Friday, April 26, 2024

Beer, wine or liquor? How strong is the hootch?


As a public service, NEWS of the WORLD reprints The FUNNY STUFF FUNNIES, an educational comic book giving basic facts on drugs and alcohol. Each post reproduces a page from the booklet, which is aimed at young persons and which avoids sermonizing and excessive wordiness.

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Percentages
In the United States, beer contains about 5 percent alcohol. Light beer contains about 4.2 percent.

Pale ale is about the strength of beer. But dark ale carries a bit more kick, at 6.5 percent alcohol.

Wine runs anywhere from 5.5 percent to 16 percent alcohol, with the average at 11.5 percent.

Fortified wine is wine that comes pre-mixed with a distilled spirit, like brandy. The product holds between 15.5 and 25 percent alcohol, with the average at 18 percent.

Liquor is the "strong stuff" containing 35 to 40 percent alcohol. When you read the label and see "80 proof," that means the drink is 40 percent alcohol. Proof is roughly double the alcohol content.

Some hard stuff from the "stills in the hills" comes as high as 160 proof (80 percent alcohol). The grain alcohol Everclear sells at from 60 to 95 percent alcohol. The maker advises against drinking it straight, urging that it be diluted first.

Sometimes liquor is called hard liquor or distilled spirits. Liquor comes in many forms, including whiskey, vodka, rum, tequila, gin. While beer and wine require fermentation, liquor also requires distillation.

There is another drink known as liqueur, which runs at 15 to 30 percent alcohol. Liqueur is a concoction of distilled spirits and one or more flavorful sweeteners.
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Just so ya know
Fermentation occurs when yeast microbes consume the organic material (usually grain or grapes) and excrete it as ethanol (the type of alcohol people drink).

Distillation is a method of filtering out non-alcoholic parts of the fermented material (mash or liquid). A "still" heats the mash or liquid and a funnel captures the alcohol vapors and diverts them into another container, where the vapors condense and become liquid. But this second liquid contains a much higher percentage of alcohol than the first liquid or mash.

Brewers use enzymes to convert starches to sugar (the same process your body uses). The result is a pulpy, wet mix called mash.

Winemakers use yeast to convert the fruit sugars glucose and fructose into alcohol. Grapes or other fruits are crushed into a pulpy, wet mix called must. At some point, the solids are filtered out and yeasts are added.

When yeast and sugar get together, you get carbon dioxide and alcohol.

The author of The Funny Stuff Funnies takes sole responsibility for the content of this e-booklet. This booklet has not been sponsored, either directly or indirectly, by any government or non-government organization or fellowship, such as AA or NA.
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Find table of content for Funny Stuff Funnies at this link.
The Lunapic image editor contributed greatly to this booklet's pictorial enhancement. Other image editors used were Palette and Petalica.
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