May 13 2024Reviewed by Lexie Corner
Researchers from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have uncovered the molecular mysteries underlying the alcohol content of alcoholic beverages (such as Chinese baijiu) in a study published in Matter. In addition to offering fresh prospects for future innovation in the alcoholic beverage sector, the research provides a scientific justification for conventional distillation methods.
Ethanol-water mixtures determine the critical alcohol content of beverages. By employing molecular dynamics simulations and high-frequency proton nuclear magnetic resonance, they could identify discrete ethanol-water molecular clusters in ethanol-water mixes. Prof. Jiang Lei led the team.
According to the researchers, the transitions of these clusters at particular critical points closely match the alcohol content ranges of several popular alcoholic beverages worldwide.
They discovered that low temperatures encourage the development of chain-like clusters dominated by ethanol. This explains why people prefer warming spirits like baijiu and cooling beers to achieve similar "ethanol-like" flavors at lower alcohol content. This discovery offers prospects for the creation of novel alcoholic beverages in the future as well as a scientific foundation for conventional brewing and distilling methods.
This groundbreaking research has demystified the conventional methods used to calculate an alcoholic beverage's alcohol by volume or alcohol concentration and given the industry a new scientific foundation for standardized production.
By carefully regulating the critical points of the ethanol-water cluster, manufacturers can maintain optimal flavor while lowering alcohol concentration, allowing them to offer a wider variety of products on the market.
Journal Reference:
Yang, X., et al. (2024) Ethanol-water clusters determine the critical concentration of alcoholic beverages. Matter.doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2024.03.017.