alcohol dehydrogenase... crazy idea or not?

L

loach man

AC Members
Sep 12, 2005
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ok guys, don't flame on me for bringing this one up. no one else has after all.

anyway, many of us have experience in DIY c02 right? mixing the yeast, water, sugar, jello or whatever. sooner or later you just end up with something like rancid beer because the alcohol byproduct kills all the yeast.

well here's my crazy idea... you remember some of those old spy films where the spy guy is trying to get info from someone else by getting them drunk? then the spy guy takes a pill or something that help break down alcohol really really fast so he barely gets a buzz. i looked into it a little and the enzyme that it is or has to do with it is alcohol dehydrogenase. found naturally in animals and humans. you can already guess what i want to do. maybe find some of that stuff and mix it in with the DIY c02 generator or maybe even a week or so after the initial mix to cut the alcohol. i'm not a chemist. crazy or no..?
 
hehe, I don't know where actually. I seem to recall some products that claim to do something similar a few years back... maybe even an over the counter pill. wasn't there something not too long ago that you take as a pill to prevent a hangover? as far as sources go, i am still searching.
 
here's an interesting product:
http://www.thewebmark.com/nohang-hangover-prevention-pills.htm

remember, the idea is to pop these suckers into the DIY solution maybe a week or two after mixing it to clear the alcohol and maybe allow the mix to last longer.

i think i may as well try this. at the bottom of the article you can click the:
(Learn more about NoHang Hangover Prevention Pills by visiting NoHangOnline.com)
link to get a free sample sent to you. hey, its free after all.
 
Hmmm that would be interesting... This is what I found about alcohol dehydrogenase THERMOSTABLE ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASES :

"Current dehydrogenase based technology has been limited by the lack of available enzymes. The few enzymes which are available have narrow substrate specificities, poor stabilities or yield only a single type of stereocenter. New dehydrogenase enzymes are needed in order to increase the chemo-and stereoselectivity for different substrates, thereby increasing the spectrum of useful chemical synthetic reactions over that which is currently available."

"In spite of industrial interest, very few alcohol dehydrogenases are commercially available that can produce molecules of high enantioselectivity under conditions encountered in industrial applications."



Soooooo, it's only a matter of time :)
 
The only problem with these alchohol dehydrogenase products is this wonderful enzyme found in people's stomachs called pepsin. Pepsin breaks down proteins and will easily destroy enzymes like that :duh:. As for yeast, you can give it a try. I am not familiar with that enzyme and cannot comment more about it that what I have.
 
Why not dump out the water and ETOH and add fresh water back?
Cheaper, easier, takes about the same time.

If you want more automation, get gas tanks, best thing you will ever do in the hobby if you use CO2.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
i'd suggest the same thing if i wasnt a typical broke college guy. anyway i like to tinker with things like this. just about everything in my tank is homemade(even the tank), except for the heater. i even devised an automatic liquid fertilization, uhhhh.... squirter. can't think of a better name at the monent. if i find something that can break down alcohol good enough, i imagine that it wouldnt be too hard to automate the c02 regeneration. i plan on doing this by means of premade yeast, sugar and enzyme catridges... sorry if im getting geeky on you guys. its actually quite close to the process of making fireworks. seeing as starch is also broken down into a kind of sugar, the whole shebang will be separated into chambers for each powder and completely wrapped in rice paper.thats right, rice paper! manual splashdowns into the DIY mix give good results.

what the ell was i talking about?? oh yeah, alcohol dehydrogenase. if only i could figure out how our livers make that stuff so well...
 
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But my point was less about getting CO2 gas tanks and simply changing the brew water once a week etc, you don't need to change the yeast etc, just the water, water is far cheaper and easier to change than any ADHase.

Takes maybe 20 seconds longer than adding an enzyme pill, and it's certainly cheaper. You could also rig up an auto water changing brew system that flushes, but given the ease of dumping most of the water out and refilling, there's little point.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
hehe, a flushing mechanism.

i understand your point, but wouldnt it be nice someday if all the DIYers only had to do the pour and refill maybe once every 2 months? I know it sounds like a lot of work to figure this thing out but thats what i believe it takes to get this idea off the ground. who in their right mind would have put jello into the recipe if not for a crazy idea(same principle- to prolong the life of your c02 generator). that takes a while to do as well.

but dont take it the wrong way. after all i've been doing the dump n' fill for a long time. its just gets annoying is all. given the resources, i'd get a tank in a second! but my interest in the subject remains.
 
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