Definition of alcoholic drinks

Alcohol is a class of several hundred distinct colorless flammable organic chemical substances. In chemistry, the term alcohol refers to a class of chemical compounds whose names end in “-ol.” The glycerol molecules of a triglyceride is an example.

The alcohol in beverages is principally ethyl alcohol, produced from sugar by the action of enzymes present in yeast cells. The main types of alcoholic drinks are beer, wine and spirits, although each category comprises many different products, made from different ingredients and by different processes.

Alcoholic drinks contain a great deal of water and some other substances, as well as the alcoholic ethanol. In wine, beer and wine coolers, alcohol contributes a relatively low percentage of the beverage’s volume.

In contrast, as much as 50 percent of the volume of whiskey, vodka, rum or brandy may be alcohol. Alcoholic drinks normally sold by fluid or other measures, rather than weight. So alcohol can be measured using a mass or weight system, capacity or volume or weight to volume.

Alcoholic drinks in historical times were slightly different from today. Fermented milk, horse and goat milk, honey beverages such as mead were common. Wine and beer were often sweet dark and with a lot of sediments and were considered as an important food.
Definition of alcoholic drinks