Technology
Our production technology.
ALCOHOL PRODUCTION
The Urzhumskiy Distillery produces 3 types of grain alcohol: "Alpha", "Lux" and "Highest Purity". The "Alpha" alcohol of the highest quality is used to produce premium vodkas.
For the production of alcohol, the company uses grains: a mixture of rye and wheat grown in their own organic fields in the south of the province of Kirov (Russia).
PREPARATION OF RAW MATERIALS
Before the cooking process, the grains are classified, cleaned of dust, washed, crushed and put into containers where they are mixed with water.
COOKING
The cooking of the grains is done in order to destroy their cell walls. As a result of this process, the starch is released and converted into a soluble form. In this state, its saccharification with enzymes occurs much easier. The cooking process takes place at low temperatures, with a gentle technology of cooking at low temperature, at a natural atmospheric pressure.
SACCHARIFICATION
After cooking, the grains are saccharified by adding to the paste obtained the special enzymatic preparations that cause the raw materials to release sugars that serve as a culture medium for special alcohol yeasts. Active exposure makes the product suitable for a subsequent fermentation process.
FERMENTATION
In the next stage, the saccharified pasta is supplied to vats, special vessels where fermentation takes place. The yeast processes the sugars releasing alcohol and carbon dioxide. The content of ethyl alcohol in the must at the outlet reaches 9.5% by volume.
EXTRACTION OF ALCOHOL BY DISTILLATION AND RECTIFICATION
The matured must is supplied to the six-column multiple distillation plant that purifies the alcohol by removing the impurities. The finished alcohol is cooled and channeled to the alcohol tank, from where it is sent to the production plant of vodkas, balsams, bistles and sweet tinctures.
The ethyl alcohol content reaches 96.3-96.6%, which complies with GOST 5962-2013, a document that regulates the properties of ethyl alcohol in Russia.
The extremely low content of impurities indicates the excellent quality of the alcohol produced in the factory of Urzhum. Alcohol has almost no aldehydes and esters, the content of methanol and that of fusel oils is 100 and 7 times lower, respectively, than permissible levels acceptable in Russia.
The equipment for the production of alcohol is manufactured by the German company Grimma and equipped with an instrumentation system that allows remote control of production, eliminating the possibility of human error from the process and maintaining the quality of alcohol at a constant high level.
FILTRATIONS
Water - 3 levels of filtration,
Vodka - 3 levels of filtration,
Components - 2 levels of filtration,
Then the final filtration of the product is made.
In total, the plant has 17 filtration units that participate in the production process.
VODKA
For centuries, the raw material for Russian vodka has been rye, a grain that ripens well in the latitudes of the Russian central plain. In the last 100 years, it is wheat that began to play an important role in the production of vodka. However, the best varieties of vodka are traditionally made from rye.
WATER PREPARATION
Water is the most important component of vodka, whose quality influences the taste. The water used in the factory to produce vodkas, bistles and sweet tinctures, is soft, transparent, colorless, with a minimum content of salts. The water is extracted from an artesian well, rising from a depth of more than 90 meters. Before being mixed with grain alcohol, the water goes through several stages of purification: sedimentation and filtration through quartz sand. The preparation of the softened water is carried out in two parallel technological lines: cation exchange softening unit in the "Zauber Kraft GSA_ST" sodium cycle and reverse osmosis unit, in automatic mode.
ELABORATION OF THE WATER-ALCOHOL MIXTURE
According to the desired content of ethyl alcohol in vodka, the water-alcohol mixture of different alcoholic strengths can be prepared. The water, together with the alcohol that comes out of the tanks, enters into closed mixing tanks of water and alcohol, where it is mixed. During this phase, other ingredients are also added, according to the recipe of the drink.
FILTRATION OF THE WATER-ALCOHOL MIXTURE
Filtration improves the organoleptic properties of vodka. Quartz sand and additional fine filters filled with coconut activated charcoal with silver, granulated and without ash are used as filtering material.
REPOSE
This is the final stage, prior to the bottling of the finished product. The assimilation continues for 2 days. In some cases, the mixture of water and alcohol has been "resting" for up to 7 days. Said time interval allows to achieve the maximum interaction between all the components of the beverage. At this time, the mixture of water and alcohol becomes a harmonious and smooth vodka.
BOTTLING
The bottling of the finished vodka is carried out in automated lines. At the bottling stage, all bottles are checked. Each bottle is rinsed with vodka before filling. This process allows to maintain the desired alcohol content of the beverage and cleans the bottle from the inside. The next step is the bottling and capping of the finished product.
BALM (LIQUOR OF HERBS)
The balm marinated with healing herbs is one of the oldest drinks. The balms produced by the Urzhumskiy Distillery include tinctures of medicinal plants. The ingredients of each balsam are combined with each other, without there being a pronounced aroma or flavor of a dominant component.
PREPARATION OF INGREDIENTS (RAW MATERIALS AND SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCTS)
For the preparation of dyes and balms in the company, we use alcoholic juices of berries and fruits, mors and infusions of dried fruits, flowers and rhizomes. Before proceeding to the preparation, the raw materials are classified and crushed according to the type of raw material. The prepared raw material is loaded in infusion tanks and a suitable water-alcohol mixture is poured. Berries and delicate fruits are processed in the Urzhumskiy Distillery immediately after entering the plant, so that they do not lose their healthy properties.
ELABORATION OF ALCOHOLIC JUICES OF BERRIES AND FRUITS
To prepare the ingredients, fruits and berries are sorted, washed, crushed or pressed. Then they are cured with alcohol, and the alcoholic juice obtained is decanted. In some occasions, the alcoholic juice requires clarification, for which, in addition, its filtering is carried out or special absorbers of authorized use are used in the food industry.
BLENDING
The mixing of semi-finished products, ingredients, ethyl alcohol made from food raw materials and corrected water is carried out in the mixing workshop. When mixing products using fruit and berry alcoholic juices, first, a necessary amount of special alcohol is added to a mixing tank, then a portion of water, then alcoholic juices, mors, infusions and sugar syrup according to the recipe and in the sequence determined by the specialists of the plant.
BOTTLING
The bottling of the finished product is carried out in semiautomatic lines. At the bottling stage, all bottles are checked. Each bottle is rinsed with vodka before filling. This process allows to maintain the desired alcohol content of the beverage and cleans the bottle from the inside. The next step is the bottling and capping of the finished product.
SAMOGON (TRADITIONAL DISTILLED FROM RUSSIA)
The distilled alcoholic beverage "SAMOGON" 1833 "is elaborated, using the original technology, based on distillation of high-quality grains, aromatic alcohol, prepared drinking water and sugar.
It has a mild flavor and pure aroma with a light tone of rye bread. The drink is characterized by exceptional quality and boasts its own unrepeatable identity.
Grain distillation is produced by distillation of fermented grain raw materials.
The distillate is obtained by distilling the must in a wort column, while the fusel column is used to stabilize the graduation of the finished product.
Sequence of the grain distillation process:
Preparation and preparation of raw materials;
Fermentation, up to 8-12%;
Distillation of must;
Purification.
The must of grains gives a very good result, what happens is that, in common opinion, the elaboration of the wort based on cereals costs much more work.