1954 Practical Bar Management by Eddie Clarke

USEFUL THINGS TO KNOW

Must The juice of the grapes before fermentation. Non-vintage The name given to an undated wine. It is ready for immediate consumption, and may, but need not be, kept. Pasteurization This is the term given to the raising of the temperature of a wine or beverage to a degree which will be sufficient to destroy any germs or bugs,and to render inactive any fermentation. Proof Spirit Before opening a bottle of whisky, gin, or any other spirit, the first thing one does is to automatically turn it upside down—^the reason being that, as alcohol is lighter than water, it may therefore all be at the top of the bottle. Supposing, just to prove how right this is, we delve into figures, and try and find out something about why it is, and what is meant by Proof Spirit. In the United Kingdom it is based on the fact that at a temperature of 51° Fahr. alcohol weighs exactly the same as twelve-thirteenths of an equal measure of water. This simply means that two full glasses, one containing alcohol and the other water, are the same in volume but are different in weight, so if we pour one-thirteenth of the water away, they will balance. Now! working at a standard temperature of 60° Fahr. the Proof Spirit is given almost the same weight as the distilled water, in fact it is 49-28 per cent, against 50-72 per cent, of water. Naturally then, to make them equal in weight, the volume of the Proof Spirit must be increased and the water decreased, so then, we find there is 57-10 per cent, of Proof Spirit and 42-90 per cent, of water together making 100 per cent. This,then,is the standard Proof, and any spirit containing either over or under 57-10 per cent, alcohol is confirmed as "over proof(o.p.)"or"under proof(u.p.)". Don't make the mistake of thinking that a whisky bottle marked 70 per cent. Proof is therefore 12-90 per cent, over proof, because itis, in fact, under proof. Remember I 57 per cent, alcohol plus 42-90 per cent, distilled water makes the 100 per cent. Proof Spirit—^the bottle marked 70 per cent, must therefore be divided into that 100 per cent, which will give a volume of 39-97 per cent, alcohol against 60-03 per cent, of distilled water.

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