BRANDY (for older brandywine: cf. Ger. Brannticei», burned. distilled wine). A term sometimes applied generically to all kinds of ardent spirits, but usually restricted to the liquid obtained by distilling the fermented juice of the grape. (See DISTILLED LIQUORS, OR AR DENT SPIRITS.) The various fermented wines em ployed for this purpose contain from 10 to 15 per cent. of their weight in alcohol, the white wines being preferred, as they possess a finer flavor than red wines. The yield of 1000 gallons of wine is from 100 to 150 gallons of brandy. The liquor varies in strength, but is commercially judged of according to the quantity of can de nie or brandy o preure de llollande which it con tains. It is generally diluted with water until it consists of from 50 to 54 per cent. by volume of absolute alcohol. When distilled, brandy is clear and colorless, and will remain so if kept in glass vessels. But when placed in wooden casks. the spirit dissolves out the coloring matter of the wood, and acquires a light sherry tint, which dealers often make deeper by the addition of burnt sugar and other coloring matters. The
pleasant aroma of brandy is due to the presence of more or less fusel oil (q.v.), accompanied by menanthie ether. The utmost famous brandy is that known as Cognac, distilled in the depart ments of Charente and in the southwest of France. Because of the ravages of the Phylloxera insect, the manufacture of genuine Cognac has greatly decreased in France in recent years; while the manufacture of facti tious Cognac has correspondingly increased. Brandy is also made in Spain and Portugal, and, within recent years, in California. A second •lass brandy is obtained from the refuse (mare) of the grapes left in the •ine-press, the scrapings of wine-casks and vats, and the deposits in wine, bottles. Very much of the brandy of commerce is a factitious product made from grain or potato spirit. In America, brandy is made not only from fermented grapes, but also from apples (see APPLE BRANDY), pears, cherries, and peaches. For the production of brandy in the Cnited States, see LIQUORS, FERMENTED AND DISTILLED, STATISTICS OP. See also, LiQuoits;