Development of an accelerated aging method for Brandy

Brandy de Jerez plays a very important role in the economy of its production area. Currently, there are many wineries interested in innovating and diversifying their products, demanding a method which would allow them to age the spirits in a quick and simple way, enabling the testing of different variables in its elaboration. In this paper, a study of the accelerated aging on a laboratory scale of a Brandy de Jerez, employing oak chips and ultrasound as extraction method, has been carried out. The samples obtained by accelerated aging have been analytically and sensorially analyzed, comparing them with those of reference brandies which had been aged in the traditional way. After 30 days, the proposed method allows us to obtain a Brandy with similar analytical and sensorial characteristics to those which have been aged in the traditional way for an average term of between 6 and 18 months. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.