[MR] Pennsic Water Challenge

[David Chessler]

Adding an acid like vinegar to water makes in inhospitable to bacteria and
viruses.  This is one reason that modern travelers know that bottled soft
drinks (in the original bottles) are generally safe.

Some tests done of wine indicate that it is not just the alcohol that kills
the bacteria after it has been mixed with water, but other components of the
beverage. The fermentation process of beer will usually kill any bacteria in
the water. 

As for drinking vinegar and water, most or all vinegar in period (including
Roman times) was made from wine. Moreover, one suspects that a lot of wine,
especially the lower-priced varieties, was thin and acid. This would be
particularly true of white wine in the north, when the sugar content of the
pressing is low. 

 
-- 


Davitt il Bigollo da Pisa
Procurator parumper aurifex in Portus Liburni 
Officina pro Moghul terra 
Curalium quod Smaragdi ex Indicum quod Serenus


------ Original Message ------
Received: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:31:13 PM EDT
From: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
To: Atlantia maillist <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>Cc: David Chessler
<chessler at usa.net>
Subject: Re: [MR] Pennsic Water Challenge

> Actually water was drunk in period, particularly by the lower classes,  
> but also by the upper classes. They did know to avoid the water in or  
> near urban areas. And water would *not* have been served at a feast.  
> To do so, would brand you as awful stingy, when the opposite was what  
> the hosts were trying to project.
> bev-water-msg (30K) 6/11/06 Water as a beverage in period.
> http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/bev-water-msg.html