Design and Operation of an Artificial Pit for the Fermentation of Chinese Liquor

A laboratory-scale artificial pit for solid-substrate fermentation was designed and placed into operation to explore a new-style of distilled liquor. This product recaptures the quality of Chinese traditional liquor. The on-line parameters determined included temperature, gas production, and physicochemical and flavor characteristics of Huangshui. The quality of the liquor produced by the artificial pit was also monitored. Changes in the pit temperature reflected the fermentation conditions in the pit. The ratio between gas production and alcohol content of Huangshui was 1:2. On average, 6.24 litres per batch of the new-style distilled liquor was produced using this non-traditional pit and the basic quality was acceptable. Although the fermentation time was only 1 month, the yield ratio of alcohol from the artificial pit was 20.5% compared with a typical 3 month fermentation yield of 33% in the industry. This artificial pit was deemed feasible for fermentation research and for quality improvement for Chinese new-style distilled liquor.