Brandy is an alcoholic beverage distilled from wine or a fermented fruit mash. While the term "brandy" alone typically refers to the grape product, brandies from other fruits are identified by the fruit name. Most brandies, except certain white types, are usually aged, which deepens their color. The alcohol content is around 50 percent by volume for beverage brandy but can reach 80–95 percent for fortifying wines. The name "brandy" comes from the Dutch brandewijn , meaning "burnt wine," referring to heat application in distillation. Commercial brandy distillation originated in the 16th century. It is commonly served as an after-dinner drink or used to flavor mixed drinks and desserts.

Brandy is an alcoholic beverage made by distilling wine or a fermented fruit mash. The name brandy comes from the Dutch word brandewijn , or "burnt wine," referring to heat applied in distillation. Most wine-producing countries make brandy. French law requires that cognac be made from a specific grape variety and distilled twice in pot stills. Aging transforms the color, but some fruit types, known as white types, remain clear. Beverage brandy typically contains about 50 percent alcohol by volume.

What ingredients are commonly used to make brandy?

Brandy is an alcoholic beverage usually distilled from wine or a fermented fruit mash. While brandy can be made from a variety of fruits, when the term is used alone, it generally refers to the grape product. Common ingredients include: Grapes Apples Plums Apricots Cherries Raspberries Strawberries After distillation, with the exception of certain white fruit types, brandies are usually aged to deepen their color to amber.

How is making brandy different from making other alcoholic drinks, like wine?

Brandy production differs from that of other alcoholic beverages like wine primarily through distillation. While wine is made by fermenting fruit, usually grapes, brandy is made by distilling wine or a fermented fruit mash. This distillation process concentrates the alcohol, resulting in a higher alcohol content in brandy, typically around 50 percent alcohol by volume. The name brandy comes from the Dutch word brandewijn , meaning "burnt wine," referring to the heating application in distillation. While most wine-producing countries also produce brandy, the process of distillation is what sets it apart from wine making.

What does aging mean when talking about brandy?

In brandy production, aging refers to the period the distilled spirit spends in wooden casks, typically made of oak. This process is crucial for developing the brandy's flavor, aroma, and color. Here's what aging does for brandy: * Flavor Development Extracts from the wood contribute to the brandy's flavor. * Color Change Aging deepens the brandy's color to amber. * Complexity The older the brandy, the smoother, more complex, and more refined it becomes. * Maturation Maturation during aging consists of the interaction of the original compounds of the distillate, of oxidation reactions, and of the extraction of flavoring compounds from the wood.

What are some famous types or brands of brandy from around the world?

Brandy is an alcoholic beverage distilled from wine or a fermented fruit mash. While the term alone generally refers to the grape product, brandies from other fruits are commonly identified by the fruit name. Many wine-producing countries make brandy. Outstanding French brandies include cognac , considered the finest of all brandies, and Armagnac from the Gers region. Other types include Metaxa, a Greek brandy, and pisco, mainly produced in Peru. There are also fruit brandies such as slivovitz, a plum brandy, and Kirschwasser, distilled from cherries.

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Map of France highlighting major wine-producing regions in purple, including Champagne, Alsace, Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, Provence, Languedoc, Roussillon, Cognac, Armagnac, Bergerac, Chablis, Jura, Savoy, and the island of Corsica. Major rivers and surrounding seas are also labeled for geographic context.

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Related Topics:: borovička; grappa; ouzo; eau-de-vie de marc; plum brandy

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Top Questions

What is brandy?
Brandy is an alcoholic beverage distilled from wine or a fermented fruit mash. While the term "brandy" alone typically refers to the grape product, brandies from other fruits are identified by the fruit name. Most brandies, except certain white types, are usually aged, which deepens their color. The alcohol content is around 50 percent by volume for beverage brandy but can reach 80–95 percent for fortifying wines.

The name "brandy" comes from the Dutch brandewijn, meaning "burnt wine," referring to heat application in distillation. Commercial brandy distillation originated in the 16th century. It is commonly served as an after-dinner drink or used to flavor mixed drinks and desserts.
2 Britannica Sources
1. brandy
2. Definition of neutral brandy
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How is brandy made?
Brandy is an alcoholic beverage made by distilling wine or a fermented fruit mash. The name brandy comes from the Dutch word brandewijn, or "burnt wine," referring to heat applied in distillation.

Most wine-producing countries make brandy. French law requires that cognac be made from a specific grape variety and distilled twice in pot stills. Aging transforms the color, but some fruit types, known as white types, remain clear. Beverage brandy typically contains about 50 percent alcohol by volume.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What ingredients are commonly used to make brandy?
Brandy is an alcoholic beverage usually distilled from wine or a fermented fruit mash. While brandy can be made from a variety of fruits, when the term is used alone, it generally refers to the grape product.

