WO2003064584A1

WO2003064584A1 - Method manufacturing the distillation liquor and the dilution liquor containing extracts of the leaves belonging to the oak family

Info

Publication number: WO2003064584A1
Application number: PCT/KR2001/002311
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kwan-Seok Pack
Original assignee: Kwan-Seok Pack
Priority date: 2001-12-31
Filing date: 2001-12-31
Publication date: 2003-08-07

Abstract

The present invention is related to the method manufacturing the distillation liquor and the dilution liquor containing extracts of the leaves belonging to the oak family which diminish bitter tastes and bad alcoholic smells due to the high alcoholic concentration. Therefore the present invention can provide the distillation liquor and the dilution liquor containing extracts of the leaves belonging to the oak family which have deodorization effects and fresh aromas.

Description

METHOD MANUFACTURING THE DISTILLATION LIQUOR AND THE

DILUTION LIQUOR CONTAINING EXTRACTS OF THE LEAVES

BELONGING TO THE OAK FAMILY

Technical Field

The present invention relates to use of an extract from leaves of Quercus family plants in manufacturing distilled and diluted liquors. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing distilled liquor in which grains are saccharified and fermented to give fermented alcohol spirits with the extract serving as a solvent and the spirits are distilled and aged for 3 months or longer, and to a method for manufacturing diluted liquor in which an alcohol spirit is diluted with the extract and aged for 3 months or longer.

Background Art

Spirituous liquor is liquor distilled from the fermented juices of grains, fruits or vegetables, and has alcoholic contents. Various spirituous liquor is well known, exemplified by such as whiskey, brandy, gin, tequila, rum, etc. Soju, one of the most popular spirituous liquors in Korea, is classified into distilled and diluted types. Distilled type Soju is liquor with an alcoholic content of 20-75 %, which is made by distilling the spirits obtained through the saccharification and fermentation of starch-containing materials, by use of a pot still. The diluted type is made from the spirits with an alcoholic content of 95 % or higher, extracted by use of a patent still, by diluting in water and adding additives.

Generally, the spirituous liquor obtained in the early distillation stage retains much of the harsh flavor peculiar to the material used. Fusel oil, which consists mainly of higher fatty acids, is also found as an impurity in the spirituous liquor in the early distillation stage. Giving harsh flavor, fusel oil deteriorates the taste of spirituous liquor. In order to reduce stingy flavor to make the taste of spirituous liquor milder, many improvements, including decrease in fusel oil content and treatment with activated carbon, have been suggested for production processes. When spirituous liquor is stored for a long period of time under proper conditions, its stingy flavor of the early stage turns into a soft, deep one. Especially, when being aged in oak barrels, spirituous liquor acquires the distinctive flavor eluted out of the oak barrels. The spirituous liquor obtained after storage in oak barrels is used as a flavoring for counterbalancing and improving the stingy flavor of diluted liquor. However, a long period of time is needed to elute the distinctive flavor out of oak barrels, giving rise to an increase in production cost.

As to distilled type Soju, it is made by diluting spirits in water until the alcohol content is reduced to 20-25 %. Diluted type Soju suffers from the problem that the characteristic flavor of the spirits may be lost. Leading to the present invention, the intensive research, conducted by the present inventors with the aim of providing the spirits which are free of bitter taste and suit people's tastes, resulted in the finding that the leaves of the Quercus family show strong deodorization effects versus stingy flavors of spirits and provide fresh fragrance.

Rich in flavonoids, leaves of plants belonging to the Quercus family are found to have deodorization effects. The effects are attributed to the fact that flavonoids easily combine with the main causes of malodor, namely hydrogen sulfϊde and amines, to form complex compounds. It is also found that extracts from the leaves of Quercus family plants remarkably attenuate bitter tastes of spirits and provide fresh aroma.

Plants belonging to the Quercus family have been utilized in the food industry. For example, starch is isolated from their fruits, e.g., acorn, and used to make jelly. In Korea, Japan and China, steamed rice wrapped with the leaves of the Quercus family plants are made into rice cakes which retain a profound characteristic aroma. After being stored for a long period of time in oak barrels, the whisky has deep flavors by virtue of the proteins, tannin, lignin, lactone, etc., eluted from the oak barrels. As mentioned above, the leaves of the Quercus family plants are rich in flavonoids which reduce oxygen radicals, very harmful agents in the body. In addition, extracts from the leaves of the Quercus family plants show emulsification function, thereby decomposing lipids. When ingested, the extracts from the leaves of the Quercus family plants are, therefore, expected to promote lipid metabolism in the body. Moreover, the extracts are found to promote the fermentation of mashes in the brewing stage and inhibit the growth of various bacteria.

