Understanding Wine & Beer

Horticulture I

Distillation I

Materials

Equipment

• Pot still: A pot still is the heating (pot) end of the still. Heat is applied directly to it, bringing the contents to a boil. The alcohol evaporates off and is transferred through the water jacket to condense.  Used for: rums, brandies... {WIP}
  
• Water jacket: The water jacket is a sleeve which contains cooler water; as the alcohol travels through the tube inside the sleeve, the surrounding cooler water temperatures cause the alcohol to condense and drip out the other end into another container. The condensed alcohol can then be run through another pot still (or through the same one, after it's been cleaned) to further distill the spirits and make stronger alcohol, like rum.  Used for: rum... {WIP}
  
• Aging barrel: After distilling is complete, alcohol is sometimes aged to improve its flavor.  This is usually done in an aging barrel.  The type of barrel can affect the flavor of the alcohol; for example, a smoky flavor may be added by charring the inside of a wooden barrel, or the natural flavors can be preserved by using glass. Used for: rum... {WIP}
  

Ingredients

• Grapes: Used for brandies, wines... {WIP}
  
• Fruits: Used for brandies, wines... {WIP}
  
• Pomace: The fermentation and distillation of grape skins, seeds, and stems after the grape has been pressed to extract its juices.  Used for brandies... {WIP}
  

Processing

• Take prepared wine and boil it in a pot still repeatedly.
  
• Remove portions of the distill as necessary to keep the flavor from souring.  Extractions may be used in a separate batch.
  
• Additional...?
  

• Take prepared brew and boil it in a pot still, channeling the evaporate through the water jacket. Repeat two times (total: three distillations).
  
• Place distillate in aging barrel and age.
  
• Additional...?
  

Techniques

Horticulture II: Plant nutrition

Sweeteners

• Sugar cane: Sugar cane is a tropical plant which grows well in Southern Boll or on the Southern Continent. It reproduces both sexually and asexually. In asexual reproduction, there are no flowers with sepals or stamen; stem cuttings of an adult stalk, called setts, are planted to germinate new stalks. In sexual reproduction, the inflorescence develops at the top of the stalk and the tassel looks like an arrow; each tassel contains thousands of tiny flowers, each capable of producing a seed. For producing sweetening, the flowers are useless and unimportant, they're only useful for breeding hybrids.
  
  There are two types of roots: sett roots and shoot roots. Sett roots are thin and prolific, with lots of branchings; they grow out of the parent stalk which was planted. They are critical to the nutrition of a stalk in the first two weeks after germination; after the shoot roots are established, the sett roots wither and die off. Shoot roots are larger and appear a week after planting; they provide stability and nutrition channels for the stalk as the parent stalk dies off.
  
  The stalk is the primary part of sugar cane. A primary stalk develops from the bud on a sett (a small, almost miniature version of the adult stalk). Secondary stalks, called tillers, may branch off from the primary stalk. The stalk consists of joints, which are formed when the stalk grows beyond the existing leaf and that leaf falls off; buds are generated at the joints. As the stalk grows, it sheds more leaves, resulting in more joints. The top third of the stalk is typically rich in leaves and buds, but low in sugar content; when harvesting, these sections will be used as setts to start new plantings while the lower two-thirds of the stalk are processed for sugar (or sweetening).
  
  The leaves are made of sheaths and blades. The sheath covers the stalk from the previous joint; when this part is shed, it results in the joint. The blades grow, alternating, out of the sheath.
  

Grapes

• Frost grapes: Vitis Vulpina are grapevines that have long life spans and a moderate growth rate, reaching a maximum height of 83 feet. Despite its name, it does not do well in extreme colds, although the frost will help grapes ripen faster. The grape is round and purple, and very tart or acidic, although it will become sweet after a frost due to the drop in acidic levels as the grapes decompose. This particular plant has a dormant stage and as such it's leaves will fall off, while the grapes shrivel up and turn into raisins if not harvested before winter.
  
  The vines themselves can be either monoecious, containing both male and female parts, or diecious, containing only the sexual parts of one gender. Their flowers typically appear during the spring for around two months, and the flowers are arranged in compound panicles with 5 yellow petals, 5 sepals and 5 stamen. The leaves are arranged alternately by cordate shape. Unlike other wild grapes, there are no tufts of hair present on the leaves, and tendrils appear every third leaf.