SC - Non-Member submission from Luanne BartholomewFor those who are interested: From http://www.nowheat.com/fooddb/food/vinegar.htm Distilled vinegar is not distilled. The name merely means that it is made from distilled alcohol. This is done in a fermentation process in which the fermenting bacteria, a species of Acetobacter, oxidizes the added alcohol to acetic acid. The fermentation mixture is filtered and diluted to give an acetic acid concentration of about 5%. This is vinegar. It does contain nitrogenous material which is in part derived from the nutrient mixture added to the fermentation in order to keep the Acetobacter growing, and in part from those bacteria that die and disintegrate during the fermentation. This acetic fermentation is common to all vinegars so that they all contain the same kinds of nitrogenous 'contaminants', although in differing amounts. ...[T]he ethyl alcohol from which [distilled vinegar] is made is distilled from a yeast fermentation mixture. (In the UK, however, I believe that 'distilled vinegar' has a different meaning, that it is made from malt and that it is in fact, distilled.) In most of the world, molasses, which can be fermented directly by yeast, is the major source of alcohol. Alcohol is also made synthetically from petroleum products but I do not believe that alcohol from this source is much used in the food industry. In the U.S., starches derived from grains are the major source, mostly (about 85%) from corn. End quote. Hope this helps. Luanne Bartholomew

[Michael F. Gunter]

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After this competition, I joked with the baroness of the group, that I'll 
be nice and sit out the next few competitions, and let someone else 
win.  She laughed, and said "well, next time you can judge." 

Now, I don't drink that much alcohol, don't drink beer at all, I'm not a 
big fan of wines, and only occasionally enjoy a good mead.  On top of 
that, my experience making cordials is really minimal.  BUT... they would 
like me to judge their brewing competitions.  

Now from what they have told me, they judge their competitions solely on 
taste. So technically, anyone could judge it.  But I still would not feel 
qualified to judge it.  I mean does the ability to make a good tasting 
cordial mean I can judge others as well????

now apply this to other types of A&S projects.

Kael


This is fairly common and one of the major reasons I don't enter contests.
I've seen too many instants of this kind of thing. I prefer displays with
documentation but even then the flashy with little to no real period basis
seems to come out ahead. I think things are getting better in some areas but
there are still too many folks out there who really don't care about
research who are doing the judging. Margarite