Wines and distilled liquors

Methanol is a toxic alcohol that is used as a solvent. Ethanol is the alcohol consumed in beer, wine, and distilled liquors. Isopropanol is used as a disinfectant. Ethylene glycol (1,2-ethanediol) is used as antifreeze, and glycerol (1,2,3-propanetriol) is used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. 

Valaer, P. 1948. Report on caramel in wines and distilled liquors. J. Assoc. Offic. Agr. Chemists 81, 178-184 see also ibid. 75-77. 

In routine use in more than 50 sites in Erance is the NIR measurement of alcohol and sugars in wine and distilled liquors [7]. The concentration of alcohol in wine was determined by Kaffka and Norris as early as 1976 [8]. The accuracy of their calibration is reported as better than 0.1% by volume at 11 to 17% alcohol using transmittance as the mode of detection. Sucrose in wine has also been investigated. An accuracy of 0.2% is achieved with a calibration for sucrose levels of 0.8 to 8.8%. 

Alcohol virtually always is drunk in one of the three major classes of alcoholic beverages beer, wine, and hard liquor (also called distilled spirits). For their manufacture, all these beverages depend on the process of fermentation, and hard liquor on the further process of distillation. Fermentation begins when sugar is dissolved in water... 

Alcohol virtually always is drunk in the form of three major classes of alcoholic beverages beer, wine, and hard liquor (also called distilled spirits). 

Table 28.—Tax Collected on Distilled Spirits, Wines and Fermented Liquors, Fiscal Years 1901 to 1932, Inclusive...

Vitis vinifera L. is a perennial woody vine belonging to the Vitaceae family. It is a productive plant, considered the world s premier fruit, occupying 7.6 million hectares of viticultural land in 2010. It is used mainly for wine (6.8 million hectares) but also for juice, fresh consumption (table grapes), dried fruit, and distilled liquor. 

Fortunately, it is much more difficult to drink too much alcohol in the form of beer than by imbibing wine or distilled liquors which contain much more alcohol. For example, four 8-oz (240 ml) gleisses of beer provide a quart of fluid, which is about eis much eis most people may feel comfortable drinking in a short period of time. The alcohol in this quantity of beer will produce only the mildest impairment of mental and physical functions. However, drinking too much beer, or any other beverage for that matter, may interfere with the normal nutritive processes by (1) causing feelings of... 

Summary 95% ethanol can be prepared by double distilling liquors, wines, or beers. After the first distillation, the crude ethyl alcohol (which will contain up to 90%+ ethyl alcohol), is treated with baking soda to remove odors, filtered, and then fractionally redistilled producing 95% ethanol. 

For wines, dilute 20 ml of sample, with 88 ml of 95% ethanol and water, to 200 ml in a volumetric flask. Analyse distilled liquor without preparation prepare standard solutions of Fe in 43% v/v ethanol. 

Digestion of liquid samples may not be necessary. Analyses of a distilled liquor, beer and wines have been reported [25, 36, 169, 208]. Determination of wines by direct aspiration after filtration if required, comparing absorbances to those of standards prepared in a synthetic solution simulating the wine matrix has been described by Ecrement [36] and is outlined in note 5 to Section IV.B.l. Iron in orange juice has been determined following hydrolysis with HN03 [174]. 

Distilled alcohol is a relatively new product, dating back only a few hundred years. Brandy was the first distilled liquor made it was obtained by heating wine and then cooling and condensing the vapors in another container. This process increases the alcohol content dramatically from 12 percent up to 40 or 50 percent. The original idea of distillers was to concentrate wine to a smaller volume to make it easier to ship it in barrels overseas. At the end of the voyage the brandy was to be diluted with water back to an alcohol content of 12 percent. What happened, of course, was that when people got their hands on what was in the barrels, no one waited to add water. Suddenly a new and powerful form of alcohol flooded the world. 

Spirits may be divided roughly into two classes, (1) pot-still spirits, including brandy and whiskey and (2) gin spirits, made by the suitable treatment of plain rectified spirit or alcohol. The manufacture of spirits was made possible only by the discovery of the process of distillation, and is not, therefore, of such antiquity as the wine and beer industries. The products differ from fermented liquors from which they are produced, mainly in the larger content of... 

This industry is engaged primarily in the manufacture of malt, malt beverages (ale, beer, and malt liquors), wines (table wine, dessert wine, and brandy), distilled spirits, bottled and canned soft drinks, and flavoring extracts and syrups. These products can be classified under two major groups according to their basic manufacturing processes as ... 

Maine Beer, soft drinks, distilled spirits, wine, juice, water, and other noncarbonated beverages 5 deposit, 15(Z on wine and liquor, no deposit on milk... 

Spirits or liquors are alcoholic beverages in which the high alcohol concentration is achieved by distillation of a fermented sugar-containing liquid. Examples are distilled wines (brandies), liqueurs, punch extracts and alcohol-containing mixed drinks. Table 20.27 compares the alcohol consumption with respect to spirits, wine and beer in selected countries. 

Also see ALCOHOLISM AND ALCOHOLICS BEERS AND BREWING DISTILLED LIQUORS and WINE.)... 

Although the berries are not very palatable when fresh, they may be made into confections, distilled liquors, liqueurs, and wine. The alcoholic beverages are produced in Algeria, France, Italy, and Spain. 

Fig. C-26. The action of yeast on sugar to produce rthyl almhol—the alcohol of beers, distilled liquors and wine.

These alcoholic beverages are made by some of the same processes used to make beers and wines, except that liquors contain more alcohol because they have been distilled. Alcoholic distillation is a process in which (1) a dilute solution of alcohol in a boiler (still) is heated to a temperature above the boiling point of alcohol, but below the boiling point of water, (2) the alcohol vapor produced in the still is led through a condenser where it is converted back into a liquid, and (3) the liquid alcohol (distillate) is caught in a receiving vessel. 

NUTRITIONAL AND MEDICINAL EFFECTS OF SPIRITS. Food Composition Table F-21 lists a variety of alcoholic beverages—beers, wines, and liquors. In contrast to beers and wines, which contain certain minerals and vitamins, distilled liquors are so highly refined that they supply mainly empty calories. For example, the caloric content of 1 oz (29.6 ml of gin, rum, vodka, or whiskey ranges from 65 Calories (kcal) for 80-proof spirits to 83 Calories (kcal) for 100-proof spirits. Furthermore, other beverage spirits such as brandies, cordials, liqueurs, and mixed drinks may contain sufficient added sugar to make their caloric values much higher than the unsweetened spirits. (Most of the liqueurs sold in the United States contain from 100 to 120 Calories [kcal] per ounce.) Hence, heavy drinkers may obtain too much of their caloric requirement from liquor, and too little from the foods which furnish essential nutrients. It is well documented that chronic alcoholics often suffer from various types of malnutrition. 

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