Huacheng Liquor Industry currently owns a production base covering 130 mu; it has 199 high-quality, aged fermentation pits; annually produces over 2,000 tons of Daqu Kunsha base liquor; and boasts a 20,000-square-meter wine cellar that ensures adequate storage for the base liquor. The company’s reserve of base liquor exceeds 10,000 tons. The company employs the time-honored brewing techniques passed down directly from Luo Qingzhong—the “Grandmaster of a Generation, Father of Sauce-Aroma Liquor” (former First Deputy Director and Trade Union Chairman of the Guizhou Moutai Distillery, as well as Chief Commander for Technical Expansion and Renovation). The resulting products exhibit a distinctive sauce aroma, elegant finesse, rich and mellow body, lingering aftertaste, and an enchanting charm that leaves a subtle sauce fragrance in the empty glass for days after the drink is finished.

1. Making Qu for the Dragon Boat Festival

“Qu is the mother of liquor, grain is the father of liquor, and water is the soul of liquor.” The uniqueness of the sauce-aroma liquor-making process begins precisely with the qu blocks. As the very first critical step in brewing sauce-aroma liquor, the qu blocks serve as a breeding ground for microorganisms, and the aroma of the qu holds the secret to the distinctive flavor of sauce-aroma liquor.

From wheat to koji powder, the process of making koji involves eight steps and 35 specific operational procedures: grinding wheat to a consistency where the heart is crushed but the outer husk remains intact; mixing the ground wheat with koji ingredients; kneading the mixture into blocks; stacking the blocks in storage bins; allowing fermentation to take place inside the bins; disassembling the blocks; storing the finished koji; and finally grinding the koji into powder.

2. Chongyang Xiasha

“Sha” is a local term used to refer to the Hongyingzi glutinous sorghum grown in Maotai Town. Because its grains are small, plump, and have a sauce-red color that resembles sand, locals commonly call it “sha.”

Chongyang Xia Sha means that the fermentation process begins on Chongyang Day.

Choosing to start brewing in September during the Double Ninth Festival has two main reasons: first, the locally-grown glutinous sorghum—the region’s specialty—is ripe and ready for harvest, providing ample raw materials for the production of a new batch of sauce-aroma liquor.

Second, in line with the local climatic characteristics of Maotai Town—where temperatures drop after the Double Ninth Festival—the clear waters of the Chishui River, free of silt and turbidity, are ideal for brewing and also allow winemakers to avoid the flood season in summer when the Chishui River’s waters become muddy.

Third, avoid periods of high-nutrient, high-temperature production to facilitate manual control of the fermentation process, cultivate a favorable microbial community, and selectively harness natural microorganisms.

3. One production cycle per year

It takes at least one year for sauce-aroma liquor—from the initial addition of raw materials to the completion of the final distillation run.

Just a reminder: the “one year” referred to here does not mean the period from brewing to bottling and packaging. After the base spirits from seven distillation rounds have been collected, they must undergo at least five years of aging in storage before moving on to the blending stage.

After blending and adjusting, the product must be stored again for another six months or a year, waiting until it has matured and aged properly before being officially released from the factory.

4. Two-stage feeding

These are the Xia Sha and Cao Sha processes, with ingredient ratios of 50% each. This stage lays the foundation for the production of sauce-aroma liquor.

Xia Sha refers to a process during the Double Ninth Festival in which sorghum is ground into a 28% particle size. The grains are then moistened, steamed thoroughly with the mother liquor, cooled down, and mixed with starter culture. After being piled up for fermentation, they are transferred into cellars for another month of fermentation. Cao Sha, on the other hand, involves grinding sorghum into a 37% particle size and mixing it with the fermented mash from the Xia Sha stage. This mixture is then steamed and repeatedly cycled back into the Xia Sha process.

The reason for adding the ingredients in two separate batches is that the Chishui River basin features many high mountains and deep canyons. The sorghum used for brewing is planted following the contours of the mountains, and there’s a time difference in the maturation of the sorghum grown on the mountain slopes versus that grown at lower elevations: When the sorghum at the lower elevations reaches maturity, we add the ingredients once; then, when the sorghum on the higher slopes ripens, we add the ingredients again.

5. Nine rounds of steaming

During the first two rounds of grain addition, the grains undergo two rounds of steaming but no liquor is extracted—first, the grains are steamed once in a pure steam process, and then they’re mixed with coarse grains and steamed again in a combined process. Starting from the third round, liquor extraction begins, and the fermented mash after steaming goes through six cycles of cooling, adding starter culture, piling up, placing into fermentation pits, sealing the pits for fermentation, opening the pits to extract the mash, and finally distilling the liquor. Each stage involves one steaming process, totaling nine steaming cycles altogether. Each steaming cycle takes approximately two hours.

6. Eight-time fermentation

After each steaming and cooking process, the koji is shoveled into the fermentation pit for sealing—marking the start of the “pit-fermentation period.” There are a total of eight fermentation cycles, with each cycle lasting one month following the addition of koji.

7. Take the liquor seven times

For the first and second distillations of sauce-aroma liquor, no liquor is collected; only during the third distillation does the first batch of liquor begin to be drawn. Then the process—spreading to cool, adding qu, piling up, placing into the fermentation pit, distilling again, and collecting the liquor—is repeated cyclically, once a month, until the seventh batch of liquor has been fully collected.

Of the seven distillations, the first two yields are tart, astringent, and spicy. The third through fifth distillations produce a superior liquor with a prominent soy sauce aroma, a smooth and mellow body, and a clean finish—these are known as “Da Hui Jiu.” The sixth distillation is called “Xiao Hui Jiu,” characterized by a distinct soy sauce aroma, a long-lasting aftertaste, and a hint of roasted fragrance. The seventh distillation is referred to as “Wei Zao Jiu”—it’s mellow, heavily infused with roasted aromas, and slightly bitter.