Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

[GreyGeek]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

The quickest and easiest to make home made wine is "Purple Passion". One quart of Welches Grape Juice mixed with a cup of Everclear.

Ah, better living through chemistry... the joys of synthetic Wine!

(But, since Everclear is 180 proof, mixing it with equal amounts of Grape juice would produce a beverage with a 90 proof alcohol content, would it not? Wouldn't that make it a form of Grape Bourbon? )

[Qqmike]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

Ah, erchie, yes, you've reminded me Liebfraumilch is very good, it really is (un-snobbishly speaking). You have had quite an interesting experience.

[ScottyK]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

Ah, the joys of Kubuntu. Not only have I freed myself from the grip of Microsoft, now my knowledge of wine making has slightly increased. One more thing windows users are missing out on!

[Detonate]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

(But, since Everclear is 180 proof, mixing it with equal amounts of Grape juice would produce a beverage with a 90 proof alcohol content, would it not? Wouldn't that make it a form of Grape Bourbon? )

Perhaps a better name would be Grape Brandy. But that is how they make wines such a Sherry, which has a higher alcohol content than is achievable through natural fermentation, they just add alcohol to it. Hence the term "fortified wine" And they make "light" beer by merely taking regular beer and adding water. "Ice" beer has slightly more alcohol content than regular beer, they do this by partially freezing the beer and removing the ice crystals, as alcohol has a much lower freezing point than water this takes out water and leaves the alcohol making for a stronger more intense flavored beer.

[woodsmoke]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

(But, since Everclear is 180 proof, mixing it with equal amounts of Grape juice would produce a beverage with a 90 proof alcohol content, would it not? Wouldn't that make it a form of Grape Bourbon? )

And they make "light" beer by merely taking regular beer and adding water.

Well i have never liked any of the light stuff but that is just a ripoff, I kind of thought that there was some kind of special brewing process.

What I should have remembered is that the common step for both fermentation and aeroibic respiration is glycolysis and that produces two and only two ATPs so..and I think only two alcohols, but "only" means "two" so the only way to reduce the alcohols is to... I guess....dilute it!...ipso posto factotum and etcetera..... only so much alcohol.... duuuhhhh

[GreyGeek]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

Just a side note for those who may overdo their imbibing....

The liver combines Ethyl Alcohol with Glucose (i.e., Dextrose, not Sucrose or table sugar) and forms a glycoside, which is excreted by the kidneys. To assist the liver in removing alcohol from the blood stream one can chew or swallow some pure Dextrose tablets. It will restore sobriety a lot faster and more reliably than drinking coffee or "walking it off". To assist the recover have the over-doer breathe pure Oxygen from a medical tank, if they have access to one.

Oxygen? Alcohol competes with Hemoglobin for Oxygen. Since the brain uses 10% of the Oxygen absorbed into the blood stream, a drunken stupor is nothing more than the brain experiencing Oxygen starvation. Breathing pure Oxygen will help alleviate the symptoms. But, (there is always a "but" isn't there?), when the Ethyl Alcohol reacts with the Oxygen the product is Ethyl Aldehyde, a carcinogen and even more powerful Oxygen scavenger, which also competes with Hemoglobin for Oxygen. The Aldehyde is oxidized to vinegar, know chemically as Ethanoic Acid. Aldehyde kills neurons, and the vinegar pickles them. Aldehydes also can damage cells in the eyes and the kidneys. The liver is tasked with trying to remove alcohol but it can get overwhelmed, causing Cirrhosis, a liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules. So, it's a quadruple whammy for the brain, eyes and kidneys.

