1. Raw material crushing
In the production of Maotai flavor liquor, sorghum material is called sand. In the annual large-scale production cycle, feeding is divided into two times, the first time is called Desanding, and the second time is called coarse sand. After feeding, it needs eight times of fermentation, each fermentation is about one month, and a large cycle is about 10 months. As the raw materials are subject to repeated fermentation, the raw materials are crushed coarsely. The ratio of whole grains to broken grains is required, 80% to 20% of the sand, 70% to 30% of the coarse sand, and 50% to 50% of the total amount of the sand and the coarse sand respectively. In order to ensure the purity of liquor quality, Maotai flavor liquor basically does not add auxiliary materials in the production process, and its loose effect is mainly regulated by the size of sorghum raw materials.
 
2. Daqu crushing
Maotai flavor liquor is produced by high-temperature Daqu. Due to the low saccharification and fermentation capacity of high-temperature Daqu and the coarse raw materials, the finer the Daqu is, the better it is for saccharification and fermentation.
 
3. Xiasha
The first feeding of Maotai flavor liquor production is called Xiasha. For each steamer, 350kg sorghum was put into the steamer, and 50% of the total was put into the sand.
(1) When splashing water and accumulating sand, the smashed sorghum is first splashed with hot water (called grain water) with the raw material quantity of 51-52% and above 90 ℃. When splashing water, mix while splashing to make the raw material absorb water evenly. Water can also be poured into two times, each time, three times. Pay attention to prevent the loss of water, so as to avoid insufficient water absorption of raw materials. Then add 5-7% of the mother's grains and mix well. The mother distiller's grains are the high-quality fermented grains without steaming after the last round of fermentation in the last year. The results show that the starch concentration is 11-14%, the sugar content is 0.7-2.6%, the acidity is 3-3.5, and the alcohol content is about 4.8-7% (V / V). The moistening material will be accumulated for about 10 hours after water supply.
(2) The steamed grain (steamed sand) is first sprinkled with a layer of rice husk on the grate of the steamer, and the material is sprinkled on the upper steamer with the steam. The task of the upper steamer is completed within 1 hour. After the round steam, the material is steamed for 2-3 hours, about 70% of the raw materials are steamed, and then the steamer can be steamed out, which should not be over cooked. Pour hot water (weighing water) of 85 ℃ on the steamer, and the measured water is 12% of the raw material. The total amount of water used for grain delivery and metering is about 56-60% of the feeding amount.
The moisture content of raw sand is about 44-45%, the starch content is 38-39%, and the acidity is 0.34-0.36.
(3) The raw sand after cooling and water splashing shall be cooled and dispersed, and the water lost due to evaporation shall be supplemented appropriately. When the product temperature is reduced to about 32 ℃, add 7.5kg tail wine (about 2% of the amount of sand feeding) with alcohol content of 30% (V / V), mix well. The added tail liquor is made by diluting the waste liquor produced in the previous year and the liquor head steamed in each steamer.
(4) When the product temperature of raw sand material is reduced to about 32 ℃, Daqu powder is added and the amount of adding Qu is controlled at about 10% of the feeding amount. When adding koji powder, spread it evenly. After mixing, the product temperature shall be about 30 ℃, and the pile shall be round and even, higher in winter and shorter in summer. The stacking time shall be 4-5 days. When the product temperature rises to 45-50 ℃, it can be inserted into the pile by hand. When the extracted fermented grains have sweet wine flavor, they can be fermented in the cellar.
(5) After being put into the cellar for fermentation, the raw sand fermented grains were mixed well, and about 2.6% of the inferior wine was added during the mixing. Then put it into the cellar. When the fermentation cellar is full, press the surface of fermented grains gently with wooden board, and sprinkle a thin layer of rice husk. Finally, seal the cellar with mud for about 4cm, ferment for 30-33 days, and the temperature of fermented products changes between 35-48 ℃.

