Alcohol is the ordinary name for a substance called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, or pure spirits (chemical name, ethanol). It is also the class name for an important group of chemicals recognized as having a certain definite chemical makeup. Familiar alcohol's include methyl alcohol, also called methanol or wood alcohol; amyl alcohol; isopropyl alcohol; butyl alcohol; ethylene glycol, which is used a permanent antifreeze; glycerin, or glycerol; and menthol.       Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is formed as wine or hard wine by the fermentation of any sweet fruit juice. Industrial ethyl alcohol may be made from molasses, potatoes, or grains, chiefly corn. The starch of the corn is converted into fermentable sugar by a preliminary treatment with malt. About half of the industrial alcohol is manufactured by synthetic chemical processes. The dilute alcohol obtained is then distilled to recover industrial alcohol of 96 percent strength (4 percent water). It requires an additional treatment to make alcohol of 100 percent strength.       Chemically pure ethanol is a colorless liquid which looks like water but has a mild odor. It can be dissolved in water in all proportions. When exactly one gallon of pure ethanol and one gallon of pure water are mixed, the result is about 3.5 percent less than two gallons. This is because molecules of alcohol fit into the spaces between the atoms of water. We say that the volumes of the water and alcohol are not additive or added to each other. But the weights of the two are additive.       Proof spirit-the legal term used by the U.S. Bureau of Internal Revenue for ethanol-is 50 percent by volume of ethanol and 50 percent by volume of water, identically the same mixture as one of 42.5 percent by weight of ethanol and 57.5 percent by weight of water. Thus pure ethanol is rated as 220-proof and one actual gallon is equivalent to two proof gallons. This can be confusing, especially since denatured alcohol is reported in actual wine gallons (231 cubic inches each). Denatured alcohol is ethanol made unfit for beverage purposes by adding various materials.       The boiling point for pure ethanol is 78.5Cdegrees. That of the 96 percent ethanol is 78.15Cdegrees. This temperature is known as the minimum boiling point of ethanol-water mixtures. The freezing point is -112Cdegrees or 170F degrees. Therefore ethanol can be used as the liquid in thermometers for measuring temperatures below the freezing point of mercury. (-40Cdegrees). Mixtures of ethanol and water remain liquid when cooled to temperatures of half ethanol and half water by weight remains liquid when cooled to -50Cdegrees or -58Fdegrees. This accounts for its use as an antifreeze in automobile radiators.       Burning ethanol produces a pale blue flame with no soot and much heat. Therefore it is a desirable fuel. It can be used in interval combustion engines.       Ethanol dissolves many organic substances, among them shellac, and natural and synthetic resins and oils. It is used extensively in lacquers. It is also an ingredient of tinctures and many toilet and drug preparations. Ethanol is used on the body as rubbing alcohol, and for sterilizing surgical instruments. Some of the chemicals made from ethanol are: ether, used as an anesthetic; glycol ethers are solvents; esters such as ethyl; butyl and amyl acetates; diethyl phthalate, used in making rubber; and ethyl chloride (chloroethane).       In the human body, ethanol in intoxicating beverages is rapidly absorbed in the stomach and upper intestine and quickly enters the circulatory system.       ALCOHOLIC DRINK is any beverage which contains ethyl alcohol in intoxicating quantities. The amount of alcohol may be as low as 2 percent, as in some beers, or it may be as high as 68 percent, as in absinthe. The alcoholic content of some beverages i is measured in proof, which is roughly about twice the percentage of alcohol by volume. For example, a 90 proof whisky contains about 45 percent alcohol. The alcohol in these drinks is obtained by the fermentation of sugar or of starchy products such as corn, barley, wheat, rye, rice and potatoes, when their starch is changed into sugar. Beverage alcohol may also be obtained by distilling fermented mashed fruit or grain.       The oldest alcohol drinks were fermented. Ancient Babylonian tablets have been found which recorded the process of brewing beer from malted barley. Wine making began with the Egyptians.       Men of the Ancient world began to make alcoholic beverages not because they wanted to become intoxicated, but for more practical reasons. One reason was that there were very few ways in which food could be preserved. The people of those times found that grape juice soon spoiled, but that the fermented juice, or wine, would keep. The alcohol produced by the fermentation stopped the growth of the bacteria which spoiled the juice. They also noticed that persons who drank fermented liquors did not become sick as often as those who drank water or unfermented beverages. This was not because alcoholic drinks themselves were healthful. But many of the springs and wells of Europe and Asia were impure, and the drinking of the water sometimes caused sickness and death. This may have been why Saint Paul said, "Use a little wine for they stomach's sake". Some early peoples, such as the Indians, never learned to make alcoholic beverages.       Brewing and wine making were especially important during the Middle Ages. Beer and ale were the principal beverages of the poor. Wines in great variety were served at the tables of the rich. Because wine was used to celebrate the sacrament of the Mass, the Roman Catholic monasteries preserved the secrets of wine making after the fall of the Roman Empire. The nobility also kept wine-making recipes, and wine was one of the products with which the lords paid their debts under the feudal system ..       