Aloha,

What is the connection between sugar beets and Listerine mouthwash and what does that have to do with anything?

Let's start with the connection and stop by the F.O.M. Test Labs to take a trip to Lille, France in the summer of 1856. One day the dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lille received a visit from the father of one of his chemistry students. Lille was a center of alcohol production and Monsieur Bigo had a serious problem with the fermentation of alcohol from sugar beet juice in his distillery. The alcohol was going sour and being ruined during the process.

Some accounts say the professor was eager to help and others say he was hesitant but fortunately for history he did decide to go to the distillery to have a look for himself, probably because in 1856 fermentation was considered a chemical reaction and this would have been puzzling.

What he found was that the problem was the presence of lactic acid in the fermentation vats. With more examination he discovered that there were two fermentation processes occurring in the vats and isolated the lactic acid bacillus which was causing the contamination. He went on to show that the yeast used in fermentation of alcohol was also a living organism and that this was not a chemical process as previously believed. This chemist, Louis Pasteur, had just contributed to the foundation of the field of microbiology.

Now let's hop over to Glasgow, Scotland, 1867. Inspired by Pasteur's research Joseph Lister, a professor of surgery, publishes a series of articles on using antiseptic practices in surgery to reduce surgical infection rates. Lister's work was so important that in 1879 the Lambert Pharmacal Company in St. Louis named a new surgical antiseptic "Listerine" in honor of Dr. Lister.

Ok, so what's the point? Pasteur died like a century ago.

Over a century. One hundred fifteen years ago today, actually.

The point is that while alcohol is often subject to "sin taxes" and epithets like "demon rum" the history of civilization and science is often intertwined with the pursuit of brewing and distilling alcohol. You might even say the history of civilization is soaked and preserved in alcohol.

So take a moment to appreciate the millennia of craft and skill that go into your wine, beer or spirit of choice.

Keep the torches burning,

—Tagata Maori Rogorogo