Systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments may enable maturing of spirits and other products. Various embodiments may be suitable for use in spirits refining businesses.

An apparatus for aging a liquid in a container includes: an elongated bung having a top and a bottom, the bottom having a male or female connector; and an elongated wooden piece having a longitudinal axis, an upper end, a lower end, and a side, the upper end having a male or female connector adapted to connect to the male or female connector of the bottom of the elongated bung, whereby the elongated bung and the elongated wooden piece are removably connected by connecting the male or female connector of the bottom of the elongated bung with the male or female connector of the upper end of the elongated wooden piece. The bung may have a first opening, a side with another opening, the first opening being fluidly connected to the another opening by a pathway adapted to transmit a gas from the container through the first opening.

An apparatus for aging a liquid in a container includes: an elongated bung having a top and a bottom, the bottom having a male or female connector; and an elongated wooden piece having a longitudinal axis, an upper end, a lower end, and a side, the upper end having a male or female connector adapted to connect to the male or female connector of the bottom of the elongated bung, whereby the elongated bung and the elongated wooden piece are removably connected by connecting the male or female connector of the bottom of the elongated bung with the male or female connector of the upper end of the elongated wooden piece. The bung may have a first opening, a side with another opening, the first opening being fluidly connected to the another opening by a pathway adapted to transmit a gas from the container through the first opening.

Alcoholic spirits may be artificially aged under highly pressurized carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide may form carbonic acid, which may cause various esters to form in the presence of wood as well as to mellow the flavor when no wood is present. Wood may be pretreated with ozone, which may extract lignin which may further convert to vanillin during pressurized CO2 treatment, giving a vanilla note. After processing with pressurized CO2, a post-treatment of ozone may be given to the spirit, which may cause a mild oxidation and further mellowing of the spirit.

Alcoholic spirits may be artificially aged under highly pressurized carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide may form carbonic acid, which may cause various esters to form in the presence of wood as well as to mellow the flavor when no wood is present. Wood may be pretreated with ozone, which may extract lignin which may further convert to vanillin during pressurized CO2 treatment, giving a vanilla note. After processing with pressurized CO2, a post-treatment of ozone may be given to the spirit, which may cause a mild oxidation and further mellowing of the spirit.

Systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments may enable the maturing of spirits or other products. Various embodiments may provide methods for creating matured spirits from raw spirits in which the process steps are performed on a batch of spirits material. Various embodiments may include applying process controls, such as feed-forward controls, to achieve one or more desired parameters of the matured spirits. Various embodiments may include a spirits processor configured to create matured spirits from raw spirits.

Systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments may enable the maturing of spirits or other products. Various embodiments may provide methods for creating matured spirits from raw spirits in which the process steps are performed on a batch of spirits material. Various embodiments may include applying process controls, such as feed-forward controls, to achieve one or more desired parameters of the matured spirits. Various embodiments may include a spirits processor configured to create matured spirits from raw spirits.

A container assembly (10) for aging a liquid (14) includes: a container (12) that retains the liquid (14) being aged, the container (12) including a container aperture (24); and an oxygenator (16) that is positioned adjacent to the container aperture (24), the oxygenator (16) including a porous oxygenator membrane (38B) that allows for the flow of air into the container (12) through the oxygenator membrane (38B) and the container aperture (24).

A container assembly (10) for aging a liquid (14) includes: a container (12) that retains the liquid (14) being aged, the container (12) including a container aperture (24); and an oxygenator (16) that is positioned adjacent to the container aperture (24), the oxygenator (16) including a porous oxygenator membrane (38B) that allows for the flow of air into the container (12) through the oxygenator membrane (38B) and the container aperture (24).

A fermentation and aging apparatus and a method for controlling a fermentation and aging apparatus are provided. The fermentation and aging apparatus may include a tank in which a fluid, such as water may be accommodated, a fermentation container forming a space in which the fluid discharged from the tank may be accommodated, a pump disposed in a channel between the tank and the fermentation container to supply the fluid accommodated in the tank to the fermentation container, a flow rate control valve configured to control a flow rate of the fluid discharged from the tank, a heater configured to heat the fluid discharged from the tank, a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the fluid passing through the heater, and a controller configured to control a degree of opening of the flow rate control valve based on the measured temperature.