[Artemisia] A New Discussion - SCA Skills in a Modern Plague

[DK Wickstrom]

At 12:13 PM 9/28/2010, "Cadet" wrote:
>I would like to add to the water purification methods...
>
>As a brewer I would like to point out that the tradition of watered wine
>with meals in Europe did not get it's root in a love for alcohol, but rather
>a discovery that one could safely drink wine, when drinking water would
>probably result in serious illness, if not death.  A proper blending of the
>two will both result in safe drinking water, and add a bit of flavoring.
>
>For those of you opposed to drinking alcohol please realize the alcohol
>percentage required to kill most bacteria is only about 3%.  So, if you have
>a nice strong beer, wine or mead, mix it in with your water supply and allow
>to sit for at least 5-20 minutes.  One nice thing about this method is it is
>relatively easy to make beer, and to brew anything that is only 3% can be
>done in a matter of a couple of days, and takes very few materials.  In fact
>one can get to 3% with one cup of cane sugar/a handfull of jolly
>ranchers(those of you who've been locked up might be familiar with this
>method...)/chopped up bread/etc..., a couple of raisins regular bakers
>yeast(or any kind of yeast, but I doubt most people have the stockpile of
>the stuff that some of us brewers do)/heel of a loaf of bread/certain fruits
>which have yeast in them, and the best part of this method is, it is
>sustainable, reuse your yeast!
>
>Anyway just thought I'd throw in my two cents... If your not brewing for
>taste, but rather for survival, then ANYONE can do it without any real
>thought, and if you're doing it for a little while, you just might find an
>added benefit, and marketable skill in this post plague/apocalyptic world
>
>
>Kveldulf Lohipoika.
>

         As an addendum to this idea, and an avenue for possible 
exploration- http://gizmodo.com/5647605/turning-welchs-into-wine-in-48-hours

         A question about the numbers above, though- is the 3% ABV 
figure just for the brew itself, or for the entire volume to be 
disinfected? In other words, if you mix a half gallon of 3% alcohol 
wine with a half gallon of sketchy water, the total ABV is only going 
to be 1.5%.



--
DK Wickstrom, ska Morgan d'Antioche
DarkHeart Armoury "...a tradition of Fine, Custom Armour
since last Tuesday."
www.darkheartarmoury.com