[Ansteorra] Re: [Ansteorra-announce] Brewing and Vintning Competition at Lughnasad

Mark.S Harris mark.s.harris at motorola.com
Thu Aug 2 11:46:15 PDT 2001


David Gallowglass replied to me with:
> > However, most period cordials appear to be made by soaking spices
> > in wine, and sometimes other alcoholic beverages, then distilling
> > these.  Because it is illegal (in the USA) to distill beverages
> > without a license, the only way to come close to a period cordial
> > is to use a previously distilled beverage such as brandy or vodka
> > to steep the spices in.
>
> Or to get a license.  There's a special category for research, usually
> only issued to universities.  I keep hoping someone is willing to jump
> through all the hoops needed for one of these as a matter of
> "historical research".
> Now, if I hit the lottery, I'd be tempted to endow a chair at T A&M
> for "Food and Beverages of pre-Renn. Western Europe" with the
> requirement that they secure such a license, and I be permitted to
> audit the associated labs <G>.

Interesting. I've never heard this license being discussed before,
even in the extensive discussions on the SCA-Cooks list.

I'd love to have more details, especially something I could put in
my files for other researchers.

Having such research done as part of a University lab does have
other advantages. Distilling can be tricky and if done incorrectly
you can get some rather poisonous organic compounds. Much of the
hazard with drinking "moonshine" is from these compounds and not
just from the alcohol. Done in a university enviornment, the
test equipment should be available to test for such compounds
rather than simply giving some to some test subjects.

Stefan li Rous
stefan at texas.net



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