsh congeners

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20
Q

A distiller has 3 considerations when it comes to oak barrels.
They concern what?
ACT

A
  1. The (A)ge of the barrel
  2. It’s previous (C)ontents
  3. The (T)emperature the barrels are stored at whilst maturing the spirit
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21
Q

An old barrel affords greater levels of colour and flavour than a new one.
True or False?

A

False.

Quite the opposite.

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22
Q

Scottish whiskies are often finished in old barrels used to mature other spirits.
Why?

A

The barrels retain significant traces of the previous spirit and this adds flavour and/or colour.

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23
Q

How does the storage temperature of a barrel affect the maturation process?

A

The higher the temperature, the quicker the maturation. Scottish whisky therefore matures more slowly that Kentucky whiskey.

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24
Q

What does maturing spirit in inert vessels (glass, stainless steel) give to a spirit. If anything?

A

Technically ‘unaged’, but the texture becomes smoother and more mouth-filling after a few months to years.

The colour remains unchanged.

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25
Q
  1. Very old Cognac is decanted into inert glass vessels called, what?
  2. For what purpose?
A
  1. Demijohns

2. Blending very expensive Cognacs.

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26
Q

Why blend spirits? (2)

A

To manage:

  1. consistency : variations between oak vessels can be considerable.
  2. complexity: a consistent complexity is attained blending old with the new.
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27
Q

Very old oak matured spirits can suffer from what:

A

They can be overly intense and lack balance.

28
Q

Young oak matured spirits suffer from?

A

A lack of depth and intensity

Which is why they blend. Obvs.

29
Q

What are the 4 processes that constitute ‘Finishing’?

A
  1. Adding water
  2. Adding colour
  3. Adding sugar
  4. Filtration
30
Q

Why ‘Finish’ a spirit?

A

To make it look and taste the same as previous bottlings

31
Q

How is the ABV of a spirit reduced prior to bottling?

A

Adding very pure water

32
Q

What are the minimum ABVs in the USA and in the EU

A

USA: 40%
EU: 37.5%

33
Q

Is the EU limit of 37.5% ABV a minimum or a maximum?

A

Minimum.

Same is true for the US minimum of 40%

34
Q

Caramel, as used in finishing a spirit, adds:

  1. Colour only
  2. Colour and taste
  3. Taste only
A

Only colour. It’s tasteless. Believe it or not.

35
Q

There are two main methods of filtration. What are they?

A

Chill Filtration

Activated Charcoal Filtration

36
Q

Why might a spirit be Chill Filtered?

A

Some spirits go hazy when chilled. So a distiller chills the spirit and filters out the haze forming components

37
Q

Does Chill Filtering affect the flavour of a spirit?

A

A moot point.

Some producers choose to make a point of not filtering.

38
Q

At which temperature (degrees C) does Ethanol boil?

39
Q

What is the main aim of using a Pot Still?

A

To remove some water from the fermented liquid

40
Q

The fermented liquid that enters the Pot Still has an ABV of roughly what, prior to the first distillation?

41
Q

What is special about Esters?

A

They are a congener, but it is the product of fermentation not the raw material
Most readily found in Rum

42
Q

The purity of a spirit equates to what about a spirit?

A

The smoothness (like body in a wine), crisp and clean

43
Q

Expressiveness… define in musical terms

A

The ability of the spirits instruments to express and distinguish themselves from the others.

44
Q

Name the two carbohydrates that need conversion

A

Starch

Inulin

45
Q

Fermentation takes what (2) and produces what (3)

A

Sugar and yeast —-> Alcohol, CO2, Congeners

46
Q

Name the parts of a Pot Still (7)

A

Heat source, Pot, Drain, Swan Neck, Still Head, Lyne Arm, Condenser

See p.9 for a diagram of a typical Pot Still (outside of Cognac)

47
Q 
Pot Stills in Cognac are different. 
Name the differences: 
1. Heat
2. Head & Neck
3. Condenser
A

The Heat must be direct (usually gas) rather than a steam filled coil
The Still Head connects the Pot to the Swan Neck (the reverse outside of Cognac)
The Still Head is connected to the Condenser by the Lyne Arm (done by the Swan Neck in Cognac)
The Condenser must be a Worm Tub

(See p.24 for diagram of a Cognac Pot Still)

48
Q

Describe a typical double pot distillation

A

First Distillation:

  1. Distil the fermented alcoholic liquid
  2. Collect the Low Wines until ABV falls to c. 1%
  3. Discard the watery waste left in the Pot

Second Distillation

  1. Add the Low Wines to the Heads & Tails collected from previous 2nd distillation
  2. Distillation begins.
  3. Collect the Heads, then cut…
  4. … to collect the Heart, and then cut…
  5. … to collect the Tails in with the Heads.
  6. Bin the watery waste from the Pot
49
Q

The aroma intensity of spirit from Pot Still is typically…

A

Medium of pronounced aroma intensity

50
Q

Name the parts of a Column Still (4)

A

Heat source, Plates, Downcomers, Bubble Cap

see p.12 for a diagram

51
Q

What dictates the ABV of the liquid on any given column still plate?

A

Its position in a the column still.

The higher the plate, the higher the ABV.

52
Q

As the ABV of liquid on the column still’s plates rises with the plate’s height within the still, what falls away at the same time?

A

Congeners.

The top plate will yield 95%-96% ABV but have so few congeners as to be “Neutral”

53
Q

What is the final ABV of the spirit collected from the First Distillation in a Pot Still?

A

c. 25% - 30% ABV

54
Q

Name the post-distillation means of adding flavours (3)

A
  1. Re-distillation
  2. Maceration
  3. Adding flavourings
55
Q

Fermented alcoholic liquid, of any raw material, enters the still with what ABV?

56
Q

Esters are created during:

  1. Distillation
  2. Fermenatation
A

Fermentation .

Distillation only concentrates what’s already there

57
Q

Freshly fermented liquid (prior to distillation) has an ABV of roughly what?

58
Q

All freshly distilled spirits share two common features?

A

Water white and sugar free.

59
Q

Ethanol’s Boiling Point

Tuberculosis E!

60
Q

Direct heat for distillation is a requirement for which spirit?

A

Cognac (usually gas fired as opposed to steam)

61
Q

Cognac requires a specific type of condenser. Name it.

62
Q

Name the most commonly used type of condenser for distilled spirit

A

Shell and Tube

63
Q

The second distillation with a pot still collects the Heart. At what ABV is the collected Heart?

64
Q

Light aroma intensity marks of rum and Scottish whisky are typically drawn off a column still at roughly what ABV?

65
Q

Finishing a spirit prior to bottling is the opportunity to tweak which (2) aspects?

A

Colour and Taste

66
Q

Activated charcoal is used to achieve what?

A

The removal of congeners and colour.
Vodka for example (flavour and colour)
White rum (mostly colour)

AD's WSET L2 Spritual (13 decks)

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