Disclosure of the Invention

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing distilled and diluted liquors containing extracts from the leaves of the Quercus family plants, which are deprived of the bitter taste peculiar to liquors of high alcohol contents and superior in flavor and aroma.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing distilled liquor containing an extract from leaves of Quercus family plants, comprising the steps of: soaking the leaves of Quercus family plants in filtered water without stirring at 25-28°C to obtain an extract; brewing grains through saccharification and fermentation, with the extract serving as a solvent, to produce a spirit with an alcohol content of 10-15 %; and distilling the spirit to yield distilled liquor with an alcohol content of 30-75 %. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the brewing step comprises fermenting a mixture of a mash material, yeast and malt at 20- 25°C for 5 days to yield a primary mash; and fermenting the primary mash in combination with a mash material, yeast and said extract at 27-29°C for 15 days to yield a secondary mash. Also, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing diluted liquor containing an extract from leaves of Quercus family plants, in which the distilled liquor manufactured according to claim 1 is added at an amount of 5 % by volume to 10L of spirits having an alcohol content of 40 % and the mixture is diluted with filtered water to yield diluted liquor with an alcohol content of 20- 40 %.

Also, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing diluted liquor containing an extract from leaves of Quercus family plants, comprising the steps of: soaking leaves of Quercus family plants in filtered water without stirring at 25-28°C to obtain an extract; filtering the extract through an active carbon tank to remove the extract of a tinge of greenish yellow; and diluting a spirit of 95 % with both the extract and filtered water to yield diluted liquor with an alcohol content of 20-40 %.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method for manufacturing distilled liquor containing extracts from Quercus family plants, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method for manufacturing diluted liquor containing extracts from Quercus family plants, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

A better understanding of the present invention may be obtained through the following examples which are illustrated with Soju for convenience.

Leaves of Quercus family plants useful in the present invention are as follows and, instead of the leaves, extracts obtained from branches of first-year plants may be used.

1. Quercus acutissima 2. Quercus mongolica

3. Quercus crispula

4. Quercus dentate

5. Quercus varabilis

6. Quercus Aliena

7. Quercus glauca

8. Quercus serrata

9. Quercus acuta

10 . Quercus myrsinaefolia

11 . Other Quercus spp.

EXAMPLE 1

Within 3-6 hours after being collected, leaves of Quercus family plants are immersed in filtered water, because their physiological activity is maintained until that time. In this regard, leaves are layered neatly in an extraction vessel and added with filtered water to the top layer, with a weight ratio of the leaves to water being about 1:3. If the leaves are withered, their aromatic contents are significantly reduced. Therefore, the leaves are preferably immersed in filtered water as soon as possible to prevent the volatilization of active components. When water is used, the soaking is preferably carried out for 12-30 hours at 25-28 °C. For example, if the leaves are immersed at higher than 30 °C or for longer than 30 hours, fermentation smell is generated instead of fresh aromas.

When an aqueous alcohol is used instead of water, it preferably has an alcohol content of 5-10 % in which the immersion is carried out for 25-28 °C for

5-10 hours. If the alcohol content is too high, chlorophyll is eluted according to the disruption of cytoplasms of the leaves. After soaking under the conditions defined above, the solvent is separated from the extraction solutes.

The extract thus obtained carries a tinge of pale greenish yellow. The extract may be used instead of the same volume of water upon the production of fermented wine prior to the manufacture of distilled liquor. Alternatively, the extract may be diluted with water before use.

A mash with a spirit content of 14-18% obtained from a fermentation process was distilled to produce spirituous liquor with an alcohol content of 25- 60 %. Thereafter, the spirituous liquor is subjected to a next brewing process, and aged for 3 months or longer to give a distilled liquor containing extracts from the leaves of Quercus family plants.

EXAMPLE 2

After its greenish yellow color is removed through a filtration process, the extract obtained in Example 1 is added to the spirits to give diluted liquor with an alcohol content of 20-40 %.

EXAMPLE 3

With reference to Fig. 1, there is illustrated a method for manufacturing distilled liquor containing the extract from the leaves of Quercus family plants in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. First, leaves of Quercus family plants were gathered, removed of impurities and immersed in filtered water within 3 hours after the gathering. 10 kg of the leaves were layered neatly in a vessel and added with 30 liters of filtered water. Afterwards, the leaves were allowed to stand at 25-28 °C for 13 hours, followed by separating the liquid portion from the solid portion to obtain an extract with a volume of 18 liters (S 100).

To a mixture of 3 kg of a mash material, 0.9 kg of yeast and 0.15 kg of malt, 4 liters of the extract was added, followed by fermentation at 20-25 °C for 5 days to give a primary mash (SI 02).

The primary mash was mixed with 12 kg of a mash material, 6 kg of yeast and 18 liters of the extract and fermented at around 28 °C for 15 days to yield a secondary mash (SI 04).

Heating the secondary mash in a still produced a spirit with an alcohol content of about 40 %.

Immediately after the distillation, the spirit retained a strong and offensive smell. From the spirits, greasy components were removed by cooling and filtering (SI 08).

