I can report that all is well. No alcohol has passed my lips during this first part of Dry January. Today I want to follow on from a couple of themes touched on in previous posts. Yesterday we looked at the process of fermentation and noted that the strength of alcohol that can be produced is limited to around 15% to 17% because beyond this the yeast is not able to survive. So let us welcome our first guest of the evening – the process of distillation.
By some magic of nature we find that alcohol has a lower boiling point (78.37 degrees Celsius) than water. By heating the products of fermentation, the alcohol rises as vapour from the mixture and can be captured and condensed. The process is known as distillation and the earliest known use of this for the production of alcohol spirit was around 3,000 BC. Industrial scale production of alcohol started only about 400 years ago in Europe, especially in the south of France. Santé! The Lucas Bols distillery in Amsterdam is thought to be the oldest in the world. Proost!
The second theme I wanted to introduce is my friend disinhibition. We noted in an earlier post that alcohol tends to release us from the normal constraints we employ to control our behaviour. It is perhaps in the realm of sexual activity that this becomes particularly noticeable. It is well established that alcohol use is associated with a greater intention to engage in unprotected sex. This is obviously a concern with regard to sexual health. In both men and women alcohol use can increase sexual desire, but an excess of alcohol can of course….well, let’s leave it to Porter in Shakespeare’s Macbeth:
…it provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance
Alcohol use can make people behave recklessly in other areas, such as attempting to drive or to experiment with other drugs. We noted previously that a metabolite arising from taking alcohol and cocaine together can produce acute cardiac problems. This recklessness has been described as alcohol myopia (Steele and Josephs, 1990) – a kind of mental short-sightedness. People thus affected tend to choose overly simple solutions to complex problems – “I know, let’s whack it with a hammer. That should fix it!” Now, where are my glasses….
Alcohol Trivia Quiz
Yesterday’s answers:
1. Whisky is confined to Scottish, Japanese and Canadian spirits, whereas those from elsewhere are Whiskey. Originally it was a way of distinguishing between Scottish and Irish products.
2. Elkie Brooks.
3. Ernest Hemingway.
Today’s questions:
1. Who had a hit with Liar’s Bar?
2. Where might you find bell bottoms, a spirit helmet and a dephlegmator?
3. Who reputedly said “Champagne is the only wine that leaves a woman beautiful after drinking it”?
Thank you again for bearing with me. It will soon be February! Until tomorrow, keep safe and well.
Understand Yourself Better 