Common ingredients include:
- Grapes
- Apples
- Plums
- Apricots
- Cherries
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
After distillation, with the exception of certain white fruit types, brandies are usually aged to deepen their color to amber.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How is making brandy different from making other alcoholic drinks, like wine?
Brandy production differs from that of other alcoholic beverages like wine primarily through distillation. While wine is made by fermenting fruit, usually grapes, brandy is made by distilling wine or a fermented fruit mash. This distillation process concentrates the alcohol, resulting in a higher alcohol content in brandy, typically around 50 percent alcohol by volume.

The name brandy comes from the Dutch word brandewijn, meaning "burnt wine," referring to the heating application in distillation. While most wine-producing countries also produce brandy, the process of distillation is what sets it apart from wine making.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What does aging mean when talking about brandy?
In brandy production, aging refers to the period the distilled spirit spends in wooden casks, typically made of oak. This process is crucial for developing the brandy's flavor, aroma, and color.

Here's what aging does for brandy:
* Flavor Development Extracts from the wood contribute to the brandy's flavor.
* Color Change Aging deepens the brandy's color to amber.
* Complexity The older the brandy, the smoother, more complex, and more refined it becomes.
* Maturation Maturation during aging consists of the interaction of the original compounds of the distillate, of oxidation reactions, and of the extraction of flavoring compounds from the wood.
5 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are some famous types or brands of brandy from around the world?
Brandy is an alcoholic beverage distilled from wine or a fermented fruit mash. While the term alone generally refers to the grape product, brandies from other fruits are commonly identified by the fruit name.

Many wine-producing countries make brandy. Outstanding French brandies include cognac, considered the finest of all brandies, and Armagnac from the Gers region. Other types include Metaxa, a Greek brandy, and pisco, mainly produced in Peru. There are also fruit brandies such as slivovitz, a plum brandy, and Kirschwasser, distilled from cherries.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

brandy, alcoholic beverage distilled from wine or a fermented fruit mash. The term used alone generally refers to the grape product; brandies made from the wines or fermented mashes of other fruits are commonly identified by the specific fruit name. With the exception of certain fruit types, known as white types, brandies are usually aged. Aging in wooden containers deepens colour to amber, the use of paraffin-lined casks or earthenware maintains the original clear colour, and the addition of a caramel solution darkens colour. Beverage brandy contains about 50 percent alcohol by volume; brandy used to fortify sherry, Madeira, and the other dessert wines contains about 80–95 percent alcohol by volume. Like other distilled liquor, brandy does not improve after bottling. Star or letter designations, formerly indicating age, are used by shippers to express product quality.

The name comes from the Dutch brandewijn (“burnt wine”), referring to the application of heat in distillation. Commercial distillation of brandy from wine originated in the 16th century. According to one story, a Dutch shipmaster began the practice by concentrating wine for shipment, intending to add water upon reaching home port, but the concentrated beverage immediately found acceptance.

Most wine-producing countries also make brandy. Outstanding French brandies include cognac, from the Charente and Charente-Maritime départements of France, usually considered the finest of all brandies, and Armagnac, from the Gers region. The sherry-producing centres of Spain and the port-producing centres of Portugal are also known for brandy. Greek brandy includes Metaxa, sweetened and usually darkened with caramel, and ouzo, colourless and flavoured with anise or licorice. American brandy, produced mainly in California, tends to be neutral and uniform in character. Pisco, mainly produced in Peru, is distilled from muscat wines. Brandies distilled from grape pomace, or marc, the material remaining in the winepress after grape pressing, include the French eau-de-vie de marc, for which Burgundy is well known, and grappa, an unaged, sharp-tasting brandy produced in both Italy and California.

Apple brandies, produced from fermented cider, include calvados, from the Calvados region of France, and the American applejack. The Alsatian area of France is known for framboise, distilled from raspberries, and fraise, distilled from strawberries. Other fruit brandies, often characterized by a bitter-almond flavour contributed by the release of oil from the fruit pits during mashing, include slivovitz, a golden-brown plum brandy produced in various Balkan countries; barack palinka, from Hungary, the best known of apricot brandies; Kirschwasser, or kirsch, produced mainly in Alsace, Germany, and Switzerland, distilled from cherries; and the French plum wines, from Alsace and Lorraine, including Mirabelle, made from a yellow plum, and quetsch, from a blue plum.

Brandies are usually served alone or with soda as after-dinner drinks. They are used to flavour mixed drinks and various dessert dishes and as fuel to produce the flame in such flamed dishes as crepes suzette and cherries jubilee. Brandy is also used as a base spirit in the production of another type of distilled liquor, the liqueur.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Meg Matthias.

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