JPS6219077A - Method of aging sake - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To age rapidly SAKE without damaging quality of SAKE of its own and to soften the flavor of SAKE, by irradiating SAKE with middle - far infrared rays containing infrared rays with specific wavelength. CONSTITUTION:SAKE (preferably low-class distilled spirits) is irradiated with middle - far infrared rays containing infrared rays with at least 10-50mum wavelength and SAKE is aged. The middle - far infrared rays are preferably infrared rays generated by heating an infrared ray radiator obtained by calcining a material mixture consisting of >=60wt% ZrO2.SiO2, <=15wt% mineralizer comprising at least one metal oxide selected from a group of iron oxide, cobalt oxide, nickel oxide and chromium oxide and manganese oxide and the rest of clay at lowest at a porcelain-forming temperature.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for rapid aging of alcoholic beverages.
The present invention relates to a method for rapidly ripening alcoholic beverages in which alcoholic beverages are irradiated with medium to far infrared rays including infrared rays with a wavelength of 0 to 50 μm.

Not only distilled spirits such as shochu and whisky, but also brewed spirits such as sake, have a rough flavor immediately after production. It takes several months for the product to mature and become a product with a mild flavor. In beer, wine, etc., idle fermentation follows the main fermentation, and especially in wine, horizontal storage after expansion is a necessary condition for maturation.

In the case of shochu, in order to shorten the aging period of authentic shochu (a pot-distilled product and classified as shochu type 2 under the Liquor Tax Act), it is necessary to add sugar within the allowable amount, distill under reduced pressure, or treat it with ion exchange resin or activated carbon. However, the flavor is often not as good as that of products that have been aged for several months.

As mentioned above, the aging of alcoholic beverages requires long-term storage, from several months to several years, which increases production costs.
High-frequency current treatment, irradiation treatment with gamma rays, X-rays, and ultraviolet condensation,
Rapid ripening methods such as high-speed stirring and adding mixed chips have been tried, but the ripening effect has not been sufficient and none of these methods have been put into practical use.

According to the present invention, by irradiating alcoholic beverages with medium to far infrared rays including infrared rays having a wavelength of at least 10 to 50 microns for several tens of minutes to several hours, alcoholic beverages can be improved without impairing the original quality of the alcoholic beverages. It has been found that it is possible to soften the flavor.

The medium to far infrared rays used in the rapid ripening method of the present invention are those having a wavelength of at least 10 to 50 μm, preferably at least 5 to 100 μm. Such a device that generates mid-to-far infrared rays is not subject to any particular restrictions when used in the ripening method of the present invention, as long as it generates mid-to-far infrared rays that include infrared rays of the above-mentioned specific wavelengths. 60% by weight or more of ZrO, SiO2 disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-25010, at least one metal oxide selected from the group consisting of oxides of iron, cobalt, nickel and chromium, and manganese. Preferably, an infrared generator uses an infrared sub-radiator obtained by firing a base mixture made from up to 15% of a mineralizing agent consisting of an oxide and the remaining clay at a porcelain hot water temperature together with a heating means. Used in the present invention.

Alcoholic beverages to which the rapid aging method of the present invention is applied are particularly applicable to alcoholic beverages such as alcoholic beverages such as alcoholic beverages, whiskey, brandy, spirits, alcoholic beverages and Japanese sake such as synthetic sake, mirin, sweet fruit liquors, and liqueurs. . The rapid ripening method of the present invention is most suitable for distilled liquors and brewed liquors, and most preferably for distilled liquors. Among them, the Shochu Otsu type is particularly suitable.

In the rapid aging method of the present invention, in order to irradiate the alcoholic beverage with medium to far infrared rays including infrared rays with a wavelength of at least 10 to 50μ,
Medium to far infrared rays having the above-mentioned wavelength characteristics may be irradiated directly onto the alcoholic beverages, or bottled alcoholic beverages may be irradiated from outside the bottle, and as a continuous aging method, it may be irradiated inside a pipe such as a glass. A method of irradiating the flowing alcoholic beverage with medium to far infrared rays from around the pipe is appropriately adopted.

