Brewing raw materials

Although most vodka is brewed from grains (especially barley, wheat and rye), in fact, vodka does not have any brewing raw materials. Any special requirements, all raw materials capable of fermentation can be used to brew vodka, including of course grapes and potatoes.

Brewing method

The traditional brewing method of vodka is to first use potatoes, corn, barley, and rye as raw materials, and use the distillation method to distill the alcoholic liquid with an alcohol content of up to 96, and then Let the alcohol liquid flow through a container filled with a large amount of charcoal to absorb impurities in the wine liquid (continuous filtration with 1.5 kg of charcoal for every 10 liters of distillate shall not be less than 8 hours, and at least 10% of the charcoal must be replaced after 40 hours).

Finally, it is diluted with distilled water to an alcohol content of 40-50 to remove the toxins and other foreign matter contained in the alcohol. It is a pure high-alcoholic beverage.

Vodka can be sold and drunk without aging. There are also a small amount of aromatic vodka that needs to be aromatized after dilution to give it an aromatic taste. Vodka, like gin, is a high-alcoholic hard drink made from grains and does not require aging.

Extended information:

The alcohol content of vodka usually ranges from 35 to 50. The traditional alcohol content of vodka produced in Russia, Lithuania and Poland is 40 as the standard. This standard originated from Brinson Satterwhite, the first Russian to produce and promote vodka in 1894, although the 19th-century Russian scientist Mendeleev discovered that the perfect vodka alcohol content should be 38.

However, the alcohol tax at that time was calculated based on the alcohol content. In order to simplify the tax calculation, it was finally decided to set the alcohol content of vodka to 40. Under this guideline, vodka with an alcohol content below this should taste like "water" when drunk neat (without ice or mixed with other liquids), while vodka with an alcohol content above 40 will taste like "fire iron" in the mouth.

Some governments even set standards for alcohol content to be called "vodka". For example, the standard set by the European Union is that only alcohol with an alcohol content of no less than 37.5 can be called "vodka".

Vodka made a huge contribution to the victory of the Russian Red Army in World War II. Because Russia had a weak currency and was invaded by the Nazi army at the time, the Red Army’s military pay department collected Red Army kettles and transported liquor trucks to the battalion headquarters every week to distribute vodka to them. Soldiers take to the battlefield. Vodka can prevent colds and can preliminarily disinfect wounds. As long as the wine truck arrives at the Red Army camp headquarters, the Russian army will hand over the empty water bottle to fill it with vodka and take the vodka to the battlefield.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Vodka