4. coarse sand
The second feeding of Maotai flavor liquor is called coarse sand.
(1) The fermentation mature raw sand fermented grains were taken out in several times with half retort (about 300kg) each time. The raw material of sorghum powder was 175-187.5kg, which was mixed with sorghum powder after comminution and distribution of grain water. The operation of water delivery is the same as that of sand production.
(2) Steam wine and grain, mix the raw grains with the coarse grains, put them in steamer and steam them. The first distilled liquor is called Shengsha liquor, which has low liquor yield and strong astringent taste. After being diluted, all Shengsha liquor is poured back to the fermented grains of the coarse sand, and then it participates in fermentation again. This operation is called "raise cellar with wine" or "raise fermented grains with wine". The steaming time should be 4 ~ 5h to ensure the gelatinization and softness.
(3) Under cellar fermentation, the steamed fermented grains are cooled, mixed with koji, piled and fermented. The process operation is the same as that of raw sand wine, and then under cellar fermentation. It should be noted that Maotai flavor liquor is only fed with materials twice a year, i.e. once for sanding and once for coarse sand, and no new materials will be put into the next six rounds, only the fermented grains are repeatedly fermented and steamed.
(4) The changes of product temperature, acidity and alcohol content should be paid attention to during the fermentation. After a month of fermentation, you can open the cellar to steam wine (toasted wine). Because of the large volume of the cellar, it is necessary to distill many times before all the fermented grains in the cellar are evaporated. In order to reduce the volatilization loss of liquor and flavor matter, it is necessary to steam as soon as possible. When it comes to the last fermented grains in the cellar (also called fragrant fermented grains), the fermented grains that need to be returned to the cellar for fermentation and have been piled up shall be prepared in time. After the last fermented grains come out of the cellar, the piled fermented grains shall be put into the cellar for fermentation immediately.
When steaming the wine, it should be spread evenly. See steamer on the steam, slow steam distillation, pick the wine in quantity and quality, and store in different grades. The temperature control of Maotai flavor liquor is high, often above 40 ℃, which is one of its "three high" characteristics, that is, high temperature koji making, high temperature stacking and high temperature liquor flowing. The liquor distilled from the fermented grains of coarse sand is called "coarse sand liquor". It is the second round of liquor in the annual production cycle and the first original liquor to be put into storage. The head of coarse sand wine should be stored separately for blending, and the tail of wine can be poured back to the fermented grains for re fermentation to produce fragrance, which is called "returning sand".
After the completion of the distillation of the brown sand wine, no new materials will be added to the fermented grains after steaming. After being spread and cooled, the tail wine and Daqu powder will be added, mixed and piled up, and then fermented in the cellar for one month, and then the steamed wine will be taken out. That is to say, the second round of wine, that is, the second original wine, is called "back to the sand wine". This wine is more fragrant, mellow and slightly astringent than the brown sand wine. The next several rounds are the same as the operation of "returning to sand", respectively taking three, four and five times of original wine, collectively referred to as "Dahui wine". The wine is fragrant, mellow, full-bodied and free of evil and miscellaneous taste. The liquor steamed in the sixth round of fermentation is called "Xiaohui liquor". The liquor is mellow, with good paste and long taste. The seventh steamed wine is "kudross wine", also known as zhudross wine. It is mellow and has a paste fragrance, but it is slightly bitter and has a strong bad taste. The eighth fermentation steams the liquor as the discard dregs, slightly with the burnt bitter taste of the withered dregs, has the paste fragrance, generally makes the tail liquor, after the dilution returns to the cellar fermentation.
The production of Maotai flavor liquor is one cycle a year, with two times of feeding, eight times of fermentation and seven times of liquor flowing. From the third round, no new materials will be put into the fermented grains, but the starch content in the fermented grains is relatively high due to the coarse crushing of raw materials. With the increase of fermentation rounds, starch is gradually consumed until the end of the eighth fermentation, and the starch content in the discarded grains is still about 10%.
