In the vine countries, the inferior wines, or those damaged by keeping, as also a fermented mash of the pressed grapes, mixed with water, are distilled to form the eau de vie de Cognac of the French, called Brandy in this country. It contains less essential oil, and that of a more agreeable flavor, than corn spirits.
Of snaking whiskey front potatoes.— This root, in certain localities where it abounds at a moderate price, is an ex cellent material for fermenting into al cohol. When sound, it possesses from to 25 per cent. of solid substance, of which starch constitutes at least three fourths ; hence 100 pounds contain from 16 to 22 pounds of starch susceptible of being saccharified. In the expressed juice there is a small quantity of tartaric acid.
Aspotatoes readily pass into the ace tons fermentation, the admixture of the malt, the mashing and the cooling should be rapidly performed, while the utmost cleanliness must be observed.
The fermentation is brisk, probably from the agency of the albumen, and fur nishes a good head of berm, which an swers well for the bakers ; 100 pounds of potatoes yield from 18 to 20 pounds measure of spirits, nine-elevenths of our excise-proof; or about 16 pounds mea sure of proofabout about 1* gallons.
It has been observed that after the month of December potatoes begin to yield a smaller product of fermented spirits; and when they have once sprout ed or germinated, they afford very little indeed. From the difficulty of keeping and transporting potatoes, distillation from them, can never become general till some plan he adopted for overcoming these disadvantages.
When acetic ether is added to well pu rified or clean spirits, such as the distil lers call silent whiskey, it gives it some what of the flavor of brandy. For this purpose, also, the spirits are rectified from bruised prunes, or the lees of the cognac distilleries, whereby they acquire ad itional flavor. The astringent taste of old brandy is imitated by the intro duction of a little catechu into the British spirits. Burned sugar is employed as a coloring in these imitations. Butyric ether gives a pine-apple flavor.