Dictionary Definition
brandy n : distilled from wine or fermented fruit
juice
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- , /ˈbrændi/, /"br
Extensive Definition
Brandy (derived from
brandywine, from Dutch
brandewijn—'burnt wine') is a spirit produced by means of
distilling wine, the wine having first been
produced by means of fermenting
grapes. Brandy contains 40%–60% alcohol
by volume and is normally consumed as an after-dinner drink. It
is generally coloured with caramel
colouring to imitate the effect of long aging in wooden
casks.
Brandy can also be made from
fermented fruit (i.e., other than grapes) and from pomace. Pomace and fruit brandies
are generally drunk unaged and are usually not
coloured.
History
The origins of brandy are clearly tied to the development of distillation. Concentrated alcoholic beverages were known in ancient Greece and Rome and may have a history going back to ancient Babylon. Brandy, as it is known today, first began to appear in the 12th century and became generally popular in the 14th century.Initially wine was distilled
as a preservation
method and as a way to make the wine easier for merchants to transport. It was
also thought that wine was originally distilled to lessen the tax
which was assessed by volume. The intent was to add the water removed by distillation back
to the brandy shortly before consumption. It was discovered that
after having been stored in wooden
casks, the resulting product had improved over the original
distilled spirit.
5. Brandy or Weinbrand (a)
Brandy or Weinbrand is a spirit drink: 1) produced from wine
spirit, whether or not .….wine distillate has been added, distilled
at less than 94,8% vol., provided that that distillate does not
exceed a maximum of 50% of the alcoholic content of the finished
product, 2) matured for at least one year in oak receptacles or for
at least six months in oak casks with a capacity of less than 1 000
litres, 3) containing a quantity of volatile substances equal to or
exceeding 125 grams per hectolitre of 100% vol. alcohol, and
derived exclusively from the distillation or redistillation of the
raw materials used, 4) having a maximum methanol content of 200
grams per hectolitre of 100% vol. alcohol. (b) The minimum
alcoholic strength by volume of brandy or Weinbrand shall be 36%.
(c) No addition of alcohol as defined in Annex I(5), diluted or
not, shall take place. (d) Brandy or Weinbrand shall not be
flavoured. This shall not exclude traditional production methods.
(e) Brandy or Weinbrand may only contain added caramel as a means
to adapt colour.
This definition formally
excludes pomace brandy, fruit brandy and even unaged grape brandy.
The same EU regulation defines the names of these excluded spirits
as grape marc spirit , fruit spirit and wine spirit. The German
term Weinbrand is equivalent to the English term brandy, however,
outside the German
speaking countries, it is only used for brandies from Austria and
Germany. In
Poland
brandy is sometimes called (together with loan word "brandy)
"Winiak" (from "wino" - a wine).
Variations
Pot vs. tower stills
Cognac and South African pot
still brandy are examples of brandy produced in batches using
pot
stills (batch distillation). Many American brandies use
fractional distillation in tower stills to perform their
distillation. Special pot stills with
a fractionation section on top are used for Armagnac.
Aging
Brandy is produced using one of three predominant aging methods:- No aging: Many pomace and fruit brandies (cf. eau de vie) are not aged after distillation. The resulting product is typically a clear liquid.
Brandy Labels
Brandy has a rating system to describe its quality and condition, these indicators can usually be found near the brand name on the label. A.C. : aged two years in wood. V.S. : "Very Special" or 3-Star, aged at least three years in wood. V.S.O.P. : "Very Special Old Pale" or 5-Star, aged at least five years in wood. X.O. : "Extra Old", Napoleon or Vieille Reserve, aged at least six years, Napoleon at least four years. Vintage : Stored in the cask until the time it is bottled with the label showing the vintage date. Hors D'age: : These are too old to determine the age, although ten years plus is typical, and are usually of great quality.Distillation
A batch distillation typically works as follows: Wine with an alcohol concentration of 8% to 12% v/v and high acidity is boiled in a pot still. Vapours of ethanol, water, and the numerous aroma components rise upward and are collected in a condenser coil where it becomes a liquid again. Because ethanol and various aroma components vaporize at a lower temperature than does water, the concentration of alcohol in the condensed product (the distillate) is higher than in the original wine.After one distillation, the
distillate, called "low wine," will contain roughly 30% alcohol
(ethanol) by volume. The low wine is then distilled a second time.
