Alcohol Flashcards
1
Q
What percentage of the world population has consumed alcohol?
A
- Women: 33%
- Men: 50%
2
Q
Is alcohol different than drugs?
A
- Alcohol and drugs are considered different, but alcohol is a drug
- There is even a different institutions at the NIH
- NIAAA- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- NIDA- National Institute on Drug Abuse
3
Q
How was alcohol first created?
A
- It was likely first “discovered” by accident, as all that is requird is organic material with sugar content left alone in a warm container
4
Q
Why were the conditions for accidental creation to alcohol appropriate?
A
- all that is requried is organic material with sugar content left alone in a warm container
- When this setup occurs, microscopic yeast cells in the air contact the material, consume it, and release alcohol in the process
- This basic process can result in wines with alcoholic content between 12 and 15%
5
Q
How are alcoholic drinks created?
A
- Ethanol is produced by fermentation of sugars by yeasts.
- Yeast transforms 1 molecule sugar into 2 molecules alcohol and 2 CO2
- CO2 bubbles out, alcohol remains
- Sugars may come from grapes (wine), rice (sake), or grains (beer)
6
Q
What happens at a 15% ethanol level?
A
When the ethanol level is about 15%, the yeasts die. Thus, a separate process is needed to raise alcoholic content.
7
Q
How can the ethanol level be increased beyond 15%
A
Distillation can then increase the alcohol concentration to produce whiskey, brandy, rum, etc.
8
Q
How is beer made? How is the process any different?
A
- Separately, the creation of beer is a more complex process than that of wine, thorugh the process of brewing
- Barley is soaked in water (producing enzyme that can break starches into sugar), dried into barley malt, and crushed into a powder
- Barley malt is combined with other elements (water, corn, rice) to make mash
- Water activates enzymes to transform starches into sugars, and the addition of yeast begins the fermentation process.
- Blossoms of hop plant added for flavor and aroma
- Generally results in alcohlic content around 4.5%
9
Q
How is liquor made?
A
- Alcohol has a lower boiling point than water
- Boil fermented alcohol
- The pure alcohol transformed into vapor and collected, creating distilled spirits with higher alcohol content
- Can take the 40-50% alcohol result and do it again, up to 90% alcohol
10
Q
What is “proof”?
A
- Alcoholic content at these levels is often in the form of “proof”, which is twice the percentage of the alcoholic content
- 100 proof= 50% alcoholic content
11
Q
What was the first alcoholic drink recored? what about other drinks? first distillation?
A
- Mead, fermented from honey, was likely the first alcoholic drink, dating back to 8000 B.C.
- Wine-stained pottery has been found in Iran dating back to 5400 B.C.
- Beer came later, with frist official brewery by Egyptian around 3700 B.C.
- Process was closer to baking, resultin in a beer that had low water content and was closer to bread
- First ditillation was at medical school in Salerno, Itally in middle ages
- Known as aqua vitae “water of life” for medical applications, other realized its abuse potential
12
Q
What is the history of gin?
A
- Dutch perfected the distillation flavoring with juniper berries, creating gin
- Because it was cheap to produce and high in alcohol content, it began to be consumed widely, especially among the poor
- self-medication?
- Rose to crisis levels in England
- In 1750 22 times the level of 1685
- High infant mortality (1 of 4 or 5 babies surviving to age of 5)
- in some areas of the city 1 of 5 homes was a gin shop
- Because it was cheap to produce and high in alcohol content, it began to be consumed widely, especially among the poor
13
Q
Alcohol in America:
Who brought it?
Why was it important?
A
- Pilgrims brought alcohol in the Mayflower
- Taverns became the place to discuss politics, business and mail delivery
- In 1830 there was an average 5 drinks/day
- Whiskey breaks, like coffee breaks, 11AM and 4PM
- Harvard students had their own brewery
- George Washigton had the biggest distillery of his time
14
Q
When did the temperance movement began? consequences?
A
- Around 1830-> Temperance movement
- Started with moderation, only against distilled
- Resulted in reduction per capita from 7gallons/year -> 2 gallons/year
- In 1917- 1920 activity results 18th amendment of the Constitution prohibiting
- “manufacture, sale, transportation, and importation” of liquor
15
Q
Prohibiton:
A
- In 1920, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibited the “manufacture, sale, transportation, and importation” of liquor
- There were many unintended consequences of prohibition:
- Illegal manufacture of alcohol increased, sometimes in toxic forms.