The time for irradiating alcoholic beverages with the medium to far infrared rays in the rapid ripening method of the present invention varies depending on the type of alcoholic beverage and conditions such as temperature, but generally, irradiation for several tens of minutes to several hours softens the flavor of the alcoholic beverage. is achieved.

The reason why the rapid aging method of the present invention achieves excellent results is not well understood, but the irradiated near to far infrared energy is selectively absorbed by trace organic components (e.g., nucleic acids, amino acids, etc.) in alcoholic beverages. Molecular motion between organic molecules is slowed down, resulting in heat generation, but it is presumed that molecular association takes place in an extremely short period of time, resulting in a mild flavor.

Thus, according to the rapid aging method of the present invention, a softening of the sweetness comparable to alcoholic beverages that have been aged for several months or several years can be achieved with an irradiation time of several tens of minutes to several hours. . This type of surface effect of the present invention is particularly remarkable in the case of the second type.

Example Five commercially available bottles each of four types of Class O shochu and one type of A shochu made of different raw materials were loaded unopened into the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, and -250
Medium-to-far-infrared I containing infrared rays with a wavelength of 5 to 100 microns, generated from a heating element (ceramic heater) using an infrared sub-radiator (manufactured by Ishikawa Seito Research Institute) disclosed in Publication No. 10
Aa was irradiated evenly over the entire pot for 20 minutes.

Figure 1 (longitudinal sectional view) and Figure 2 (horizontal sectional view) illustrate a medium to far infrared ray irradiation test device for alcoholic beverages, where B is a pedestal with a built-in motor, slider, and timer, and A is an aluminum frame. Plate reflector tube (I): 220 m / m ) and reflector, combined with an infrared sub-radiator disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 47-25010 and a heat generating heater.
Two V2DoFs are fixed, an infrared spinning irradiator, an R-shaped rotary disk (Dt: 100rn/m), the sample to be irradiated is placed on this plate, and the sample is randomly irradiated with infrared rays. Rotate the inside constantly.

After irradiation, five pairs of irradiated products and non-irradiated products were selected by a five-person expert panel in a blind test to select the milder one, and each type of irradiation was evaluated 25 times. Table 1 shows the number of times that the item selected as mild matched the irradiated item. It was also confirmed that the irradiated products were milder than the non-irradiated products by the estimation method processing. A characteristic feature of shochu made from sweet potato is that the unique odor originating from the raw material is reduced by irradiation, and as a result it was rated as mild. Furthermore, as a result of molecular movement caused by selective absorption by irradiation with medium to far infrared rays for 20 minutes, the temperature of the alcoholic beverage rises to about 40°C. When compared with a conduction-added product with the same turbidity and duration of ripening or mildening according to the present invention, a clear difference in quality was observed from a sensory point of view.

Table 1 Furthermore, as shown in Table 2, the ultraviolet absorption at a wavelength of 0.275 μm was measured for irradiated and non-irradiated products of type Otsu shochu made from buckwheat, rice, and wheat. An increase was observed, and the non-irradiated products could be clearly distinguished from the non-irradiated products.

Brief explanation of Table 2, page 4121. Figure 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a medium to far infrared irradiation device, and Figure 2 is a plan view of the same device.

Patent applicant: Shizuo Ishikawa 1 nailer Figure 1 Huge Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for aging alcoholic beverages, which comprises irradiating the alcoholic beverage with medium to far infrared rays including infrared rays with a wavelength of at least 10 to 50 μm. 2. The medium to far infrared rays are minerals consisting of 60% by weight or more of ZrO_2/SiO_2 and at least one metal oxide and manganese oxide selected from the group consisting of oxides of iron, cobalt, nickel and chromium. Claim 1: Infrared rays generated by heating an infrared sub-radiator obtained by firing a base mixture consisting of up to 15% by weight of a curing agent and the balance clay at at least the porcelain forming temperature. Aging method as described. 3. The aging method according to claim 1, wherein the alcoholic beverage is shochiyu.