Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Treatment of liquid with nongaseous material other than...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-12
2004-03-09
Sherrer, Curtis E (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Treatment of liquid with nongaseous material other than...
C426S552000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06703060
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to compositions and methods for aging of beverages, particularly liquids to be aged in the presence of wood, and more particularly to the accelerated aging of distilled beverages.
2. Description of Related Art
Ethanolic distillates aged in wooden containers exhibit myriad chemical changes over the course of several years. These changes are believed to be due to three types of chemical reactions: 1) reactions involving only the distillate components, 2) extraction of wood-derived compounds that are soluble in the distillate, and 3) reactions of the distillate components with the extracted wood compounds (Liebmann and Rosenblatt,
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
, vol. 35, no. 9, 1943). The present disclosure focuses on reactions among the distillate components, including possible reactions of distillate components and extracted wood-derived components and the unexpected results of a novel modification to the chemical milieu that affects the aging process.
Unaged spirits distillates are composed principally of varying amounts of ethanol, acetaldehyde, water, fatty acid esters and ethyl acetate. An average American whiskey (Bourbon) distillate contains about 12 g/100 PL (grams per 100 liters at 100° proof) of ethyl acetate; and malt whiskey, such as that known as Scotch, as much as 29 g/100 PL of ethyl acetate.
During barrel-aging, the predominant transformation in the distillate in quantitative terms is the linear increase in ethyl acetate due to the oxidation of ethanol. Over the lengthy course of barrel-aging, ethyl acetate may increase from three to six times the amount originally present in the distillate (Reazin;
American Journal of Enology and Viticulture
; vol. 32, no. 4, 1981). In particular, during barrel-aging, ethyl acetate is formed initially from acetic acid already present in the distillate and according to industry investigators, perhaps additionally from acetic acid formed by degradation of the barrel wood. After this initial period, the formation of ethyl acetate is dependent upon the oxidation of ethanol into acetic acid at a uniform, linear rate.
Industry scientific investigators report the mechanism of ethanol transformation during barrel-aging as follows (Liebmann and Rosenblatt, 1943):
1. Ethanol+O
2
→acetaldehyde
2. Acetaldehyde+O
2
→acetic acid
3. Barrel wood - - - ↑
4. Ethanol+acetic acid→ethyl acetate+H
2
O
In conventional barrel-aging, the pH takes about 6 months to drop to the required acidic levels for the various reactions necessary for the development of beverage character to occur. Thereafter, the production of ethyl acetate is dependent upon the formation of acetic acid in the barrel, which takes 36 to 48 months to reach the level of marketable, aged beverages, often 4 years old (Reazin, 1981). It would be desirable in the distillery art to be able to accelerate this process, so that the same character of beverage could be produced in a much shorter time period. The present disclosure provides methods of aging beverages that result in distilled beverages that are aged for much shorter periods, even as short as about 30-40 days or even less, that have the character conventionally achieved only after four years of aging.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present disclosure provides an improvement in the aging process of beverages that are normally aged in contact with a wood product such as an oak barrel or other wood product. The invention provides a means of aging a beverage in contact with a wood product, so that the beverage acquires the desired organoleptic characteristics that are associated with wood-aged beverages, in an accelerated manner. The present disclosure provides methods by which a raw distilled liquid may be contained in a closed system and circulated through a flavor transfer cartridge containing a comminuted wood product, thus acquiring the organoleptic character of a matured beverage in a greatly accelerated manner. It is a further aspect of the disclosure that through manipulation of the ethyl acetate levels prior to or during the flavor transfer process in certain beverages, one may further accelerate the aging process. The practice of the processes disclosed herein have allowed the present inventors to age a beverage to attain the characteristics of a conventional four year or longer aging process in just months, and in certain embodiments, in as little as about 15 to 40 days.
It is known in the art that contacting a raw beverage with wood, by storing the beverage in an oak barrel, for example, or by storing the beverage in contact with a prepared wood product allows the beverage to acquire a smooth character and more desirable taste due to extraction of certain compounds from the wood, and also due to the oxidation of certain alcohols and aldehydes. It is also known that certain beverages, including rum, whiskeys such as Bourbons, Scotches, ryes, and certain tequilas owe a large part of their flavor to the concentration of acetic acid in the final product. From looking at the reactions shown in the previous section, it can be seen that in the conventional maturation process, it is widely believed that ethanol is oxidized to acetic acid, and that this acetic acid then reacts with another portion of the ethanol to produce ethyl acetate and water, and that up to ⅔ of the final acetic acid is derived from those oxidation reactions (Reazin, 1981). It is a surprising discovery of the present inventors that, using the processes described herein, the majority of the acetic acid appears to be derived from the wood product. In the conventional aging process, a portion of this acetic acid reacts with ethanol to form ethyl acetate. An aspect of the present disclosure is a method of providing ethyl acetate in the raw beverage, thus “driving” the last step in the reactions shown above in the opposite direction, toward acetic acid. It is contemplated by the inventors, that this allows the beverage to attain higher levels of acetic acid and other desired esters in an accelerated reaction, thus contributing to the accelerated aging process described herein.
It is an aspect of the invention, therefore, that one of skill in the art may determine the level of acetic acid and ethyl acetate in the unaged beverage, and can then add an amount of ethyl acetate to the unaged beverage that is targeted to the final product. This amount may be determined by matching it to the amount found in a similar distillate after conventional aging, or it may be adjusted in order to obtain a beverage with a certain desired flavor or characteristic, such as an increase in fruity or pineapple flavor, for example. This predetermined or target ethyl acetate level that is necessary to achieve the desired final beverage composition may be adjusted by adding ethyl acetate to the raw distillate as described herein, and it may also, in certain embodiments, be added by the “art” of fermentation and distillation to achieve a higher ethyl acetate concentration in the raw distillate.
As discovered by the present inventors, it is typical that about 1 to 2 grams per 100 PL of ethyl acetate will be converted in the final equilibrium during the described aging processes, so that a sufficient amount of ethyl acetate must be added in order to account for that conversion. If, for example, a concentration of about 23 grams per 100 PL ethyl acetate is desired in the aged beverage, then the distillate would be adjusted to have about 23.5, 24 or up to about 26 grams per 100 PL when the aging begins. The amount of ethyl acetate in the mature beverage will depend on the type of beverage and the desired characteristic taste. In light of this knowledge, one of skill in the art could either add the desired amount of ethyl acetate to the raw distillate, or alter the fermentation and distillation conditions in order to achieve the same ethyl acetate level. Either method would, of course, fall within the scope of the disclosed invention.
The present invention ma
Buske Walter E.
Delmore John P.
Gross, II Remy F.
Kairos Corporation
Sherrer Curtis E
Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.
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