The filtered spirit was aged in a storage vessel to give distilled liquor with good taste and flavor.

EXAMPLE 4

10 liters of spirits was mixed with the distilled liquor at an amount of 5 % by volume and diluted with filtered water to yield diluted liquor with an alcohol content of 25 %.

EXAMPLE 5

With reference to Fig. 2, there is illustrated a method for manufacturing diluted liquor containing an extract from the leaves of Quercus family plants in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated, an extract was obtained from the leaves of Quercus family plants in the same manner as in Example 3 (S200). The extract was passed through a filtering tank to remove a tinge of greenish yellow (S202). The decolorized extract was mixed in the volume ratio of 5:95 with spirits, followed by adding filtered water to the mixture to yield diluted liquor with an alcohol content of 20-40 % (S204).

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1

A spirit with an alcohol content of 95 % distilled from tapioca was diluted with filtered water to an alcohol content of 40 %. After being added with powdered carbon at an amount of 0.5 % by weight, the diluted spirit was allowed to stand for 3 days, and then filtered. Additional dilution with filtered water yielded Soju with an alcohol content of 25 %. Although the method of the present invention is illustrated with a model of distilled type Soju, it can be applied to the production of general liquors obtained by the saccharification and fermentation of grains.

Sensory Test

A sensory test was conducted with the distilled and diluted liquors obtained in Examples 3 to 5 in comparison with the distilled liquor obtained in Comparative Example 1.

In the sensory test, 10 persons (5 males and 5 females) assessed the samples for taste, flavor and palatability using a three-grade scale (1-bad, 2- moderate, 3-good). For the test, as soon as the liquor samples were poured in transparent cups, the assessors smelled them. Then, they tasted the liquor samples and assessed the whole palatability of each of the samples. The assessors' mouths were washed with fresh water after each sample was tested. Total scores obtained from each assessor are given in Table 1, below.

TABLE 1

In Table 1, 30 is a perfect score for each test item, and the higher, the better. As seen in Table 1 , the distilled liquor of Comparative Example 1 gained as low as tens for each test item, whereas the scores gained by the distilled liquor of Example 3 are 25 or higher for each test item, demonstrating that the distilled liquor manufactured according to the present invention is greatly improved in taste, smell and palatability. Although their scores are lower than those of the distilled liquor of Example 3, the diluted liquors of Examples 4 and 5 are superior to the liquor of Comparative Example 1 in taste, smell and palatability. In consequence, the distilled and diluted liquors containing an extract from the leaves of Quercus family plants, manufactured in accordance with the present invention, are greatly improved in taste, smell and palatability as compared with conventional distilled liquors.

Industrial Applicability

As descried hereinbefore, the methods of the present invention provide distilled and diluted liquors which are greatly reduced in offensive alcohol flavor and bitter taste. In addition, the distilled and diluted liquors containing extracts from leaves of Quercus family plants in accordance with the present invention retain fresh aromas and are superior in palatability by virtue of their mild and cool tastes. When distilled and diluted liquors are manufactured according to the present invention, the extract from leaves of Quercus family plants shows an inhibitory effect on abnormal fermentation during a brewing process.

Moreover, the method of manufacturing distilled liquor according to the present invention makes the fermentation period 3-4 days shorter than that for conventional distilled liquors, in addition to promoting the maturation of distilled liquor. Therefore, the present invention is commercially favorable in industrial production.

Furthermore, the materials needed for the accomplishment of the present invention are easily obtained and so inexpensive as to cause no rise in production costs. Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing distilled liquor containing an extract from leaves of Quercus family plants, comprising the steps of: soaking the leaves of Quercus family plants in filtered water without stirring at 25-28 °C to obtain an extract; brewing grains through saccharification and fermentation, with the extract serving as a solvent, to produce a spirit with an alcohol content of 10- 15 %; and distilling the spirit to yield distilled liquor with an alcohol content of 30-

75 %.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the brewing step comprises fermenting a mixture of a mash material, yeast and malt at 20-25 °C for 5 days to yield a primary mash; and fermenting the primary mash in combination with a mash material, yeast and said extract at 27-29 °C for 15 days to yield a secondary mash.

3. A method for manufacturing diluted liquor containing an extract from leaves of Quercus family plants, in which the distilled liquor manufactured according to claim 1 is added at an amount of 5 % by volume to 10 litters of spirits having an alcohol content of 40 % and the mixture is diluted with filtered water to yield diluted liquor with an alcohol content of 20-40 %.

4. A method for manufacturing diluted liquor containing an extract from leaves of Quercus family plants, comprising the steps of: soaking leaves of Quercus family plants in filtered water without stirring at 25-28 °C to obtain an extract; filtering the extract through an active carbon tank to remove the extract of a tinge of greenish yellow; and diluting a spirit of 95 % alcohol with both the extract and filtered water iluted liquor with an alcohol content of 20-40 %.