Can sugar ferment?

[Dhavaer]

I was just making some biscuits, and when I opened the jar of brown sugar I found that it smelled strongly of alcohol. Is the sugar actually fermenting, or is there something else going on here?

[Emperor Ing]

I was just making some biscuits, and when I opened the jar of brown sugar I found that it smelled strongly of alcohol. Is the sugar actually fermenting, or is there something else going on here?

I have no idea why, but that sounds really godly. :smallcool:

[Tengu]

I'm pretty sure that fermenting sugar is how you actually make alcohol, so yes, yes it can.

[Serpentine]

Isn't that what rum is?

[Tempest Fennac]

I think it is. I'll double check.

EDIT: According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum , rum is made out of sugarcane byproducts, so I'm guessing that normal sugar could ferment as well.

[Quincunx]

Those cookies are going to be godly. . .

[Tempest Fennac]

I don't know much about alcohol, but would using the fermented sugar to make anything be safe? I just thought I'd ask in case it's dangerous when it ferments in that fashion.

[Illiterate Scribe]

Not if you bake them, they won't, as the alcohol evaporates off.

I once encountered this with some bread that I was baking; left it to rise overnight under some clingfilm, and when I came down in the morning, it smelt powerfully of vodka - the clingfilm had denied the yeast oxygen, and so it had gone anaerobic. When I baked it, though, it evaporated off - normal bread.

[Tholok Razescar]

Gimme those! * takes delicious alcohol cookies* :smallbiggrin:

[bosssmiley]

Isn't that what rum is?

*ding, ding, ding* We have a winner! :smallbiggrin:

The sugars in grapes, apples, pears and sugar cane all ferment naturally if left to rot. That's part of the reason grazing animals love windfall apples.

[WalkingTarget]

Yes, fermenting sugar of one form or another is what gives you ethyl alcohol.

However, it can't just magically begin fermenting on its own. Your bag of refined sugar is fine as long as it remains dry and uncontaminated. Getting some yeast in there (or the right kind of mold or bacteria) can start the process going. Brown sugar would probably be more susceptible as it has a higher water content as-is.

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for the information (I was more concerned about it possibly absorbing things from the container, but that would be a huge problem as well).

[Dhavaer]

Those cookies are going to be godly. . .

My biscuits are always godly. :smallbiggrin:

Thanks for the answers, everyone. :smallsmile:

[Squidmaster]

yes it can. I once even encountered a kid's juice pack that had fermented. Hilarity ensued.

[SurlySeraph]

@^: That... that... I don't know whether to laugh or threaten to smite you.

[Aereshaa_the_2nd]

Sugar can ferment, otherwise I wouldn't have anything to drink under-ageially:smallamused:. But seriously, making alcohol at home is kinda dangerous, as you might end up with methanol instead of ethanol. NOT GOOD.

[Lemur]

Sugar can ferment, otherwise I wouldn't have anything to drink under-ageially:smallamused:. But seriously, making alcohol at home is kinda dangerous, as you might end up with methanol instead of ethanol. NOT GOOD.

Also, things that ferment risk unwanted microbes getting involved in the process. This risk is avoided by alcohol manufacturers by controlling the environment and various ingredients and so on. If something is fermenting on its own, it's probably not worth keeping.

That's not to say that you can't go buy some rum, and put that in the biscuits, though (well, you may have to be careful about the extra liquid), rum is used in baking every now and then. I just wouldn't trust things on your shelf that are being digested by bacteria who haven't notified you first.

[NikkTheTrick]

Well... That is one way to make some (horribly tasting) alcohol. Mix sugar (can be substituted by suger-containing food like candy) water and yeast in a container. Seal the container. Put in a warm place (say, next to the window so that sunlight warms it) and in some time you will have enough C2H5OH there to get drunk. If you do it right, parents will not notice anything untill it is ready, you get drunk and puke all over the house :smallbiggrin:

[Solo]

Well... That is one way to make sum (horribly tasting) alcohol. Mix sugar (can be substituted by suger-containing food like candy) water and yeast in a container. Seal the container. Put in a warm place (say, next to the window so that sunlight warms it) and in some time you will have enough C2H5OH there to get drunk. If you do it right, parents will not notice anything untill it is ready, you get drunk and puke all over the house :smallbiggrin:

Or until you go blind. That's always fun.

