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Congeners
Editors
Note: This started out as an article
about dioxin and furan congeners. While doing
the research, however, I Googled my way into something that is probably more
helpful to most stack testers, and fits the holiday season a little better than
a dry discussion about organic chemistry.
Congeners are toxic
substances created during the alcohol fermentation process. When you drink
alcohol, these toxins are dispersed into your system as your liver breaks down
the alcohol. While congeners are not the sole cause of a hangover, they do seem
to contribute in some manner to the “quality” of the ensuing hangover.
Knowing something about
the level of congeners in your chosen alcoholic beverage may help you determine
how ill it can make you. In general, the fermentation and distillation
processes determine the amount of congeners in the end product. Lower levels of
congeners may mean a kinder, gentler hangover. . . if there is such a thing.
More expensive alcohol
generally contains fewer congeners because it undergoes a more rigorous
distillation process that filters out a higher percentage of the congeners.
(Certain liquors may actually be distilled three or four times.)
Darker colored drinks,
such as whiskey, brandy and red wine have more congeners than lighter drinks
such as vodka, gin and white wine. Beer
falls somewhere in the middle of all of this…although the color of beer is no
indicator of its level of congeners; they’re all about the same in this
respect.
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