In the fermentation of Maotai flavor liquor, the amount of Daqu is very high, and the ratio of the total amount of Daqu to the total amount of feed is about 1:1. The amount of Daqu added in each round of fermentation should be adjusted according to the change of temperature, starch content and liquor quality. Low temperature, appropriate multi-use, high temperature, appropriate less use, basically controlled at about 10% of the feeding amount, among which the third, fourth and fifth rounds can be appropriately increased, while the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds can be appropriately reduced.
During the production, the fermented grains after steaming for 4-5 days after cooling and adding koji should be piled and fermented for 4-5 days. The purpose is to renew and enrich the fermented grains, and further propagate the molds, thermophilic Bacillus and yeast in Daqu, so as to play the role of secondary koji making. When the temperature of the collected products reaches 45 ~ 50 ℃, the microorganisms have been propagated vigorously, and then transferred to the cellar for fermentation, which makes the brewing microorganisms occupy the absolute advantage and ensure the normal fermentation, which is the unique feature of Maotai flavor liquor production.
When fermenting, the fermented grains are fed from the original to the original, so as to raise the cellar with fermented grains and raise the fermented grains with cellar. After each time the fermented grains are piled up and fermented, they should be poured with tail liquor before entering the cellar. Ensure normal fermentation and good aroma production. The amount of tail wine decreased from 15kg per cellar at the beginning to 5kg per cellar with the increase of fermentation rounds. Each round of fermented grains is poured into the end liquor, which is returned to the sand for fermentation and enhanced aroma production. The amount of end liquor should be determined according to the quality of the last round of production and the degree of dryness and wetness of the fermented grains at the time of stacking. Generally, the amount of wine poured into each round of fermented grains should be controlled over 15kg. With the increase of fermentation rounds, the amount of wine poured in should be reduced gradually, and the last round of fermented grains should not be poured. Return wine fermentation is another characteristic of Daqu liquor with Maotai flavor.
Due to the large amount of returned wine, the alcohol content of fermented grains reached about 2% (V / V) when entering the cellar, which played a positive role in inhibiting the growth and reproduction of harmful microorganisms and made the wine soft and mellow.
Maotai liquor cellar is made of block stone and clay, with a large volume of about 14m3 or 25m3. Firewood must be used to burn the cellar every year before it is put into production, in order to kill the bacteria in the cellar, remove the smell of dried grains and improve the temperature of the cellar. Firewood for each cellar is about 50 ~ 100kg. After burning the wine cellar, wait for the temperature to drop a little, clean the ashes, sprinkle a small amount of waste at the bottom of the cellar, and then clean it again. Then spray 7.5kg of inferior wine and 15kg of Daqu powder to make the caproic acid bacteria contained in the pit bottom get nutrition and activate. After the above treatment, it can be used for feeding.
Due to the different position of fermented grains in the cellar, the quality of wine is also different. The distilled liquor can be divided into three types: alcohol sweet type, soy sauce flavor type and cellar bottom flavor type. Among them, Maotai liquor with Maotai flavor is the main component that determines the quality of Maotai liquor, most of which is produced by fermented grains in the cellar and at the top of the cellar, while the cellar liquor with cellar flavor is produced by fermented grains near the bottom of the cellar, while the mellow and sweet type is produced by fermented grains in the cellar. The three parts of fermented grains should be distilled separately and liquor stored separately.
In order to mix seasoning, Maotai flavor liquor can also produce a certain amount of "double round bottom" liquor. When the mature double round bottom fermented grains are taken out each time, half of them are added with new fermented grains, tail liquor and koji powder. After mixing, they are piled up and fermented again. The other half of the double round bottom fermented grains can be steamed directly and stored separately for flavoring.
 
5. Warehousing and storage
All kinds of distilled liquor should be stored in separate containers and aged for three years to make it mellow and soft.
 
6. Careful blending
For the original wine stored for three years, first mix the sample, then enlarge the blending, and then store it for another year. Only after the manager's inspection and evaluation are qualified, can it be packaged and delivered.