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Fermentation Atlas

Alcoholic drinks from Sichuan

Nongxiang (strong-aroma) baijiu — mud-pit process浓香型白酒

fruity, sweet, rich 'strong aroma' baijiu. Made in 5 steps over 14 months. The longest step, age in clay jars and blend, takes at least 12 months. Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 12 monthsTypicalAge in clay jars and blend
Temperature18–25 °CTypicalCool and mix in medium-temperature daqu powder
DocumentedAlcoholic drinks14 monthsMore alcoholic drinksMore from China

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
sorghum alone (Luzhou)
or five grains: sorghum, rice, glutinous rice, wheat and maize (Wuliangye)
rice husk
medium-temperature daqu
Starter: koji/qu/mold-starter (medium-temperature daqu, made at 50–60 °C)

Total time across the recorded steps: 14 months

Start
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What changes: New grain and old fermented grain steam together while the old grain distils

Step 1 of 5
Mix new grain with old fermented grains ('continuous / 10,000-year grains', xuzao) and husk, steam-distil together (hunzheng hunshao)
Time
1 h
Typical
Temperature
~100
Unconfirmed
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Bacillus

Continuous mash (xuzao): each cycle the top layer is taken off and replaced with fresh grain and qu. Output: steamed grains + spirit from previous round.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

kills microbes; cooks new grain while distilling old

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

Variants

  • Double-bottom (shuangdi)Grains at the pit bottom stay for 2 or more fermentation periods in contact with pit mud and yellow water.

Made the nongxiang way

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [wp-baijiu] Wikipedia, Baijiu (outline only)wiki
  2. [xiao2017] Xiao et al., "Bio-Heat Is a Key Environmental Driver Shaping the Microbial Community of Medium-Temperature Daqu", Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2017paper
  3. [pmc11972265] Review of strong-aroma baijiu pit fermentation, PMC11972265 (cited in round 2 with the Oxford Companion to Spirits)paper