Baijiu is the national liquor of China and the world’s most consumed spirit, which is produced using a unique and traditional solid-state fermentation (SSF) process. The development of an automatic and intelligent technology for SSF is more difficult than that for liquid-state fermentation. However, the technological upgrading of the SSF process is crucial for reducing the labor intensity, saving manpower, avoiding the waste of materials and energy, and providing a favorable operation environment for workers; moreover, it provides a great reference value to similar industries. This article reviews the latest application progresses in automatic and intelligent technologies for Baijiu production. The important technical processes are introduced successively, including the production of Jiuqu, SSF, solid-state distillation, storage, and blending. The bottlenecks and challenges are pointed out for automatic and intelligent upgrading of these technical processes. Furthermore, the typical technology application cases in an integrated automatic production line of Baijiu are also summarized. Next, the industrial development status of Baijiu production is compared with those of other liquors in the world. Finally, future development directions are proposed. This review will provide an overall introduction and objective analysis of recent developments and current challenges in Baijiu manufacturing so as to promote the intelligent brewing of Baijiu.

Hongqu Huangjiu (HQHJ) is a representative traditional Chinese fermented beverage with medicinal and nutritional value. However, composition of aroma-active components in HQHJ with different sugar contents remains unclear. Herein, solid-phase extraction combined with gas chromatography–olfactometry–mass spectrometry revealed 56 aroma-active compounds (20 newly identified) in HQHJ. Difurfuryl sulfide was identified as a odorants in Huangjiu for the first time. After quantification and odour activity value calculation, β-phenethyl alcohol, dimethyl trisulfide, 1,1-diethoxyethane and ethyl isobutyrate were identified as important odorants. Combined with partial least squares regression analysis and addition tests, ethyl 4-oxopentanoate (imparting Chen aroma to HQHJ) and 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol were validated as key differential odorants in HQHJ with varying sugar contents. Notably, semi-sweet HQHJ promoted contents accumulation of aroma compounds, while semi-dry HQHJ enhanced aroma intensities and diversity of compounds. Conversely, sweet HQHJ, through its brewing process involving adding alcohol, inhibited formation of certain compounds. Therefore, they exhibited distinctive aromatic characteristics.