calarific value to wine and cider

[avtovaz]

Whats the score with home brew, i mean, i was always told that its full of sugar, and its for putting weight on!

Now i know more about it, how does our home brew compare with say bargain booze cheapest wine and say strong bow.



Also, drinking before sleep, is that as bad as eating late too?

I dont know if anyone on here can answer that on here, i just thought i would ask.

[fatnurse]

Well I'm hoping my home brew is full of alcohol and vitamins and good stuff....

[avtovaz]

I am hoping that too as i drink so much of it!


But apart from the stuff in it that can also power drag cars, is it that bad for you?

[fatnurse]

Well since I started brewing and drinking home brew the only hangovers that put me on my arse for the day with a bad head and that horrible shaky feeling is when I've had to drink commercial (shudder) lager.
Having too much of anything is bad for tho init.......

[Gordonmull]

I wouldn't have thought that a dry wine, dry cider or spirits would have much relevant CV. Sure if you burnt it it would probably be quite high but alcohol isn't converted into the glucose by the body, so the CV of the alcohol is not realised in putting on weight. With a dry/spirit you've converted all the sugar into alcohol.

Beer on the other hand tends to have quite a lot of non fermentable sugars in it, and mixers are sweet, unless you use artificailly sweetened ones, for the spirits.

Personally I think the tendancy to put on weight from drinking dry wine/cider or spirits comes from behavioural effects of the alcohol than anything else. If you're already dieting, willpower goes, you say sod it i will have that snack. Booze gives me an increased desire for peanuts and crisps etc. (and those classic "after the pub" snacks that you'd never eat sober). Would rather sit and have a glass of wine than go for a run? Damn right!

Couldn't comment on what effect it has on your metabolism though - e.g. does it affect glucose uptake, retention time in the gut, conversion of glucose to fat, and I suppose many more variables than I can be arsed thinking of.

Home brew should have no more sugar in it than commercial brews, if anything less, because YOU have control over what goes into it. Try a strongbow and try a TC. Notice something in the sweetness? Scared of sulphites (not me!)? Don't use 'em, just drink it early. Fine, stop a wine at 1020 if you want it crazily sweet. Or better yet just forget about it until it clears and enjoy a good drink. Backsweeten to your hearts delight, too.

The best thing about it is you can get away from all the crap that some commercial products have added to drinks and really control what you neck of an evening.

[avtovaz]

Scared of sulphites (not me!)

where are the sulphates, i dont know exactly what they are [sorry to sound stupid ]


I alway brew everything till it stops, i dont know how to stop something brewing early i was planning on asking on here at some point but what i brew is just so nice i havnt quite felt the need yet.


I am drinking strong bow now, there is no cider ready, and it is sweat, its not as nice as an lidl TC...


I was just hoping that home brew and it being bad for you was a myth, and i believe it is, its better for you.


thanks for the reply mate, very much appreciated.

[Gordonmull]

Potassium/sodium metabisulphite is a preservative that helps prevent oxidisation in your wine. It seems to be important to keep the wine at a suitable level if you're going to age it long term. Not something mine ever needs to worry about! I still use it to mop up oxygen introduced during racking though. Wine contains negligable amounts in terms of harmfulness but for some reason commercial wines are required to declare that it "contains sulphites" on the label. This frightens your average organic fruit munching hugh fearnly-whatshisface types.

It's harldy extensive but: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_metabisulfite

To stop early you need to use a combination of potassium sorbate and campden/potassium met added at the SG you want. It's the same principal as the back sweetening in wine #2 but instead of fermenting dry, adding the chemicals and adding sugar, you just add it while there's still enough sugar left. It's much of a muchness, really.

I would concur - stongbow is not a patch on Lidl's special brew. Ballsy, tart and drinkable out of the FV. Perfect. Drinking some TC made from asda apple juice at the moment and it's not as good as the Lidl's but it's passable. Tasted very watery straight out of the fv but after a week it's got a bit more character. Waiting patently for 6 gal of lidl's though!

But the question begs - why you drinking strongbow?! You didn't make enough last time did you? Bigger batches man, bigger batches!

[sparky Paul]

I wouldn't have thought that a dry wine, dry cider or spirits would have much relevant CV. Sure if you burnt it it would probably be quite high but alcohol isn't converted into the glucose by the body, so the CV of the alcohol is not realised in putting on weight. With a dry/spirit you've converted all the sugar into alcohol.

Alcohol is metabolised directly into fatty acids by the liver, and is very much responsible for weight gain.

The higher the alcohol, the higher the calorific value... as you say though, beer is worse than wine/cider for a given alcohol level as it has a higher proportion of carbohydrates and unfermented sugars.

[testtube]

Beer is good for you in some respects, ie hops are very good anti-oxydants, minerals etc.. even has seaweed in it that you buy in health food shops! But too much and you will grow boobs, but nothing a sports bra doesn't sort out. And the doc will pick it up in blood tests. And does lots of other baad things. And alcohol is a major problem in UK, far worse than drugs in fact, that's why they are trying to get us to drink responsibly, so people take up homebrewing as a cheaper alternative to drinking irresponsibly!

[Gordonmull]

hmmm. was under the impession that alcohol was broken down to acetaldehyde then CO2 and acetic acid by the liver, never giving anything to the glucose chain? If I am erong please enlighten me because I never let a good drink stand in the way of learning!

[oldbloke]

is from

http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/ ... olmet.html

It appears that ethanol is metabolised to acetaldehyde and NADH, and the NADH gets metabolised into lipids

[trucker5774]

is from

http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/ ... olmet.html

It appears that ethanol is metabolised to acetaldehyde and NADH, and the NADH gets metabolised into lipids

I've seen that diagram before...........isn't it a recipe for Bio Diesel

[avtovaz]

RIght i have a friend who is a bit stupid who is reading this thread...


can you explain that ?


So it does matter when you drink and what too?

[testtube]

is from

http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/ ... olmet.html

It appears that ethanol is metabolised to acetaldehyde and NADH, and the NADH gets metabolised into lipids

I've seen that diagram before...........isn't it a recipe for Bio Diesel

No, it's quite clearly a plan for teletransportation on 5 different types of acid.

[Gordonmull]

Ahh god bless my rusty mind and its interpretation of wikipedia articles. Was under the impression that CO2 and acetic acid was where it ended, in exhalation and excretion. Didn't pay attention to the fact that the NADH would go along the electron transport chain, oops. Might have to drink from a heavier glass to burn of those excess calories.