3. Grain spirit

Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 · European Union

Grain spirit is a spirit drink produced exclusively by the distillation of a fermented mash of whole grain cereals and having organoleptic characteristics derived from the raw materials used. With the exception of Korn, the minimum alcoholic strength by volume of grain spirit shall be 35 %. No addition of alcohol, diluted or not, shall take place. Grain spirit shall not be flavoured. Grain spirit may only contain added caramel as a means of adjusting the colour. Grain spirit may be sweetened in order to round off the final taste. However, the final product may not contain more than 10 grams of sweetening products per litre, expressed as invert sugar. A grain spirit may bear the legal name ‘grain brandy’ if it has been produced by distillation at less than 95 % vol. from a fermented mash of whole grain cereals, presenting organoleptic features deriving from the raw materials used. In the legal name ‘grain spirit’ or ‘grain brandy’, the word ‘grain’ may be replaced with the name of the cereal used exclusively in the production of the spirit drink.

← anx_I__cpt_1__cpt_2__point_e__text_1 · All articles · (a) →

Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-08 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.