Distillation

What happens in the still house can be explained in one sentence: the fermented root mash is heated in a copper still, the alcohol evaporates before the water does, and the vapor travels through a cooled pipe back into liquid form. A thin mash thus becomes a clear, concentrated distillate.

The distiller catches it in fractions. First comes the heads with sharp, volatile compounds, then the heart, the central cut carrying the root's aroma, and finally the tails with heavy, oily notes. Only the heart becomes Gebirgsenzian; the other fractions are removed from the spirit. Exactly where the cuts are made is decided by the distiller, based on nose and experience.

Whether a house distills its Enzian once or twice is up to them. The regulation prescribes no fixed method for the category. For fruit brandies, it only states that each distillation must stay below 86% ABV, so that the character of the raw material remains detectable. For Obstler, distilleries in German-speaking regions typically use a pot still fitted with a rectifying column, where the vapor condenses and re-evaporates several times before forming the final distillate.

An Abfindung distillery, as is common in Upper Bavaria, does not measure the alcohol directly. The local customs office calculates it as a flat rate based on the quantity of raw material and an official yield rate, and every distilling run must be registered beforehand. This is the price small producers pay for being allowed to distill roots, fruit, and berries at all.

Anyone interested in distilling can find operations in Hausham on Schliersee and in Berchtesgaden that open their still houses to visitors. At home, the opposite applies: any still with a capacity of two liters or more must be declared to customs, and producing alcohol without a permit remains illegal.