An invention gone wrong with good results

In the 16th century, a Dutch shipmaster was trying to make wine easier
to transport, and so he decided to use heat to concentrate the alcohol,
with a plan to add water to it once he arrived at his destination.
However, what he discovered was that the taste of concentrated wine is
much better than that of watered-down wine, so he forewent the water
part of his plan and called his new alcohol brandewijn, meaning "burnt
wine" in Dutch.

On Thu, 16 Nov 2023 21:02:19 -0500, Ed P wrote:

> An invention gone wrong with good results
>
> In the 16th century, a Dutch shipmaster was trying to make wine easier
> to transport, and so he decided to use heat to concentrate the alcohol,
> with a plan to add water to it once he arrived at his destination.
> However, what he discovered was that the taste of concentrated wine is
> much better than that of watered-down wine, so he forewent the water
> part of his plan and called his new alcohol brandewijn, meaning "burnt
> wine" in Dutch.

It was condensed to avoid paying the import tax - which was by the
barrel.

I'm pretty sure they had to distil it, not heat it up. Alcohol
evaporates at a lower temperature and quicker than water. You
have to capture the alcohol in a distiller and put it back in
without the water.

-sw

On 11/16/2023 9:30 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Nov 2023 21:02:19 -0500, Ed P wrote:
>
>> An invention gone wrong with good results
>>
>> In the 16th century, a Dutch shipmaster was trying to make wine easier
>> to transport, and so he decided to use heat to concentrate the alcohol,
>> with a plan to add water to it once he arrived at his destination.
>> However, what he discovered was that the taste of concentrated wine is
>> much better than that of watered-down wine, so he forewent the water
>> part of his plan and called his new alcohol brandewijn, meaning "burnt
>> wine" in Dutch.
>
> It was condensed to avoid paying the import tax - which was by the
> barrel.
>
> I'm pretty sure they had to distil it, not heat it up. Alcohol
> evaporates at a lower temperature and quicker than water. You
> have to capture the alcohol in a distiller and put it back in
> without the water.
>
> -sw

The first step to distill it is to heat it. This seems to be a loose
translation. The article was about "accidental" inventions.

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Brandy.html

On Thu, 16 Nov 2023 21:51:33 -0500, Ed P wrote:

> On 11/16/2023 9:30 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
>> On Thu, 16 Nov 2023 21:02:19 -0500, Ed P wrote:
>>
>>> An invention gone wrong with good results
>>>
>>> In the 16th century, a Dutch shipmaster was trying to make wine easier
>>> to transport, and so he decided to use heat to concentrate the alcohol,
>>> with a plan to add water to it once he arrived at his destination.
>>> However, what he discovered was that the taste of concentrated wine is
>>> much better than that of watered-down wine, so he forewent the water
>>> part of his plan and called his new alcohol brandewijn, meaning "burnt
>>> wine" in Dutch.
>>
>> It was condensed to avoid paying the import tax - which was by the
>> barrel.
>>
>> I'm pretty sure they had to distil it, not heat it up. Alcohol
>> evaporates at a lower temperature and quicker than water. You
>> have to capture the alcohol in a distiller and put it back in
>> without the water.
>
> The first step to distill it is to heat it. This seems to be a loose
> translation. The article was about "accidental" inventions.
>
> http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Brandy.html

I meant to say "not JUST heat it".

My account comes from the tour at the Korbel winery. Wiki say it
was first made in France back in 1313.

And the excuse was both, avoid tax and lighten loads. Teh
sentiment is the same though - make more money per load (and
paying less tax). Until rum came along...

-sw

On Thu, 16 Nov 2023 21:51:33 -0500, Ed P wrote:

> The first step to distill it is to heat it. This seems to be a loose
> translation. The article was about "accidental" inventions.
>
> http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Brandy.html

Wow, that article is obnoxiously loose with the word
brandy, claiming that any distilled spirit is "brandy",
including scoth, bourbon, vodka, and rum.

From other sources: Wisconsin has, by far, the highest
per-capita brandy consumption. And over half of
Krobel's brandy is sold in WI. Huh. Cindy?

-sw

On 2023-11-17, Sqwertz <sqwertzme@gmail.compost> wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Nov 2023 21:51:33 -0500, Ed P wrote:
>
>> The first step to distill it is to heat it. This seems to be a loose
>> translation. The article was about "accidental" inventions.
>>
>> http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Brandy.html
>
> Wow, that article is obnoxiously loose with the word
> brandy, claiming that any distilled spirit is "brandy",
> including scoth, bourbon, vodka, and rum.
>
> From other sources: Wisconsin has, by far, the highest
> per-capita brandy consumption. And over half of
> Krobel's brandy is sold in WI. Huh. Cindy?

If I lived in Wisconsin, I might know about it.

Actually, I recently read an article on some weird drink that's popular
in Wisconsin. (Google.) Ah, here it is: the brandy Old Fashioned.

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/14/1213008601/wisconsin-crowns-the-brandy-old-fashioned-as-the-official-state-cocktail

--
Cindy Hamilton

bruce bowser wrote:

> On Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 9:51:39 PM UTC-5, Ed P wrote:
> > On 11/16/2023 9:30 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> > > On Thu, 16 Nov 2023 21:02:19 -0500, Ed P wrote:
> > >
> > >> An invention gone wrong with good results
> > >>
> > >> In the 16th century, a Dutch shipmaster was trying to make wine
> > easier >> to transport, and so he decided to use heat to
> > concentrate the alcohol, >> with a plan to add water to it once he
> > arrived at his destination. >> However, what he discovered was
> > that the taste of concentrated wine is >> much better than that of
> > watered-down wine, so he forewent the water >> part of his plan and
> > called his new alcohol brandewijn, meaning "burnt >> wine" in
> > Dutch.
> > >
> > > It was condensed to avoid paying the import tax - which was by
> > > the barrel.
> > >
> > > I'm pretty sure they had to distil it, not heat it up. Alcohol
> > > evaporates at a lower temperature and quicker than water. You
> > > have to capture the alcohol in a distiller and put it back in
> > > without the water.
> > >
> > > -sw
> > The first step to distill it is to heat it. This seems to be a
> > loose translation. The article was about "accidental" inventions.
> >
> > http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Brandy.html
>
> What with all this talk about alcohol, your ice maker must be back
> online.

My new fridge doesn't have one. The delivery and hook up was free.
Apparently it's rare to skip the icemaker? This one has them as an
addon but we prefer to not hook up the waterline but instead have more
freezer space. The waterline has been capped off since we bought the
place.