[NikkTheTrick]

Or until you go blind. That's always fun.
Shouldn't produce too much methanol...

[Jayngfet]

Here's a thought, Microwave them really fast, maybe all the alcahol won't evaporate.

[Tempest Fennac]

Ignoring the potential dangers, is this even legal? I know moonshine is, but I'm not sure if this comes under that catagory or not.

[NikkTheTrick]

Ignoring the potential dangers, is this even legal? I know moonshine is, but I'm not sure if this comes under that catagory or not.
I doubt law explicitly says anything about it. And in court one can always argue it was not intended to produce alcohol, just neglience with food.

[Tengu]

Or until you go blind. That's always fun.

First I didn't see the difference between ethanol and methanol, and later I didn't see anything at all.

(Sounds better in Polish.)

[Spiryt]

First I didn't see the difference between ethanol and methanol, and later I didn't see anything at all.

(Sounds better in Polish.)

I think that 'anything at all' is unnecessary.

'Later I just haven't seen' would be better, I think.

[Tempest Fennac]

Nikk, did you know that in the Prohibition era, bottles of grape extract contained "warnings" along the lines of "Do not______otherwise this extract will turn into wine"? Your point reminded me about that.

[Serpentine]

In Australia at least, people brew their own grog all the time. I really can't see how it'd be illegal just to ferment some sugarz.

[Jack Squat]

I know in the US it's not illegal to brew alcohol, just to sell it without a license.

from what has been said here, I assume it's the same in the UK and Australia as well, probably more places.

[Zarrexaij]

Or until you go blind. That's always fun.Methanol isn't sugar alcohol, it's wood alcohol.

That is, you won't get it from fermenting sugar. It's mostly a by-product of distilling wood.

[thubby]

the biggest risk in making an alcohol is explosion of the distillery. microbes die thanks to boil hot temperatures. so long as the proof isn't too high it's safe to drink, though probably tastes horrible.
making it is legal in most states, however the amount you make can be restricted (the idea being that no one has a use for over X amount of alcohol beyond sale)

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

Well, seeing as you need sugar in something to get it to ferment into beer or wine, one would logically deduce that sugar can ferment on its' own.

[Jimorian]

First I didn't see the difference between ethanol and methanol, and later I didn't see anything at all.

(Sounds better in Polish.)

Actually, this works well in English too, because you have the rhyme of methanOL and anything at ALL. Maybe make it a rough poem:

Once upon a time
I didn't see the difference
between ethanol and methanol
now I don't see
anything at all

[sapphail]

You don't want the ethanol either, what you want is the alcohol itself. The distilling process is designed to evaporate off the eth and meth and leave behind the alcohol.

[WalkingTarget]

You don't want the ethanol either, what you want is the alcohol itself. The distilling process is designed to evaporate off the eth and meth and leave behind the alcohol.

Nah, "alcohol" is the term for a type of chemical, not one specific kind.

Ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) is C2H5OH and is what you get when you ferment sugars (and is what's found in alcoholic beverages).

[Zarrexaij]

Ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) is C2H5OH and is what you get when you ferment sugars (and is what's found in alcoholic beverages).QFE

I facepalmed. I thought that this was fairly common knowledge?

Ahh, I love hate functional groups in organic compounds.

[NikkTheTrick]

You don't want the ethanol either, what you want is the alcohol itself. The distilling process is designed to evaporate off the eth and meth and leave behind the alcohol.
Ethanol and methanol are both alcohols. Any organic substance with OH functional group is an alcohol (which gives its name "ol"). There is infinite number of different alcohols theoretically possible.

Ethanol, C2H5-OH, is the alcohol we drink. It itself is not very toxic. However, it cannot be removed from the body as it is (since it very much likes being dissolved in water), so our body has to convert (via alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme) it to acetaldehyde, C2H4=O, which is a bit more toxic but can be efficiently removed from blood. Hovever, alcohol dehydrogenase cannot distinguish between small alcohols and will also convert methanol, which is not very toxic by itself, into its corresponding aldehyde to remove it. The problem is that methaldehyde, also known as formaldehyde, is extremely toxic. Therefore, methanol can kill even in relatively small amounts. I think 100 ml of it will make death very likely, but I could be wrong. Eyes are affected more than the rest of the body, so usually methanol does not kill, but makes one blind.

