Traditional Distilling Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-144Traditional CraftsmanshipPingquan, HebeiBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

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. The brewing technique of Shanzhuang laojiu emerged and took shape in the early Qing dynasty, matured increasingly after the Kangxi period, and gradually declined from the Republican era to the early years of the People's Republic. Beginning in the late 1990s, the brewing technique of Shanzhuang laojiu saw new development. In 2005 Shanzhuang laojiu was recognized as a "China Geographical Indication Product". In 2006 the "Shanzhuang" trademark was recognized as a "China Well-Known Trademark".

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. Shanzhuang laojiu is produced in Pingquan County, Hebei Province, at the northeastern end of the Yanshan range, a place of clear waters and green hills with a pleasant climate that has been a natural home for brewing since ancient times. Shanzhuang laojiu uses sorghum as its main raw material and is brewed with a blended formulation of high-quality wheat mixed with barley and peas. In brewing, medium-to-high-temperature qu is first cultivated; then successive-batch mash (or residue) blending is used in a process of separate steaming and mixed firing, followed by fermentation and distillation over a gentle fire, cutting off the heads and tails, drawing the liquor at medium temperature, and collecting it in stages; finally the finest fraction is taken, sealed in ceramic jars, and stored at a suitable temperature for at least four years.

Preparing the medium-high temperature qu

Sorghum is the main grain with wheat, barley and peas as mixed配料; the medium-high temperature qu is made first and sets the frame of the finished wine.

Successive lees and clean-steam mixed burning

After the qu is made, spent lees are carried forward and steamed together with fresh grain in a clean still, the entry point to the wine's clean aroma.

Cutting head and tail, flowing at medium heat

Slow distillation at medium heat with a steady flow: the head carries the heaviest impurities and the tail has already run thin.

Cutting the run and sealing the jars

The run is cut into fractions, the best taken, and the earthen jars sealed to keep the volatile aromatics from escaping during storage.

Aged at the right temperature for four years

At least four years at the right temperature, a threshold no part of the flavour can spare; since the wine gained geographical-indication status in 2006 the ageing period has been watched even more closely.

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.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The traditional brewing technique of Shanzhuang laojiu is a survival of ancient brewing craft and has considerable academic value for the study of the history of baijiu in the north. Shang Liyun (per the official archival record of the associated inheritor): Female, Manchu ethnicity, born in January 1964, a native of Pingquan County, Hebei Province. Representative inheritor of the traditional brewing technique of distilled liquor (the traditional brewing technique of Shanzhuang laojiu), a project of the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. A senior assessor for national vocational certification and a national judge of baijiu. She emphasizes product development and research, continually introduces new techniques and methods, further raised product quality on the existing basis, and established a liquor-body database; she put forward new views on the research and development of the Shanzhuang series of liquors and on building the liquor-body library, and she also solved the difficult problem of sediment in Bazhen imperial liquor. She published "Removing Turbidity from Low-Alcohol Liquor and the Application of Activated Carbon" in China Liquor News, and has trained a number of liquor appraisers and tasters.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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