Alcohol

Alcohol is an organic substance formed when a hydroxyl group is substituted for a hydrogen atom in a hydrocarbon. It is used for many things, however, the most common use is for alcoholic beverages.

So as to measure how much alcohol are in alcoholic beverages the ABV (Alcohol by volume) system is used. This consists on the number of millilitres (mL) of pure ethanol present in 100 mL of solution at 20 °C (68 °F).

BEERS


Beers are made by a process that has seven steps: mashing, sparging, boiling the wort, cooling the wort, fermentation, carbonation and packaging. However, its during fermentation were  yeast converts the glucose in the wort to ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide gas giving the beer both its alcohol content and its carbonation.
Their ABV rounds between 3-10% depending on the type of beer.












WINES


Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced through the partial or total fermentation of grapes. They are made by a process of four steps: Harvesting and crushing grapes, Fermenting the must, Ageing the wine and Packaging. As well as in beers, fermentation is the most important process because there, wild yeast are fed into the tank or vat to turn the sugar in the must into alcohol. Wines ABV are between 6-21% depending on the type they are for instance Malbec is between 13,5 and 15%.

VODKA

Vodka is made by the distillation of different kinds of agricultural materials. In the EU it is usually produced from grain or molasses. In Eastern Europe it is also produced from potatoes, or rice. Its ABV rounds 40% being one of the most alcoholic beverages that exist.

How alcohol affects humans.

Drinking too much alcohol:

• Affects the way the brain looks and works. This can change the mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.  

Damages the heart causing problems such as: Cardiomyopathy (the hearth muscle becomes enlarged), Arrhythmias (irregular heart beat), Strokes and High blood pressure.

Liver inflamations

Heavy drinkers increase the possibilities of having cancer

Basically, drinking too much damages all your immune system making it easier to catch illness that non drinkers wouldnt have.



The alcohol test.

There are two types of alcohol tests, the blood test and the breath test, however the most commonly used is the second mentioned.The person being tested for alcohol use blows into a breath alcohol device, and the results are given as a number. The number, known as the blood alcohol concentration (BAC), shows the level of alcohol in the person’s blood at the time the test was taken.