Attempt to produce wine and whiskey by 'adding chemical substances to water and alcohol'

by Prem Pal Singh

New types of foods such as " artificial meat " made in the laboratory and " Sirerent " which makes existing meals unnecessary are born one after another. Even in the field of alcohol, "attempts to artificially make liquor in laboratory" is being actively attempted, one of which Endless West adds chemicals to water and ethyl alcohol to make wine of famous production areas I succeeded in producing artificial liquor of the same flavor as the age whiskey.

An Exclusive First Taste of Lab-Made Whiskey - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-exclusive-first-taste-of-lab-made-wishkey-1538434144

Lab-Made Whiskey, Lab-Made Wine | In the Pipeline
https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2018/10/31/lab-made-whiskey-lab-made-wine

Attempts to improve the taste from scientific approaches to wine and whiskey are done by Endless West and other startups. These companies are trying to reproduce the flavor by analyzing the components of various wines and by adding chemicals to water and ethanol. It is said that the taste of wine changes with the conditions such as geography, climate, soil, but it is an approach that ignored all those thinking such an existing wine enthusiast is important.

Of course, how people feel the taste of wine depends on factors other than the substances contained in the wine itself. In previous studies, people who heard "This wine is expensive" not only gave a high evaluation when drinking the wine, but also became clear by the brain scan that you can enjoy more wine drinking experience I will . Experience also depends on the situation of drinking wine and the condition of drinkers, but considering only "chemical substances that make up wine", it is technically possible to synthesize famous wines in the laboratory Is possible.

by Helena Lopes

And Endless West is trying to produce not only wine but also whiskey "Glyph" in the laboratory. According to Endless West, whiskey is easier to manufacture and sell than wine. The wine industry is committed to making wine and tends to not accept selling laboratory wine as wine. On the other hand, in the case of whiskey, there is a category of mixed whiskey called "Spirit · Whiskey" by the Alcohol Tobacco Taxation and Trade Bureau, and Glyph has been found to fit in this category.

The authorities have defined Spirit Whiskey as "a blend of 5% or more neutral spirits on a proof gallon basis". Therefore, Glyph also contains 5% distilled distilled whiskey. However, because it is small in quantity, it does not change the flavor of ethyl alcohol which is almost the base.

Endless West researchers clarified the components of the intended beverage using liquid chromatography / mass spectrometry (LC / MS) and gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC / MS) and revealed that food grade reagents We are using flavors to reproduce flavors. What is interesting is that in order to produce a complicated flavor, it is necessary to use a chemical substance that itself generates an unpleasant odor. For example, 3-methylbutanoic acid is a malodorous substance known as a cause of bad breath due to aging, but it is necessary to create "a scent like a fruit punch" of young wine.

While Endless West says it can fully reproduce the taste of the intended whiskey, on the other hand, Colin Spoelman, a whiskey maker representative in the Wall Street Journal's article, is interested in Endless West "I can not be a game changer ". The same thing as wine can also be said to whiskey, people who seek age whiskey are of course also tasteful, but of course it is mentioned as the reason for finding meaning in the social behavior of "buying old whiskey" I will. Meanwhile, it seems that it will be a good opportunity for people to look to the way the industry is being factory produced, raising catch phrases such as "handmade".

However, Endless West's laboratory whiskey may gain certain popularity in the market, but as people imagine "cheap" from the sound of artificial whiskey, it is considered that it could be forced to sell at a lower price Thing.

Not limited to whiskey and wine, 'food made in laboratories' is considered to come out more and more in the market in the future. Some of them are selling cheapness and high quality, and others selling unusual "experiences". People are likely to think about once about "what is real food" and "what is tastiness".