"Fizzy spirits" news and stories

Say it fast... Fizzy Gin, fizzy gin, fizzy gin! Why? Because it's fun to say, and soon it may be fun to drink. Diageo has come up with a way to make gin, vodka, whiskey, rum, or any other spirit carbonated naturally, using yeast and a "fermentable carbohydrate." In the patent registered with the European Patent Office they say they have a "method for preparing alcoholic beverages having natural effervescence, wherein a blend comprising a distilled spirit is fermented with a microorganism". It sounds like the way real champagne and some beers are carbonated, but I always thought that yeast died off at around 17-18% alcohol by volume (abv.) Vodka, gin, and most spirits are usually bottle at 40%-50% abv. I read the patent, which left me completely confused and with a headache, and it seems they can carbonate spirits up to 30% abv., though preferably in the 8%-12% abv. range. Anyway it seems they have figured out a way for the yeast to live at high alcohol levels. Boy those must be some robust and happy yeasts.

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