The brewing technique of Xifeng Liquor, a time-honored Chinese brand, is an intangible cultural heritage protection project in Shaanxi Province. This technique is mainly spread in Liulin Town, Fengxiang County, located in the west of the 800-li Qinchuan River. It has a vast territory, fertile land, sweet water, and unique advantages in promoting agriculture and brewing wine. It is a famous wine town in my country. In the Tang Dynasty, Xifeng Liquor was listed as a treasure and was famous in the world for its "sweet spring wine, clear and mellow fragrance". At the Nanyang Wine Competition held in 1867 (the second year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty), it won the second prize and became famous abroad. It was rated as a national famous wine at the first and second China Wine Evaluation Conferences. In addition to supplying domestic needs in China, it is also exported to many countries and regions in the world. Xifeng Liquor originated in the Shang Dynasty and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties. It was called "Qin Liquor" and "Liulin Liquor" in ancient times. It has a history of more than 2,600 years. Fengxiang is a place where phoenixes are produced in folk legends, and there are stories such as phoenixes singing in Qishan and playing flutes to attract phoenixes. After the Tang Dynasty, it was the location of Xifutai and was called Xifu Fengxiang. The wine got its name from this. According to historical records, this wine was listed as a treasure in the Tang Dynasty for its "mellow and elegant fragrance, sweet and refreshing, harmonious taste, and long aftertaste". When Su Shi was working in Fengxiang, he loved this wine very much and used the beautiful sentence "Why not get drunk with the flowers blooming and the wine is delicious, come and see the cool and green mountains in the south" to praise the Xifeng wine. Duke Zhou celebrated his victory in the late Shang Dynasty. During the Battle of Muye, the Zhou army successfully defeated King Zhou. King Wu of Zhou rewarded the army with the "Qin wine" produced in his hometown (now Xifeng wine, named after it was produced in Yongcheng, Qin); later, he held a grand founding ceremony with Liulin wine. Giving wine to detoxify During the Spring and Autumn Period, more than 300 "wild men" near Yongcheng (Fengxiang) killed and ate several fine horses of Duke Mu of Qin. They were caught by local officials and taken to the capital to be charged with theft. Duke Mu of Qin stopped and pardoned their crimes, and gave the Qin wine in the army to the "wild men" to drink, in order to prevent "eating horse meat without drinking wine and hurting the body". Later, the Battle of Hanyuan broke out, and Duke Mu of Qin was besieged by the army led by Duke Hui of Jin at the foot of Longmen Mountain and could not break out. At the critical moment, a team of "wild men" suddenly broke into the siege, killing and hacking, and the Jin army was defeated, and Duke Hui of Jin was captured. This was exactly the more than 300 "wild men" fighting to repay Duke Mu's kindness in the past, "stealing horses was not a crime, but was worried about hurting the body, so he gave fine wine instead". In May of the 25th year of the reign of King Qin, Ying Zheng, the Qin army conquered the states of Yan and Zhao. Ying Zheng ordered "Da Fu in the world", that is, a Chinese drinking party was held. The King of Qin and all the civil and military officials drank Qin wine to celebrate. In July of the same year, the Qin army conquered the state of Qi. Thus, the Qin State destroyed the six states and unified the world. The King of Qin held a grand founding ceremony with Qin wine and once again ordered "Da Fu in the world" to celebrate the whole country. From then on, Qin wine became the imperial wine of the Qin Dynasty. In the Han Dynasty, Qin wine was renamed Liulin wine and became famous. When Zhang Qian was on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions in 139 BC, Liulin wine was used as a gift from the court to friendly countries and spread to Central Asia, West Asia and European countries with the merchant camel caravans on the Silk Road. In 121 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used Liulin wine to send off the soldiers led by General Huo Qubing in Chang'an, which greatly boosted their morale and helped them defeat the Xiongnu many times. According to the Fengxiang County Chronicles, from Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the Five Fields Sacrifice was held in Yongcheng 19 times, and the court officials, scholars and poets drank Liulin wine day and night. Drunken Bees and Dancing Butterflies During the Yifeng period of the Tang Dynasty, Pei Xingjian, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, sent the Persian prince back to his country. When they arrived near Tingzitou Village, Liulin Town, Fengxiang County, in March, they suddenly found bees and butterflies lying on the ground by the road. Pei was very surprised, so he ordered the governor of the county to find out the reason. He found out that the old wine from a winery in Liulin Town had just been opened. Its mellow and rich aroma drifted to Tingzitou Village, five miles southeast of the town, and the bees and butterflies were drunk. Pei Gong was very surprised and improvised a poem: "At the head of the pavilion where guests are seen off, bees are drunk and butterflies are not dancing. The three suns bring prosperity to the country. How beautiful is the willow forest wine." The prefect of Fengxiang County then presented a jar of fine wine to Pei Shilang. After returning to the court, Pei Shilang presented the wine to Emperor Gaozong, who was delighted to drink it. Since then, Xifeng Liquor has been listed as the imperial wine of the Tang Dynasty. Golden Phoenix Treading on Snow According to the "Fengxiang County Chronicles": During the An-Shi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, the rebels approached Yongcheng. The prefect recruited civilians to build a new city to prevent accidents, but it collapsed repeatedly. One night, it suddenly snowed heavily, and the people and soldiers were surprised. In the morning, a golden phoenix flew from the eastern sky. The golden phoenix circled over the willow forest for a while, and then flew back to Yongcheng. It raised its head and sang loudly, soaring into the sky. In an instant, the wind stopped and the snow stopped, and the sky was full of rosy clouds. In the brilliant glow, the golden phoenix walked on the snow, walked a square circle, flew to the willow forest, drank the willow forest spring water, and then flew to the east where the