light-aroma-style baijiu is a spirit made from sorghum. Traditionally the grain is fermented in pots placed just below ground level to maintain a steady temperature, though today it is sometimes fermented in stone or stainless steel pits to increase yields. The style originated in northern China, and its name refers to the relative mildness of flavor rather than its strength, as it is frequently bottled at an eye-watering excess of 60 percent ABV. Of the many baijiu varieties, light-aroma’s production process is one of the cheapest and least labor-intensive; thus it has become a ubiquitous mainstay of working class Chinese.
There are two principal subdivisions of the light-aroma style: erguotou and fenjiu. Erguotou, best exemplified by leading brands Red Star and Niulanshan, is Beijing’s signature baijiu. Its name, which means “second pot head,” refers to a distilling method pioneered by the Zhao brothers in the late seventeenth century. Traditional Chinese pot stills used a condenser filled and refilled with pots of cold water, and the Zhaos determined that the spirit made during the second of the three necessary fillings—what a Western distiller would call the “heart”—was of the finest quality. See Chinese still. Following the Communist Revolution of 1949, erguotou followed Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government to Taiwan, where with only slight production differences it became known as kaoliang, or “sorghum” spirit. Other characteristics typical of modern erguotou include the use of bran-based big qu as its fermentation agent, short fermentation cycles performed in small pits, and the use of neutral spirits in the blending process. See qu.
Fenjiu is named after Fenzhou (modern-day Fenyang, Shanxi Province), whose Xinghuacun Distillery invented the style. It is considered a more refined light-aroma, with greater complexity of flavors. Fenjiu is generally fermented in clay pots using big qu made from barley and peas. Following distillation, rice husks and more qu are added to the sorghum mash, which is fermented and distilled a second time.
Both styles are aged in ceramic or stainless steel jars, erguotou for at least six months, fenjiu for at least a year.
See also baijiu; Red Star; and sorghum.
Huang Faxin, David Tiande Cai, and Wai-Kit Nip. “Chinese Wines: Jiu.” In Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering, vol. 4 by Yiu H. Hui: 173-1-52. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2005.
By: Derek Sandhaus