Development of a Product Quality Control Protocol for the Distillation of Apple-based Spirits

禁酒酿酒厂是一家总部位于不列颠哥伦比亚省基洛纳的小公司，专门种植、收获、发酵和蒸馏不列颠哥伦比亚省当地的苹果，将其酿造成优质伏特加。这家以果园为基础的酿酒厂位于奥卡纳根山谷的黄金地段，为公众提供了一个独特的农业旅游目的地和真实的从农场到瓶子的体验，夏季期间会举行旅游和特殊活动。该公司希望通过开发新的、创新的超高端农业饮料产品来扩大其客户基础，这些产品蒸馏次数高达50次，以满足不断变化的消费者偏好。高品质白酒蒸馏的一个关键挑战是准确识别和定量挥发性化合物，因为挥发性化合物可能会影响产品质量。虽然感官感觉(即嗅觉和品尝)提供了关于饮料特性的关键信息，但准确地识别和量化可能影响最终产品的味道和质量的有利和不利化合物是不够的。气候变化的影响可能会影响蒸馏农业饮料的气味和味道，因为野火烟雾增加，大雨或干旱时期以及可用水压力。该公司寻求与奥卡纳根学院的研究人员合作，为苹果烈酒的蒸馏开发一种质量控制协议，以提高产品质量、一致性和产量。该公司将直接利用从该项目中获得的研究知识和专业知识来支持他们开发和推出新的和创新的伏特加和其他农业饮料产品的目标，以满足日益增长的消费者需求。该公司的预期收益包括增加销售和市场增长，而奥卡纳根学院将把新知识和技术用于未来的教学和应用研究目的。

Forbidden Spirits Distillery is a small company based in Kelowna, British Columbia, that grows, harvests, ferments and distills local BC apples into premium vodkas. The orchard-based distillery's prime location in the Okanagan Valley provides a unique agri-tourism destination and authentic farm-to-flask experience for the public, with tours and special events held during the summer. The company wishes to expand its customer base through the development of new and innovative ultra-premium agri-beverage products that are distilled up to 50 times to meet changing consumer preferences. A key challenge in the distillation of high-quality spirits is the accurate identification and quantification of volatile compounds the can impact product quality. While organoleptic sensing (i.e. smelling and tasting) provides key information on beverage characteristics, it is not sufficient to accurately identify and quantify favourable and unfavourable compounds that can affect the taste and quality of an end product. Impacts of climate change can affect the smell and taste of distilled agri-beverages due to increased amounts of wildfire smoke, periods of heavy rain or drought and pressures on available water. The company seeks to partner with researchers at Okanagan College to develop a quality control protocol for the distillation of apple-based spirits to improve product quality, consistency and yield. Research knowledge and expertise gained from this project will be used directly by the company to support their goal of developing and introducing new and innovative vodkas and other agri-beverage products to meet growing consumer demand. Expected benefits to the company include increased sales and market growth, while Okanagan College will use the new knowledge and technology for future teaching and applied research purposes.