SC - RE: SC-distillation

[Jeff Gedney]

Hi Ras!

While it may be true that few or no pathogens will survive the brewing process, this is not necessarily true of vintning.
In Vintning, it is not necessary to hold the wort at pasteurizing temperatures, as one doens in mashing grain...
There are a variety of microbial agents that will not necessarily be killed immediately. 
Several will produce profound toxins before alcohol shock will kill them.

a few organisms known to be harmful to humans which may survive for a time in unpasteurized untreated wine (especially if the PH is not brought below 4.5 Yeast activity can also raise the Ph and "protein load" to levels where a variety of harmful bacteria can flourish).
Most of them are from unclean water sources or fecal contamination

Organisms such as MycoBacteria, Shigella, Salmonella
Boitulism is definitely possible, especially if using canned fruits or extract for fermentation source.

Also, 27 nm Norwalk viruses are very hardy, and are not killed by dilute alcohol. 

And who can tell what kind of stuff can fall into open unsealed fermentation vessels? Yecch! every thing from flies to ants to poisonous centipedes and Earwigs...

 - -Once I was making beer 7 years ago, and, going to check on my product, I found (courtesy of my then 3yr old) that my carboy no longer was wearing a fermentation lock, the wort was moldy, and had a variety of green army soldiers and lego blocks inside! I shudder to think what else he added for effect... 
 
Are these contaminants likely, if even the most rudimentary precaustion are taken? 
Not very.

In fact, it is generally the case that the wines of a region are safer than the water supply, and is reccommended for consumption by the USDA in going abroad, as they do not consider wine a factor in "travellers Tummy".

Still the possibility of contamination, however small, DOES exist, which is why the CDC reccomends that immunosuppressed persons boil all wine and beer for one minute at the rolling boil before ingestion(!! - yeah, I know, "whats the point of drinking it then?").

BTW, My post did NOT refer only to biological contaminants.
I only said that it is quite possible to produce wine which might be just as harmful or fatal to the consumer as "cheap and Deadly" whiskey.

In addition to biological factors, there are many ways to carelessly introduce a variety of endemic poisons into wine.

Some berries, like elderberries, grow on otherwise poisonous vegetation. If the leaves and stems of Elderberrries are carelessly crushed along with the fruit, for example, then a very poisonous wine may indeed result.

Also there are a variety of poisons , fungicides, and pesticides which may adhere to fruit, which will remain in the wine, if unwashed.
Not to mention making and storing the wine in containers which contain some of the nastier metals in their makup.
Hell, I have a Galvanized Trash Can that would be just the right size to hold six or seven bushels of grapes after crushing, to take color before I press them (If I totally lost what little sense I have!).

This the sort of thing that I would equate with cooking a mash too hot, adding Potash to whisky to enhance the "kick", and condensing it in a truck radiator, which are the sort of things that unscrupulous moonshiners do to make a buck, and result in potentially harmful end product. 

That is the equasion that I was making.  

Brandu
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
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