Traditional Distilling Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Distilled liquor was anciently called "shaojiu" (burned liquor) or "chunjiu" (mellow liquor). It first evolved from low-alcohol rice wine and took shape around the Song dynasty; it has a history of more than eight hundred years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In distilled-liquor brewing, starchy or sugary raw materials such as grains and tubers are first made into fermented mash (unfiltered liquor) or fermented into a cloudy liquor, and the liquor is then obtained by distillation. Distilled liquor is white or faintly yellow and transparent, and is therefore commonly known as "baijiu" (white liquor). It has a fragrant, pure aroma and a smooth, sweet, clean taste on the palate; its alcohol content is relatively high, making it a strong liquor. Distinguished by the raw materials and the saccharifying-and-fermenting agents used, distilled-liquor brewing differs according to whether it employs the daqu (large qu), xiaoqu (small qu), or fuqu (bran qu) technique. The materials for distilled liquor are mainly food grains, giving types such as sorghum liquor and maize liquor; sorghum has a high starch content and a moderate protein content, which makes it best suited to brewing distilled liquor. China's distilled liquor is produced mainly in Sichuan, Guizhou, Henan, Hebei, Shenyang, Jilin, Beijing, and other areas; the formation of its brewing techniques is closely related to the local grains (abundant sorghum), climate (cold or damp), water quality, and living customs. Hengshui laobaigan liquor of Hebei Province is the typical representative of Chinese laobaigan-aroma baijiu and a model of high-quality daqu baijiu in northern China; it is characterized by a mellow, elegant fragrance, a harmonious body, and a full, crisp-sweet taste with a long finish. Hengshui laobaigan liquor uses high-quality northeastern sorghum as its raw material. Local high-quality wheat is naturally inoculated in the qu room and cultured under controlled fermentation to make medium-temperature daqu, which serves as the saccharifying and fermenting agent. In brewing it employs the traditional handicraft of successive-batch ingredient blending and the old five-zeng method of mixed steaming and mixed firing, fermenting in earthen vats, distilling over a gentle fire, cutting the liquor in stages, storing by grade, aging in ceramic jars, and blending with care, to produce a pure laobaigan. The traditional brewing technique of laobaigan is prized for its distinctive craft and has won awards many times at home and abroad. For a thousand years the brewing technique of Hengshui laobaigan liquor has been handed down from generation to generation through oral instruction, personal understanding, and master-to-apprentice transmission, and in that process it has been continuously innovated and developed, displaying a rich local cultural character.
Successive-batch配料 of the spent lees
The grain is northeast sorghum and the saccharifying agent a medium-temperature qu made from local wheat inoculated in the qu room; lees are carried forward round after round.
Fermentation in the buried jars
Slow low-temperature fermentation in buried ceramic jars gives the harmonious, mellow and long-finished body that defines the laobaigan style.
Gentle distillation
A steady fire and slow take-off let the aroma come off evenly; too fierce scatters it and drags impurities, too slow merely stretches the work.
Cutting fractions and grading the cellar
Cutting the run into fractions and grading each into the cellar keeps base wines apart, giving the later blending something to work with.
Storage in earthen jars and careful blending
Breathing earthen jars let the wine mature further, and blending the graded bases produces the mellow, harmonious laobaigan style.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to aroma type, distilled liquor can further be divided into sauce-aroma, light-aroma, strong-aroma, rice-aroma, and composite-aroma types, among others.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Unearthing and protecting the traditional brewing technique of Hengshui laobaigan and vigorously training a body of highly qualified, highly skilled inheritors are of great significance to the continued development and improvement of this precious brewing craft.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Gao Jingyan 03-1409
- Shang Liyun 03-1410
- Qin Wenke 03-1411
- Li Yuheng 03-1412
- Lai Dengyi 03-1414
- Li Jiashun 03-1415
- Yang Dajin 05-2838
- Zhou Xinhu
- Li Tianhua
- Xu Zhancheng
- Zhao Deyi
- Li Zexia
- Lu Zhenying
- Zhao Dong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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