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

禁酒酒厂是一家位于不列颠哥伦比亚省基洛纳的小公司，种植、收获、发酵和蒸馏当地的不列颠哥伦比亚省苹果，制成优质伏特加。这家以果园为基础的酿酒厂位于奥肯那根山谷的黄金地段，为公众提供了一个独特的农业旅游目的地和真正的从农场到烧瓶的体验，在夏季举办旅游和特别活动。该公司希望通过开发新的和创新的超优质农业饮料产品来扩大其客户群，这些产品经过高达50次的蒸馏，以满足不断变化的消费者偏好。在蒸馏高品质烈酒的关键挑战是准确识别和定量的挥发性化合物，可以影响产品质量。虽然感官感觉（即嗅觉和品尝）提供了饮料特性的关键信息，但它不足以准确识别和量化影响最终产品味道和质量的有利和不利化合物。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，大雨或干旱的时期以及可用水的压力。该公司寻求与奥肯那根学院（Okanagan College）的研究人员合作，开发苹果蒸馏酒的质量控制协议，以提高产品质量、一致性和产量。从这个项目中获得的研究知识和专业知识将直接用于公司开发和引进新的创新伏特加和其他农业饮料产品，以满足不断增长的消费者需求。对公司的预期好处包括增加销售和市场增长，而奥肯那根学院将把新的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.