The manufacture of alcoholic drinks became an important industry during the Renaissance period. Merchant guilds controlled the beer and wine trades and regulated business practices.       Fermented liquors are chiefly beers and wines. The beer industry reached its highest development in Central Europe during the 1300's and 1400's. Among the well-known types were Pilsner Beer, from Pilsen, Bohemia; Munchemer beer from Munich, Germany; and Carlsberg beer, from Denmark. Ale, porter, and stought have been made in England and Ireland since early Christian times. Beers of the present day usually have an alcoholic strength of 2 to 6 percent. There are many different formulas for brewing beer and ale.       Most of the various kinds of wine have been named for the places in Europe in which they were first made. But all kinds of wines are now also made in the United States, principally in California, New York and Ohio.       Light wines have an alcoholic content of 14 percent or less. They were first popular in France, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Spain and Portugal. They include Burgundy, red and white Bordeaux, Claret, Moselle, Tokay, Alsatian, Rhine, Zinfandel, Chablis, Sauterne, and such Italian wines as Chianti, Barolo and Barbera. Most of the wines now produced in California belong to this class.       Sparkling wines are light wines which bubble and fizz when they are poured. this is because the contain carbon dioxide. They include champagne, Astispumante, Burgundy, Moselle, Saumur and Catawba.       Fortified wines are those whose alcoholic content has been increased to as high as 21 percent by the addition to brandy and other spirits. Among these wines are Malaga, port, sherry and muscatel. The United States and Spain produce large quantities of these wines. Sicily produces Marsala wine. Port and Madeira originally came from Portugal and its island district, Madeira.       Dubonnet and French and Italian vermouths are the principal aromatized wines. They are famous for their distinctive odor, called bouquet. It results from the addition of wormwood and other aromatic herbs and spices to the wine. Such wines have an alcoholic of 15 to 20 percent. Click here for more information on wine       Other Fermented Drinks. Pulque, the national drink of Mexico ,is a fermented drink. It is made from the juice of a cactus plant called agave. Pulque was first made by the Aztecs. Sake is a beer brewed from brown rice by the Japanese. Sake has an alcoholic content of from 14 to 16 percent.       Distilled Liquors are believed to have originated among the Chinese. The people of China made a strong drink from rice wine long before the Christian era. The Arabs carried the science of distilling to Europe in the Middle Ages. Brandy and whisky were the first European distilled liquors. Brandy is obtained by distilling wine and or a fermented fruit mash, after it has been aged in oak casks. The alcoholic content of brandy is 45 to 55 percent. The brandies include cognac, armagnac, applejack, kirsch (cherry brandy), slivovitz, mirabelle (plum brandy), other fruit brandies, such as blackberry and peach, and Spanish and Greek brandies. Absinthe is made of brandy, wormwood, and other herbs. benedictine is made of brandy, sugar aromatic herbs.       Whisky is distilled from a fermented mash of corn, rye, barley, or wheat. It is then aged in wooden barrels. Whisky was first made in Ireland and Scotland during the twelfth century. Irish whisky and Scotch whiskey are still famous. Bourbon whisky was originally produced from corn in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Whiskies have an alcoholic content ranging from 40 to 54 percent. They are designated as straight or blended. Straight whiskey is the pure distillate, which is reduced, or cut, to the desired alcoholic strength desired with distilled water. Blended whiskey is whiskey blended with pure alcohol.       Rum has been distilled from sugar cane and rice since the days of Sheba and King Solomon. Spanish Settlers in the West Indies were the first to produce this spirit in the New World. They Distilled a fermented mash of sugar cane or molasses. New England rum and the West Indies molasses from which it was made were traded for African Slaves until the early 1800's.       Akavit is the favorite distilled beverage of the Scandinavian countries. It is made from fermented potato mash and is flavored with caraway seeds and orange or lemon peels. vodka is a fiery Russian beverage, distilled from a fermented mash of rye, barley and corn.       Compounded Liquors are pure distilled spirits which have been flavored with various seeds, roots, leaves, flowers or fruits. Among the liquors are gin, which the Dutch first made in the 17th century, and cordials, for which the French have been noted since the 16th century.       Gin is made by distilling a mash of rye, corn, or other grain in a special kind of still called a pot still. Juniper berries give gin its special flavor. The alcoholic content of gin is generally 40 percent.       A Cordial, or Liqueur, is made by combining some spirits such as brandy with sugar and certain flavoring. Examples of the fruit cordials are apricot, blackberry, cherry, raspberry, and strawberry liqueurs. Plant cordials include creme de menthe (flavored with mint), creme de cacao (whose flavor is obtained from cacao and vanilla beans), and creme de rose (flavored with vanilla and essential oil of rose petals. Curacao is flavored with the dried peel of the bitter oranges raised on the island of Curacao. Kummel is flavored with caraway seeds and anise. Maraschino is flavored with the marasca cherries of dalmatia. Chartreuse is a famous cordial originated by the Carthusian monks in their monastery near Grenoble, France. It is colored green, yellow or white, according to the flavorings used. These include palm leaves, peppermint, orange peel, and spices. Click here for more information on beer or wine.