sun rose in the bright sunshine. After the governor learned about this, he personally checked it out and built a city on the footprints of the phoenix. Soon a new city stood majestically on the side of the old city. Later, Tang Suzong succeeded to the throne in Yongcheng. According to the meaning of the golden phoenix flying, he ordered Yongcheng to be renamed "Fengxiang". In order to commemorate this event, people also renamed the spring that the phoenix drank "Phoenix Spring". Su Shi's Ode to Wine When Su Dongpo, a writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, served as the signing judge of Fengxiang, he invited friends to drink on the day when the Xiyu Pavilion in Donghu Lake, Fengxiang, was completed, and "raised wine on the pavilion" and drank the fine wine of Liulin. After drinking, he left the world-famous "Xiyu Pavilion Record", and praised Liulin wine with the beautiful sentence "Flowers bloom and wine is delicious, why not get drunk, come and see the cold and green Nanshan". There are still traces of ink left in Donghu Lake, Fengxiang. He also learned the art of brewing Liulin wine, "Recently, the autumn rain is sufficient, and I will try the new zither in my spare time." In the autumn when the grain harvest was abundant, he brewed wine with a new wine filter and tasted it. After that, he proposed a set of measures to revitalize the Fengxiang wine industry. After being approved for implementation, Liulin wine and the entire Fengxiang wine industry flourished, and Fengxiang became a famous wine town in my country. Xifeng Liquor, which has a great reputation in history, is a time-honored Chinese brand, and its brewing technique is a traditional Chinese hand-made winemaking technique. The brewing process of Xifeng Liquor adopts the continuous slag fermentation method, and the fermentation cellar is divided into two types: open cellar and dark cellar. The process flow is divided into the processes of standing cellar, breaking cellar, top cellar, round cellar, inserting cellar and picking cellar. Xifeng Liquor uses barley and peas to make koji, high-quality sorghum as raw materials, and is matched with the naturally sweet Liulin well water. It uses high-temperature koji cultivation, soil dark cellar fermentation, and continuous slag mixed steaming and burning to obtain new wine. It needs to be stored for three years and then carefully blended. The specific brewing process is as follows: Process operation Xifeng Liquor production adopts the old five-steamer fermentation method (i.e. continuous fermentation method) with continuous slag ingredients. One year is a production cycle. The cellar is established in September of the first year and selected in July of the second year. The whole production process is divided into six processes: establishment (establishing slag), breaking (breaking slag), top, round, inserting (stopping grain feeding), and selecting (dregs). Requirements: application of boiling water (i.e. application of bottom pot water to facilitate sterilization, acid removal, material moistening, and fragrance enhancement); hot cellar making method (i.e. low moisture, the water content of entering the pool is required to be around 56; small amount of koji, the amount of koji added is 18-20% of the original grain; suitable temperature entering the pool, appropriately raising the temperature of entering the pool to about 18-20, to adapt to the short fermentation period and promote the fermentation and fragrance of the cellar mash); mud sealing the cellar (new mud is used to seal the cellar after each cellar is entered into the pool to expand the contact surface between the mash and the soil, promote fragrance enhancement, and at the same time prevent bacteria invasion and keep warm for fermentation). Fermentation container Xifeng Liquor is fermented in earth pits. The pits are renewed once a year. The pit walls, pit bottoms, and old pit skins are removed and replaced with new soil. This not only provides conditions for the growth of caproic acid bacteria, but also provides strict control, so that the components such as ethyl caproate in the produced wine are limited (the content of ethyl caproate in Xifeng Liquor is generally 2010 mg/100 ml) and controlled to a level where the strong aroma does not show up. Fermentation cycle The traditional fermentation period of Xifeng Liquor is only 1114 days. There are many trace aroma components in famous wines. For example, more than 270 trace aroma components can be detected in Xifeng Liquor, including not only ester compounds but also aromatic compounds. Koji making process Xifeng Daqu belongs to medium and high temperature koji, and the highest temperature of hot koji is 60. The process of Xifeng Daqu can be summarized as: using the koji making raw materials of Qingxiang Daqu instead of the cultivation process of Qingxiang Daqu, and using the high temperature cultivation process instead of using the koji making raw materials of Qingxiang Daqu. This makes Xifeng Daqu unique, with a clear and strong aroma, combining the advantages of both clear and strong aroma Daqu. Wine storage container The traditional container of Xifeng wine is a large basket made of local vitex, the inner wall of which is pasted with hemp paper, coated with pig blood and other materials, and then coated with egg white, beeswax, cooked rapeseed oil and other materials in a certain proportion, and dried, which is called "wine sea". This storage container is different from the wine storage containers of other wineries and is truly original. Its characteristics are low cost, large inventory, low wine consumption, conducive to wine maturation, strong anti-leakage performance, and suitable for long-term storage. Xifeng wine is one of the eight famous wines in my country. It is clear and transparent, mellow and fragrant, clear but not light, strong but not gaudy, and combines the advantages of light fragrance and strong fragrance. The flavors are harmonious, the aftertaste is comfortable, and the style is unique. It is known as "sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and fragrant, but none of them stands out." It is sour but not astringent, bitter but not sticky, fragrant but not pungent, spicy but not choking, and sweet after drinking, and the taste becomes more fragrant after a long time. It belongs to the Fengxiang Daqu liquor, and is praised by people as a typical representative of "Feng-type" liquor. The alcohol content is divided into three types: 39 degrees, 55 degrees, and 65 degrees. Drinking it at the right time can promote blood circulation, dispel cold, refresh the mind and relieve fatigue.