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S
UPER
D
EE
-
SV
22
4.2
THE DISTILLATION PROCEDURE FOR SPIRITS
Spirits present different characteristics from those of wines:
Values of ASV up to 70%
Variable composition
In fact spirits with very different composition exist: from cream whisky to fruit creams, from very sweet
liqueurs such as vodka with fruit or limoncello to liqueurs with extracts of aromatic plants or roots, or
even drinks with egg or coffee.
In addition, the higher alcoholic strength results in:
a very slow distillation in order to make sure of the complete extraction of alcohol;
collection of a greater volume of distillate (around 95 ml).
It is difficult to find a common distillation method for all the different kinds of spirits because the various
ingredients interfere with the distillation in different ways, sometimes blocking the passage of the alcohol.
The basic procedure for spirits is listed below. This procedure allows carrying out a good distillation in a
short time, without excessive foam, and resulting in a clear distillate; the specific methods applicable to
different alcohol products are indicated in the subsequent paragraph.
The distillation procedure
Observations
1. The sample is poured up to the mark of the
special flask
7
It is recommended that the temperature of the
sample is 20 °C.
One can also operate at room temperature: a
maximum deviation of
±
2 °C is allowed
between the sampling and the bringing back to
volume after distillation.
2. Pour the contents into the bulb of the distillatory
3. Wash the flask 3 times with 10 ml of distilled
water and add washings to distillatory bulb
4. Add the “
solution for liqueurs
”
8
: solution 1:1
of NaCl 1% and [KAl(SO
4
)
2
] 12%
The aim is to increase the conductivity of the
sample and to suppress the aromatic
substances.
5. Add a few ml of diluted antifoam
Its addition avoids the formation of foam which
would be an obstacle to the normal distillation
of the alcohol.
6. Add about 2 ml cold distilled water to the same
flask used for measurement of the sample.
Collect
≈
95 ml of distillate therein.
7. Add distilled water nearly up to volume, stopper
and bring to volume when the temperature
reaches 20 °C or the temperature of sample
before distillation
THE USE OF A THERMOSTATIC BATH IS ADVISED
8. Stopper the flask and mix with care to avoid
bubbles
Regarding brandy, etc. the method is the same as the one indicated for wines, with the exception of the
addition of a small quantity of lime milk: because of the low acidity of such products, 1-2 ml is sufficient.
In case of alcoholic strength higher than 50 % vol, it is advisable to dilute to 1:2
7
See note 1
8
For the quantity see Table 1