The first 1% or so of distillate that's produced, called the
"head," has an alcohol concentration of about 83% and an unpleasant
odor, so it is discarded (generally, mixed in with another batch of
low wine for future use). The distillation process continues,
yielding a distillate of approximately 70% alcohol (called the
"heart"), which is what will be consumed as brandy. The portion of
low wine that remains after distillation, called the "tail," will
be mixed into another batch of low wine for future
use.
Distillation does not simply
enhance the alcohol content of wine. The heat under which the
product is distilled and the material of the still (usually
copper) cause chemical
reactions to take place during distillation. This leads to the
formation of numerous new volatile
aroma components, changes in relative amounts of aroma components
in the wine, and the hydrolysis of components such
as esters.
Historical production
As described in the 1728 edition of Cyclopaedia, the following method was used to distill brandy: A cucurbit was filled half full of the liquor from which brandy was to be drawn and then raised with a little fire until about one sixth part was distilled, or until that which falls into the receiver was entirely flammable. This liquor, distilled only once, was called spirit of wine or brandy. Purified by another distillation (or several more), this was then called spirit of wine rectified. The second distillation was made in balneo mariae and in a glass cucurbit, and the liquor was distilled to about one half the quantity. This was further rectified—as long as the operator thought necessary—to produce brandy.To abridge these several
distillations, which were long and troublesome, a chemical
instrument was invented, whereby the rectification of spirit of
wine was performed in a single distillation. To test the purity of
the rectified spirit of wine, a portion was ignited. If the entire
contents were consumed without leaving any impurity behind, then
the liquor was good. Another, better test involved putting a little
gunpowder in the
bottom of the spirit. If the gunpowder took fire when the spirit
was consumed, then the liquor was good.
Brandies follow Distillation
Technology - Wherever the Grape
As most brandies are distilled
from grapes, the regions of the world producing excellent brandies
have roughly paralleled those areas producing grapes for
viniculture. At the end of the 19th Century, the western European
market—and by extension their overseas empires—was dominated by
French and Spanish brandies, and eastern Europe was dominated by
brandies from the Black Sea region, including Bulgaria, the Crimea,
and Georgia. In 1880, David Saradjishvili founded his Cognac
Factory in Tbilisi, Georgia (then part of the Russian Empire) which
was a crossroads for Turkish, Central Asian, and Persian
traderoutes. Armenian and Georgian brandies (always called cognacs
in the era) were considered some of the best in the world, often
beating their French competitors at the International Expositions
in Paris and Brussels in the early 1900s. The storehouses of the
Romanov Court in St. Petersburg were regarded as the largest
collections of cognacs and wines in the world—much of it from the
Transcaucasus region of Georgia. During the October Revolution of
1917, upon the storming of the Winter Palace, the Bolshevik
Revolution actually paused for a week or so as the rioters engorged
on the substantial stores of cognac and wines. The Russian market
was always a huge brandy-consuming region, and while much of it was
homegrown, much was imported. The patterns of bottles follow that
of western European norm. Throughout the Soviet era, the production
of brandy remained a source of pride for the communist regime, and
they continued to produce some excellent varieties - most famously
the Jubilee Brandies of 1967, 1977, and 1987. Remaining bottles of
these productions are highly sought after, not simply for their
quality, but for their historical significance.
See also
References
brandy in Afrikaans:
Brandewyn
brandy in Catalan:
Brandi
brandy in Czech:
Brandy
brandy in German:
Brandy
brandy in Estonian:
Brändi
brandy in Spanish:
Brandy
brandy in Persian:
براندی
brandy in French: Brandy
(alcool)
brandy in Scottish Gaelic:
Branndaidh
brandy in Galician:
Brandy
brandy in Indonesian:
Brendi
brandy in Italian:
Brandy
brandy in Hebrew:
ברנדי
brandy in Lithuanian:
Brendis
brandy in Maltese:
Brendi
brandy in Dutch: Brandewijn
(drank)
brandy in Japanese:
ブランデー
brandy in Norwegian:
Brandy
brandy in Polish:
Brandy
brandy in Portuguese:
Conhaque
brandy in Russian:
Бренди
brandy in Serbian:
Вињак
brandy in Finnish:
Brandy
brandy in Swedish: Brandy
(spritdryck)
brandy in Thai:
บรั่นดี
brandy in Turkish:
Kanyak
brandy in Ukrainian:
Бренді
brandy in Chinese:
白兰地