Alcohol primarily comes from the fermentation of sugars found in plants such as grains, fruits, and vegetables. This process involves yeast or bacteria consuming the sugars and producing ethanol (the type of alcohol in drinks) and carbon dioxide as by-products
. How Alcohol is Made:
- Fermentation: Yeast reacts with sugars in ingredients like barley, rye, grapes, apples, or rice to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide
- Distillation: For stronger alcoholic beverages (spirits), the fermented liquid undergoes distillation, which concentrates the alcohol by removing some water
Historical Origins:
- Alcoholic beverages have been produced for thousands of years, with evidence of early beer found in a 13,000-year-old prehistoric site near Haifa, Israel
- Around 7000 BC, people in northern China made a mixed fermented drink from grapes, honey, hawthorn berries, and rice
- Early civilizations such as those in Egypt, Babylon, and the Middle East also developed alcoholic drinks from grains and fruits
- The ability to metabolize alcohol likely predates humans, as primates consumed naturally fermenting fruit
Summary:
Alcohol in beverages comes from the natural fermentation of plant sugars by
yeast, a process humans have harnessed for millennia. The raw materials vary
by culture and region but commonly include grains (barley, rye), fruits
(grapes, apples), and other plants like rice or honey. Distillation further
refines these fermented products into stronger spirits
. Thus, alcohol originates from the biochemical conversion of plant sugars through fermentation, a process discovered and refined by humans over thousands of years.