Death is possible at any Blood Alcohol Concentration greater than 0.3% and is guaranteed if the BAC is equal to or greater than 0.5%. The typical adult male has a blood volume of between 4.7 and 5.0 Liters.
A 5 oz glass of 24 proof Wine has 18 ml of alcohol. A person my size, 240 lbs, who drinks 10 glasses of that wine within 40 minutes will have a BAC of 0.19%. If that person drank another 5 or 6 glasses they would be at about 0.3% A 1.5 Liter bottle of 24 proof Wine, about 50.7 Oz, would supply about 10 glasses of Wine. To get potentially lethally drunk a person would have to chug 75 Oz. (2.25L) of Wine within an hour. Killing yourself on Wine would be hard to do. You would probably pass out before you drank a lethal amount. Hard liquor, on the other hand, would make it easy for one to drink themselves to death. All they'd need to do is drink 25 Oz of 80 proof alcohol within an hour to potentially kill themselves. It happens all the time, especially among first time drinkers trying prove their manhood, or in a recent case of a UNL coed, her womanhood.

[Detonate]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

Which is why, since being diagnosed as a type II Diabetic, I avoid alcohol totally.

[oshunluvr]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

A person my size, 240 lbs, who drinks 10 glasses of that wine within 40 minutes will have a BAC of 0.19%.

...and a HUGE headache!

[woodsmoke]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

GG
Last week was the week of the lectures on aerobic and anerobic respiration, I'll copy and past your post, with a little editing, if you don't mind for the edddiffficcckation of the said students.

woodsmoke

[Detonate]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

How did the term "proof" come to be used to describe the alcohol content of alcoholic beverages? I was told many years ago, that in the old days, when making distilled beverages, and they did not have a way to measure the alcoholic content, they would strike a match to the product, and if it flamed up, that was "proof" that it was ready. and this would only happen if it was at least 100 proof. But I don't know if this is true. Another term that I don't know the origin of is "Bottled in Bond". Which when applied to distilled spirits, means it is at least 100 proof.

[arochester]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

Strange how this post purports to be about cheese but turned to wine.

Scotland, home of whisky...

Spirit of proof strength was the technical standard by which strength was measured until 1st January, 1980. Hundreds of years ago, spirit of this strength was proved when whisky and gunpowder were mixed and ignited. If the gunpowder flashed, then there was enough whisky in the mixture to permit ignition. Such whisky was held to have been proved. If the spirit was weaker than this proof strength ignition did not take place.

http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jhb/whisky/swa/chap6.html

Bottled in Bond? A Whisky Bond is a warehouse where whisky is stored and aged - before any tax is paid.

[Detonate]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

Another bit of trivia, of the four natural sugars, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, and lactose, only lactose does not support fermentation.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Gouda on a Red Truck and a Sherlock Holmes demise of cheese snobbery

Another bit of trivia, of the four natural sugars, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, and lactose, only lactose does not support fermentation.

And, unfortunately, as people grow older many lose the ability to make the enzyme that metabolizes lactose, thus they can no longer drink Milk without blowing a LOT of gas. I speak from personal experience. However, to the joy of us Milk drinkers, there is a version of Milk sold in stores which is lactose free. It works!

For years I've used Stevia to sweeten food, and still do. The form I use is the PURE white powder extracted from the Stevia leaves. A few milligrams equals a tea spoon of Sucrose. I've never had a problem with it. However, there is a form of Stevia approved by the FDA. Truvia is made of Stevia + Erythritol, a sugar alcohol. Because Stevia is an extract of half a dozen natural steviosides (glycosides), and Truvia is chemically pure Rebaudioside A, derived from genetically modified plants.

Sugar alcohols, like erythritol, malitol, sorbitol and xylitol, are often used as sugar substitutes because they provide a sweet taste that does not raise blood sugar to the degree that sucrose does. This is because they convert to glucose more slowly in your body and do not require much insulin to metabolize. In addition, sugar alcohols do not cause tooth decay, which is another plus to their use. However, many people report experiencing gas, bloating and diarrhea when eating sugar alcohols (typically only when eaten in excess, but this varies from person to person). I've used Truvia on occasions and have never had a problem with it, but it is reported that some people have mental confusion and muscle aches with long term use.

Not everyone likes the sweetness of Stevia and some people have negative "after-tastes", usually because the use too much. When I sweeten a bowl of cereal I have a shaker which allows me to put a layer of Stevia powder over the cereal that is so slight it is nearly impossible to see. All total I suspect it is less than 10 mgs.