Mmmmmmmmmm Boooooooooze
Gotta love yeast.
Yeast feasts on sugar, and produces alcohol. If you start with starches such as barley, corn, rye or wheat, then you have (sort of) beer. Start with fruit and you have wine. If you take advantage of the fact that alcohol boils at a lighter temperature than water, you can boil that beer/wine at a relatively low temperature, collect the steam, condense it, and you have something more alcoholic.
Do this two or three times and you have Aqua Vitae. The Water of Life. Spirits. Now store your Aqua Vitae in Oak Casks. As the seasons pass, the contents of the cask mellow, and absorb flavors out of the wood. It stands the chance of becoming perilously drinkable. The Scottish learned that if they caused their barley to sprout, and then halted the sprouting by smoking it over peat fires, they would increase the sugar content in the grain, and improve fermentation. This is called Malting. And this Barley Malt made quite a nice Aqua Vitae. The Scottish called it something like "Usquaebach." (I'm sure I have that word spelled wrong) That also means Water of Life. Take the first half of that word, Anglicize it, and you have the origins of the word Whiskey.
UPDATE from the Maximum Leader: The Scottish gaelic is either: "Uisge Beatha" or "Uisgebaugh." Your Maximum Leader has always peferred Uisge Beatha, which seemed more accurate from his ill-fated attempt to teach himself Scots Gaelic.
If you started with grapes in the first place, then you are a brandy drinker, and I'm not interested in you. Go back to France you cheese eating surrender monkey.
If you started with Corn, Barley, Rye and or Wheat, you're on your way to Bourbon, and Kentucky. Start with Makers Mark or Wild Turkey. If you go for Wild Turkey, get the 101 proff variant.
As for Scotch, I prefer Laphroaig or Lagavulin, if I can get it. It's what my cousin calls a "Sea Captain's drink". Something for people who say "Arg" a lot. The ML prefers his dram's a wee bit lighter, and more delicate in flavor, although he has a wonderful bottle of 10 year old Ardbeg he shares with me when I come to visit. Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin all come from a little breath of heaven in the Hebrides known as Islay. I hope to make a pilgrimage there some day.
All this is my way of saying... I need a drink.
Yeast feasts on sugar, and produces alcohol. If you start with starches such as barley, corn, rye or wheat, then you have (sort of) beer. Start with fruit and you have wine. If you take advantage of the fact that alcohol boils at a lighter temperature than water, you can boil that beer/wine at a relatively low temperature, collect the steam, condense it, and you have something more alcoholic.
Do this two or three times and you have Aqua Vitae. The Water of Life. Spirits. Now store your Aqua Vitae in Oak Casks. As the seasons pass, the contents of the cask mellow, and absorb flavors out of the wood. It stands the chance of becoming perilously drinkable. The Scottish learned that if they caused their barley to sprout, and then halted the sprouting by smoking it over peat fires, they would increase the sugar content in the grain, and improve fermentation. This is called Malting. And this Barley Malt made quite a nice Aqua Vitae. The Scottish called it something like "Usquaebach." (I'm sure I have that word spelled wrong) That also means Water of Life. Take the first half of that word, Anglicize it, and you have the origins of the word Whiskey.
UPDATE from the Maximum Leader: The Scottish gaelic is either: "Uisge Beatha" or "Uisgebaugh." Your Maximum Leader has always peferred Uisge Beatha, which seemed more accurate from his ill-fated attempt to teach himself Scots Gaelic.
If you started with grapes in the first place, then you are a brandy drinker, and I'm not interested in you. Go back to France you cheese eating surrender monkey.
If you started with Corn, Barley, Rye and or Wheat, you're on your way to Bourbon, and Kentucky. Start with Makers Mark or Wild Turkey. If you go for Wild Turkey, get the 101 proff variant.
As for Scotch, I prefer Laphroaig or Lagavulin, if I can get it. It's what my cousin calls a "Sea Captain's drink". Something for people who say "Arg" a lot. The ML prefers his dram's a wee bit lighter, and more delicate in flavor, although he has a wonderful bottle of 10 year old Ardbeg he shares with me when I come to visit. Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin all come from a little breath of heaven in the Hebrides known as Islay. I hope to make a pilgrimage there some day.
All this is my way of saying... I need a drink.
posted by Anonymous at 12/08/2003 01:22:00 AM
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