The new national standard for liquor will be implemented next month, and these liquors are no longer liquor!

Experts of this article: Zou Jiangpeng, PhD in Engineering from Sichuan University, PhD in Science from University of Nantes, France, Postdoctoral Fellow from Jiangnan University

On June 1 this year, the two national liquor standards GB/T15109-2021 "Terminology of the Liquor Industry" and GB/T17204-2021 "Terminology and Classification of Beverage Alcohol" will be officially implemented. They were issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China in May 2021. These two standards have re-regulated many issues of concern in the liquor industry.

One of the biggest changes is that many liquors can no longer be called "baijiu".

What exactly has been changed in the new national standard? What impact does it have on our wine purchases? Below we sort out and analyze the issues that everyone is most concerned about.

This kind of wine can no longer be called white wine?

Liquor brewing mainly involves converting the starch in the raw materials into sugar, and then converting the sugar into alcohol. Any raw materials containing starch and fermentable sugar can be used to make liquor.

One of the commonly used raw materials is grains, such as rice, wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, highland barley, etc., and the styles of the wines brewed are different. Another type is brewing wine with cassava, molasses, beets, etc., among which cassava and molasses are commonly used raw materials for making edible alcohol.

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However, there are all kinds of wines on the market, ranging from high-end wines priced at 2,000 or 3,000 yuan to low-end wines at a few yuan a bottle. Why is there such a big price difference for the same 500ml wine?

In fact, it is mainly related to the raw materials. Cereal raw materials are usually necessary for the production of pure grain solid fermentation high-quality liquor. The common mid-to-high-end strong-flavor, sauce-flavor, and light-flavor liquors on the market are basically made of cereals. Many cheap low-end liquors are not produced with cereals as the main raw materials. Most of them are produced by blending edible alcohol with food additives.

Many people are worried that the wine they drink is not made from grains. The introduction of the new national standard has made relevant regulations in this regard.

The new national standard stipulates that "white wine is a distilled liquor made from grains as the main raw material, with big qu, small qu, bran qu, enzyme preparations and yeast as saccharification and fermentation agents, and is made through cooking, saccharification, fermentation, distillation, aging and blending." The most core requirement of this definition is that white wine must use "grains" as the main raw material.

In other words, in the future, in addition to using rice, wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, highland barley and other grains as raw materials, edible alcohol produced from potatoes, molasses, etc. can no longer be classified as "white wine" produced with grains as the main raw material.

In this way, this type of low-end liquor on the market will no longer be labeled as liquor, and consumers can also distinguish the true from the false when consuming liquor.

What is "flavored liquor"?

1. Flavored liquor is not liquor

The definition of flavored liquor is a blended liquor with the style of liquor, which is made from solid-state liquor, liquid-state liquor, solid-liquid liquor or edible alcohol as the base and with food additives added.

This type of alcoholic beverages with food additives used to be labeled as white wine. Now the new national standard clearly stipulates that these alcoholic beverages will be called "flavored white wine". The biggest benefit is that manufacturers will no longer be able to pass off inferior products as good ones, and consumers can judge the quality and price range of products simply by looking at the label.

Of course, flavored liquor is also allowed to be produced by the state and it meets the relevant food requirements, but it will have a great restrictive and regulatory effect on manufacturers and merchants.

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2. The solid-liquid method and liquid method of liquor base in the raw materials of flavored liquor

The solid-liquid method and the liquid method are commonly used in our liquor production. In the past, the liquid method could use edible alcohol produced from crops such as potatoes and molasses, and these alcohols could be made into liquor by adding flavors and spices. In the past, the solid-liquid method could use more than 30% solid liquor and a mixture of liquid liquor.

Now that the new national standard has been issued, liquid-based liquor and solid-liquid-based liquor will be clearly prohibited from using non-grain edible alcohol and food additives. Only base liquor made from grains (such as corn) and using liquid fermentation technology can be used. Grain-based edible alcohol can be added, but food additives cannot be added.

In the future, wines on the market that use food additives, or wines that use cassava or molasses alcohol as the main ingredient, will no longer be allowed to be labeled as solid-liquid or liquid-method liquors. This will also further standardize the products of many manufacturers that previously skirted the rules and deceived consumers.

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3. Fragrance and blending

When consumers hear the word "flavored liquor", they think it is liquor blended with other flavors. In fact, blending is an indispensable and normal process in liquor production.

The new national standard is designed to prevent unscrupulous manufacturers and businesses from misleading consumers. It has standardized and revised many definition terms and clarified the scope of liquor. At the same time, in order to eliminate everyone's misunderstanding of the word blending, it has been revised to blending.

Because blending is an essential process in liquor production, it is mainly to mix liquors of different taste qualities and add flavoring liquor to make the taste of the liquor balanced and meet the established taste requirements. It does not mean that all blending is synonymous with inferior quality, it is just a process term.

How to choose and buy liquor?

▶ Pay attention to the signs

After the new national standard comes out, all liquors labeled as liquor must use grains as the main raw material, and food additives are not allowed. This type of liquor is often high-quality liquor. When purchasing, try to choose liquor labeled after the new national standard takes effect on June 1, 2022.

The low-priced alcohol-based liquors produced previously will be labeled as flavored liquors in the future, so consumers should be careful to distinguish. The new national standard "Terms and Classification of Beverage Alcohol" has separated the dew wine from the blended liquor and listed it as a separate category. If you want to choose health-preserving liquor, you should also pay attention to the labeling of dew wine in the future.

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▶ Pay attention to packaging

The outer packaging of high-quality liquor is often made of fine paper with bright colors, complete and clear product logos, manufacturer, raw materials, alcohol content and other information, and often has a QR code or laser anti-counterfeiting. Avoid buying liquor with rough packaging, unclear printing, and inferior paper.

▶ Be careful about alcohol and sex

The color of high-quality liquor should be colorless or slightly yellow and transparent, and no precipitation or suspended matter is allowed. Of course, there is one exception, that is, the national standard also stipulates that when the temperature of Luzhou-flavor liquor is below 10°C, white flocculent precipitation or loss of gloss is allowed, and it should gradually return to normal when it is above 10°C. If the color of the liquor is turbid and suspended matter appears under non-low temperature conditions, then this liquor can basically be judged as inferior liquor.

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