Alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethyl alcohol, also called ethanol, a chemical that slows the activity of the nervous system. People often consume alcoholic beverages to celebrate and to relax at social gatherings. Such beverages are also used in cooking and in religious rituals. Many people find the effects of drinking alcohol pleasurable, but excessive drinking can cause intoxication and even death. Prolonged drinking may lead to alcoholism and other health problems. This article describes various types of alcoholic beverages and how they are made. For more information on some dangers of alcohol abuse, see Alcoholism.
Alcoholic beverages are made chiefly from such grains as barley, corn, and rye or from grapes and other fruits. The grain or fruit provides the sugar needed for fermentation, a process by which yeast converts sugar into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide gas.
There are two main groups of alcoholic beverages: fermented drinks and distilled drinks. Fermented drinks, such as beer and wine, are made through fermentation alone. They usually contain from 2 to 20 percent ethyl alcohol. Distilled drinks, also called liquor, spirits, or hard alcohol, are purified after fermentation through a process called distillation. They usually contain from 12 to 55 percent ethyl alcohol. They include brandy, gin, rum, vodka, and whiskey.
Taxes on alcoholic beverages provide a major source of revenue for many governments. Such taxes are usually much higher than taxes on foods and nonalcoholic beverages. In the United States, taxes and other fees make up about half the price of a bottle of liquor. Distilled drinks carry higher taxes than fermented drinks.
Fermented drinks
Fermented drinks are made by fermenting substances that contain sugar. The principal fermented beverages are beer and wine.
Beer
is made from barley and other grains. Brewers crush the grains and mix them with water to form a mash. They then heat the mash to convert the starch in the grains to sugar. Dried flowers from the hops plant are added to flavor the mash, and then yeast is added to begin fermentation. After the sugar converts to alcohol, brewers age beer for several weeks to develop its taste.
Beer is a foaming, carbonated beverage that is generally served chilled. Most beer contains from 3 to 6 percent alcohol. There are two major types of beer: lager and ale. Lager is typically bubbly and golden. Ale often has a richer flavor and darker color. Beer with a high alcohol content is sometimes called malt liquor.
Wine
is usually made from grapes, which contain more sugar than most other fruits, but it can also be made from cherries, apples, or other fruits. Winemakers crush the fruit and then ferment the juice. They then age the wine to develop its flavor.
Most wine has an alcohol content of 7 to 24 percent. Red wine comes from grapes that are fermented with their skins. For white wine, only the juice is fermented. Pink-colored blush or rosé wine is made by separating the juice and skins part way through fermentation. People traditionally serve red wines at room temperature and other wines chilled.
Other fermented beverages.
Sake, a popular Japanese drink, is made from rice. Mead is made from honey. Hard cider comes from apples and, occasionally, other fruits. Some beverage makers sell soft-drinklike malt beverages that resemble sweetened, unhopped beer.
Distilled drinks
Distilled beverages are made chiefly from fermented grain mash or fruit juice. In the distillation process, beverage makers heat the mash or juice, causing the alcohol to become a vapor. They collect the vapor and cool it to form a liquid, which can be mixed or aged to make liquor. Some liquors are distilled several times.
The percentage of alcohol in liquor is expressed as proof. In the United States, proof equals twice the percentage of alcohol in the beverage. For example, a beverage that is 80 proof contains 40 percent alcohol. In Canada and the United Kingdom, the amount of alcohol is about 57 percent at 100 proof.
People can serve distilled drinks neat (straight from the bottle) or on the rocks (with ice). They can also mix them with other kinds of liquor and nonalcoholic ingredients to make mixed drinks, also called cocktails.
Brandy
is distilled from grape wine or other fermented fruit juices. Brandy made from grape wine is at least 80 proof. Cognac, a well-known variety, comes from the area around Cognac, France. Brandy makers often age the liquor for several years to develop its flavor and color. Brandies made from other fruits are at least 70 proof.
Gin
is a clear liquor flavored with juniper berries. Gin makers first distill liquor from fermented grains. They then add the berries and distill the mixture a second time. Gin varies from 80 to 94 proof.
Rum
is distilled from fermented sugar cane juice or molasses. It is at least 80 proof and may be white or amber, depending largely on the aging process. Rum makers sometimes flavor the liquor with spices and caramel. Rum is often used in mixed drinks with tropical flavors.
Vodka
is distilled from barley, corn, rye, or sometimes from potatoes. It varies from 80 to 100 proof. Like gin, it is not aged and has no color. Unlike gin, vodka has no flavor or smell. For this reason, people use it in a wide variety of mixed drinks. Vodka is traditionally associated with Russia and other Eastern European countries but has become popular throughout much of the world.
Whiskey
is made chiefly from barley, corn, or rye. Most whiskey sold commercially ranges from 80 to 100 proof and consists of a blend of as many as 50 kinds of whiskey made from different grains. Distillers may age whiskey two years or more to develop its flavor and amber color. Whiskey from Scotland, called Scotch whisky or Scotch, has a distinctive smoky flavor. Distillers make it from mash that consists primarily of barley. In the United States, distillers make a type of whiskey called bourbon from a mash consisting chiefly of corn.
Other distilled drinks
drinks include aquavit, tequila, and liqueurs. Aquavit, also spelled akvavit, is a Scandinavian beverage made from grains or potatoes and flavored with caraway seeds. Distillers make tequila, a Mexican drink, from the fermented juice of the agave plant.
Liqueur makers flavor liquor by soaking it with chocolate, coffee, flowers, fruits, or other substances. Liqueurs consist of at least 2 1/2 percent sugar and sometimes contain cream. They range from 20 to 110 proof and have a variety of colors.
History
The first alcoholic beverages were fermented drinks. Scenes showing fermentation appear as early as 4200 B.C. on pottery made in Mesopotamia. An ancient Sumerian tablet from the 1800’s B.C. bears a hymn to the goddess of brewing that is also a recipe for making beer. The ancient Egyptians made wine and stored it in clay vessels. Wine developed an important role in the religious rituals of many groups, including Greek, Roman, and Christian traditions.
Distillation played an important role in alchemy, an early study that incorporated elements of chemistry and mysticism, the search for spiritual knowledge. The term spirits comes from the alchemical belief that distilled beverages contained the spirit of the fermented liquid. Brandy, probably the oldest distilled drink, may have been made as early as A.D. 100. By the 1400’s, people in Ireland and Scotland were distilling whiskey. Gin originated in Holland by about 1600. Distillers first produced rum by 1650 in Barbados, an island in the West Indies. The first distillery for the production of bourbon began operating in 1789 near Georgetown, Kentucky.
Throughout history, people have attempted to prohibit or limit the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Some religions forbid their consumption. Governments have imposed various measures to limit alcohol use. These measures include rationing alcoholic beverages, taxing them heavily, and imposing legal bans against drinking. For several years during the early 1900’s, for example, Canada, Finland, Norway, and the United States banned alcoholic beverages. Many people opposed or defied this prohibition, some of them by distilling their own crude liquor, called moonshine. These prohibition laws were eventually repealed. But in the United States, it remains illegal to produce liquor without a license from the state government. Other national governments also restrict the production of liquor.
