Huangjiu

Huangjiu (Chinese: 黃酒; lit. 'yellow wine') is a type of Chinese rice wine (mijiu) most popular in the Jiangnan area. Huangjiu is brewed by mixing steamed grains including rice, glutinous rice or millet with qū as starter culture, followed by saccharification and fermentation at around 13–18 °C (55–64 °F) for fortnights. Its alcohol content is typically 8% to 20%.
Huangjiu is usually pasteurized, aged, and filtered before its final bottling for sale to consumers. The maturation process can be complicated but important for the development of the layers of flavors and fragrance. A few brands of premium grade huangjiu could have been aged for up to 20 years. As huangjiu's name suggests, its typical color is typically light yellow and orange, but it can in fact range from clear to brown. Many famous huangjiu brands promote the quality of water used in brewing in their advertising, and some consider it to be the most important ingredient.
The drink is commonly consumed warm, as the richness from the flavor compounds are released better when warm. In summer, it is popular to drink sweet huangjiu chilled or on ice. Liaojiu (料酒) is a type of huangjiu used in cooking, an example of this being the liaojiu-type of Shaoxing rice wine. Major producers of huangjiu include mainland China and Taiwan.
Huangjiu in Chinese society had perhaps the same level of influence as beer in the European societies throughout history. Archeology has established that ancient Chinese people once brewed some form of alcohol similar to beer in China, however with the invention of the brewing method using qu, huangjiu rapidly replaced the prototypic beer in ancient China and beer-like beverages fell out of fashion as the ancient Chinese drinkers preferred tastes of huangjiu. As beer was completely forgotten in China until the 19th century, when the Germans reintroduced a brewery in Qingdao (then romanized as Tsingtao) which later became the producer of today's famous Tsingtao beer, huangjiu has always been the nation's favorite type of brewed alcoholic beverage (whereas baijiu has been the nation's favorite spirit or liquor).
The earliest form of huangjiu was supposedly devized by Du Kang during the reign of Shaokang of the Xia. Dukang was subsequently deified as the Chinese god of wine. His son Heita is sometimes said to have accidentally invented Zhenjiang vinegar when his forgetfulness allowed a vat to spoil.
Today, huangjiu has a great presence throughout China, especially in the Jiangnan area. Most well-known huangjiu varieties include Guyue longshan, Kuaijishan and Tapai from Shaoxing, Huiquan jiu from Wuxi.
Huangjiu is produced widely throughout China, in a variety of styles, which reflect the wine's sugar content, the starter/innoculent (or qu) used, and its production method.
This is the formal classification for all Chinese wines. There are five categories: dry, semidry, semisweet, sweet, and extra-sweet.
Some of the most popular huangjiu include:
The three main ingredients of Chinese alcoholic beverages are the grain, water, and qu. Other ingredients may also be added to alter the color, taste, or medicinal properties of the final product.
During their creation, storage, or presentation, Chinese alcoholic beverages may be flavored or seasoned. Use of fruit is rare, particularly compared with Korean wines, but medicinal herbs, flowers, and spices are much more common. Well-known examples include cassia wine (flavored with sweet osmanthus blossoms and consumed during the Mid-Autumn Festival) and realgar wine (dosed with a small amount of arsenic sulfide and consumed during the Dragon Boat Festival).
The earliest grains domesticated in China were millet in the north and rice in the south. Both are still employed in production of alcohol. Modern production also employs wheat, barley, sorghum, and coixseed.
For huangjiu, the grains are degermed and polished of their bran. They are then soaked and acidified with the aid of lactobacillus or through the addition of lactic acid into the soaking liquid. (Acidification is done to discourage the growth of other microbes on the grains, which can spoil the resulting liquor by creating undesired flavors in it or rendering it poisonous.) This process produces a taste and mouth-feel distinct from other forms of rice wine.
Water hydrates the grains and enables fermentation. The pH and mineral content of the water also contribute to the flavor and quality of the drink. Many regions are famous not only for their alcoholic beverages but also for the flavor and quality of their water sources. Emphasis is placed on gathering the cleanest water directly from springs or streams or from the center of lakes, where the water has been exposed to the least amount of pollutants. Water should be low in iron and sodium, with a higher proportion of magnesium and calcium ions as part of its total mineral content.
The fermentation starter, known in Chinese as Jiuqu or simply as Qu, is usually a dried cake of flour cultured with various molds, yeasts and bacteria. In the production of huangjiu it is crushed and added to inoculate the cereal substrate to initiate fermentation into liquor. The various molds and filamentous yeasts found in Qu exude enzymes that digest the substrate into sugars that are in turn, fermented into alcohol by other yeasts and bacteria.
There are three main types of starters:
Prior to the actual brewing of the liquor, another small batch of grain is prepared to produce the "seed mash" (酒母, jiǔmǔ). Seed mash is produced by soaking and acidifying glutinous rice and other grains, then steaming them on frames or screens for several minutes. This cooks the grains and converts their starch into a gelatinized form that is more easily utilized by the starter culture. The inoculation temperature of the steamed grains is tightly controlled as it alters the flavor character. This is usually done when the grain has been doused with cold water and cooled to between 23 and 28 °C, which is considered the optimal initial fermentation temperature for the seed mash.
After the little starter is added, it is allowed around two days to begin the saccharification, acidification, and fermentation of the grains. Inoculation with the first starter partially liquifies the steamed grains, which is the signal to add the big starter as well as more water to form a thick slurry. This slurry is carefully stirred by a brewmaster to aerate and maintain an optimal level of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the mixture, as well as to maintain an even temperature throughout the fermenting mass. The slurry is periodically stirred over the course of a week. The stirred slurry is then allowed to go through a more thorough fermentation for approximately one month, following which the pH drops to around 3.4 and the alcohol content rises to approximately 15%. This is the seed mash that will be used to brew the main mash.
More soaked and acidified rice is prepared in the same fashion as in the seed mash. The grain is then either cooled with cold water or left out on a flat surface, depending on the type of huangjiu being produced, as the cooling method alters the flavor and mouth-feel of the resulting drink. The seed mash, an additional big starter, and fresh water is then mixed into this grain in large, glazed earthenware pots up to 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) in diameter and height. The mixture is pounded on the sides of the pots.
Similar to the production of Japanese sake, saccharification and fermentation usually happen in the same mash concurrently, as the seed mash and starter act on the cooked rice. The mixture is then left to mature in earthenware jars for a length of time from several months to several decades before being bottled and sold.
Northern breweries often use three big starters rather than an initial little starter. Large factories typically employ air blowers to cool the second batch of grain rather than using cold water or leaving it out to cool.
The brewery may also separate the saccharification and fermentation of the grain, similar to brewing. If this is desired, the seed mash is typically not used, since a main mash will never be produced. Instead, a mash of water, steamed glutinous rice, and other grains is inoculated with rice that has already been cultivated with the mold Aspergillus oryzae or molds of the genus Rhizopus and certain strains of Lactobacillus. When mixed into the mash, the molds cultivate the mixture and convert the starch in the grains into sugar and lactic acid. This sweet and slightly sour liquid is drained and reserved, while additional water (and sometimes also malt) is added to the mixture. The process is repeated until the grains are exhausted. Yeast is then added to this liquid in order to convert the sugars in the liquid to alcohol.