So, the irony is that it is human body itself that produces the very poison that kills it...

Distilling allows one to isolate ethanol from both methanol (lower boiling point) and water (higher boiling point) as well as other crap that happens to be in the mixture. Different alcoholic beverages have different % of ethanol.

Hard liquor (vodka, whiskey, tequilla, etc.) are usually 40% (of course, that can vary - I drank 60% whiskey and that stuff is badass:smallamused:)
Wine is around 11-14 %, though it can also vary.
Beer is 4-9% (5.2 the one I am drinking right now).

EDIT:


Ahh, I love hate functional groups in organic compounds.
Without those, you'd have to memorize every compound individually, which would turn 20 hours of non-stop memorization before each organic exam into 100-hour memorization sessions.

[Zarrexaij]

Hard liquor (vodka, whiskey, tequilla, etc.) are usually 40%Except for everclear, which at that point you might as well be drinking paint thinner because it's 96.9% alcohol by volume.


Without those, you'd have to memorize every compound individually, which would turn 20 hours of non-stop memorization before each organic exam into 100-hour memorization sessions.Well, organic chemistry as a whole isn't one of my strong subjects. Probably the worst part of my AP Chemistry class, right next to Lewis acids and complicated redox reactions.

I don't deny functional groups are useful, I could just do without organic chemistry entirely. :smalltongue: Wasn't the most entertaining part of my high school career.

[NikkTheTrick]

Except for everclear, which at that point you might as well be drinking paint thinner because it's 96.9% alcohol by volume.
96.9% is as pure ethanol as you can possibly get while not adding benzene to it and having it exposed to air. As I said, ethanol loves being mixed with water, to the point that it will suck up some water from the air untill it is 96.9%.
It is possible to make it almost 100%, but that would require adding some benzene, which is really bad. Toxic and cancerogenic (not that it ever prevented me from working with it barehanded :smallredface:).

But I would not recommend drinking 96.9% ethanol. That stuff would hurt pretty badly if one does not drink it properly. Thinking of which, perhaps I'll try drinking it while it is aflame one day :smallbiggrin: Abscent is 70% alcohol, but it is illegal in some countries since it also contains some other pretty toxic (and I think hallucinogenic) stuff.

Well, organic chemistry as a whole isn't one of my strong subjects. Probably the worst part of my AP Chemistry class, right next to Lewis acids and complicated redox reactions.

I don't deny functional groups are useful, I could just do without organic chemistry entirely. :smalltongue: Wasn't the most entertaining part of my high school career.
Organic chemistry is designed to be painful. Which is the reason why I star away from it as much as I can:smallwink:

[Zarrexaij]

Abscent is 70% alcohol, but it is illegal in some countries since it also contains some other pretty toxic (and I think hallucinogenic) stuff.You mean absinthe, and very little of it is toxic. It's basically a ****load of herbs (such as anise and nutmeg, those are the ones I can remember) with wormwood (which has mild hallucinogenic properties).

Absinthe doesn't haven't enough wormwood in it to have the wormwood cause any more hallucinations than normal from alcohol. The toxic and hallucinogenic crap is the lies spread during prohibition.

[NikkTheTrick]

You mean absinthe, and very little of it is toxic. It's basically a ****load of herbs (such as anise and nutmeg, those are the ones I can remember) with wormwood (which has mild hallucinogenic properties).

Absinthe doesn't haven't enough wormwood in it to have the wormwood cause any more hallucinations than normal from alcohol. The toxic and hallucinogenic crap is the lies spread during prohibition.
Yep, that what's I was talking about. Sorry for misspelling. Haven't tried it myself, so can't really argue on the topic :smallsigh:

[WalkingTarget]

Yep, that what's I was talking about. Sorry for misspelling. Haven't tried it myself, so can't really argue on the topic :smallsigh:

A buddy who was overseas for the Army recently brought some back. I thought it was mildly unpleasant anyway (but then again, I don't like anise-flavored things in general so I also don't like Ouzo, or Sambuca).