Vegemite Used To Brew Alcohol In Remote Communites

[icyfroth]

The Prime Minister has warned against a ban on Vegemite in remote communities after reports the spread was being used to make home-brewed alcohol, saying the last thing he wanted was a "Vegemite watch".

A spokeswoman for Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said the minister heard reports the popular spread was being used to concoct home brew in some dry Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.

"Addiction of any type is a concern but communities, especially where alcohol is banned, must work to ensure home brewing of this type does not occur," Mr Scullion said in a statement.

The minister stopped short of placing restrictions or bans on the sale of the spread or other yeast-based products in such communities.

Tony Abbott quashed the idea of a ban.

"This is a deregulatory Government and the last thing I want to do is to have a Vegemite watch ... because Vegemite, quite properly, is for most people a reasonably nutritious spread on your morning toast or on your sandwiches," he said.

"What's important is that we ensure that remote communities, all communities, are being properly policed."

Entire Article Here

OMG! I can't imagine what it tastes like. Apparently you mix Vegemite with orange juice. The yeast in Vegemite gets the fermentation process going.

Apparently it does the job lol.

[debra9275]

maybe this Nigel person just doesn't like vegemite 

[icyfroth]

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@tezza2844 wrote:

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@icyfroth wrote:

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@debra9275 wrote:

from your article

“But there are a lot of products that contain yeast and it’s all a bit of a beat up. We’re not overly concerned about it at all in our position,” he told Guardian Australia.

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So? "it's a bit of a beat up" is not the same as "untrue". 

The news industry thrives on "beat-ups".

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Vegemite is made from yeast, but the yeast cells are autolysed (broken) and killed with heat during the process. It could not start a fermentation.

— Dr Janet Paterson, UNSW Food Science Department, 14th August, 2015

from media watch report

Dr Vickers, from the University of Queensland, said the heat needed to make Vegemite would probably kill off all the yeast, and the high salt content of the product would further reduce chances that any yeast was alive.

"There is nothing alive in the Vegemite that you can use to make beer with," she said.

She said there was a slim chance that Vegemite could be added to home brew to provide nutrients to assist alcohol production, but there were other cheaper options around that would do the same job.

ABC news

Seems like the claim falls into the not true category as well a beat up

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So QLD crime co-ordinator Geoff Marsh and a QLD Headmaster from one of the schools in the Indigenous community there are lying, then, are they?

[icyfroth]

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@icyfroth wrote:

---

@tezza2844 wrote:

---

@icyfroth wrote:

---

@debra9275 wrote:

from your article

“But there are a lot of products that contain yeast and it’s all a bit of a beat up. We’re not overly concerned about it at all in our position,” he told Guardian Australia.

---

So? "it's a bit of a beat up" is not the same as "untrue". 

The news industry thrives on "beat-ups".

---

Vegemite is made from yeast, but the yeast cells are autolysed (broken) and killed with heat during the process. It could not start a fermentation.

— Dr Janet Paterson, UNSW Food Science Department, 14th August, 2015

from media watch report

Dr Vickers, from the University of Queensland, said the heat needed to make Vegemite would probably kill off all the yeast, and the high salt content of the product would further reduce chances that any yeast was alive.

"There is nothing alive in the Vegemite that you can use to make beer with," she said.

She said there was a slim chance that Vegemite could be added to home brew to provide nutrients to assist alcohol production, but there were other cheaper options around that would do the same job.

ABC news

Seems like the claim falls into the not true category as well a beat up

---

So QLD crime co-ordinator Geoff Marsh and a QLD Headmaster from one of the schools in the Indigenous community there are lying, then, are they?

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Even though there is no active yeast in Vegemite, it can still be used as a substrate for other microorganisms that could ferment the sugars and, ultimately, produce alcohol. That’s true of any sugar-containing food, including fruit and fruit juices.

http://theconversation.com/yes-you-can-make-alcohol-from-vegemite-but-46010

[the_great_she_elephant]

In arguing too, the parson own'd his skill,
For e'en though vanquish'd he could argue still;
While words of learned length and thund'ring sound
Amazed the gazing rustics rang'd around;
And still they gaz'd and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.

(Oliver Goldsmith - The village Schoolmaster.)

[icyfroth]

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

In arguing too, the parson own'd his skill,
For e'en though vanquish'd he could argue still;
While words of learned length and thund'ring sound
Amazed the gazing rustics rang'd around;
And still they gaz'd and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.

(Oliver Goldsmith - The village Schoolmaster.)

---

[debra9275]

http://theconversation.com/yes-you-can-make-alcohol-from-vegemite-but-46010

Is it possible to make alcohol from Vegemite?

The short answer is “yes,” sort of. But then again, you can make alcohol from just about any food by adding the right type of yeast at the right time.

Fermentation is the process of converting sugars to acids, gases or alcohol using a variety of microbial organisms, including yeast and bacteria. Many nonalcoholic foods use fermentation in the production process, including bread, chocolate and pickled foods (for example, sauerkraut or kimchi).

So we bought fresh, unopened jars of Vegemite, and tried to grow anything at all from the contents. Nothing grew. You can see for yourself in the photos below.

[icyfroth]

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@debra9275 wrote:

http://theconversation.com/yes-you-can-make-alcohol-from-vegemite-but-46010

Is it possible to make alcohol from Vegemite?

The short answer is “yes,” sort of. But then again, you can make alcohol from just about any food by adding the right type of yeast at the right time.

Fermentation is the process of converting sugars to acids, gases or alcohol using a variety of microbial organisms, including yeast and bacteria. Many nonalcoholic foods use fermentation in the production process, including bread, chocolate and pickled foods (for example, sauerkraut or kimchi).

So we bought fresh, unopened jars of Vegemite, and tried to grow anything at all from the contents. Nothing grew. You can see for yourself in the photos below.

---

@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

In arguing too, the parson own'd his skill,
For e'en though vanquish'd he could argue still;
While words of learned length and thund'ring sound
Amazed the gazing rustics rang'd around;
And still they gaz'd and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.

(Oliver Goldsmith - The village Schoolmaster.)

[debra9275]

No argument  from me 🙂

just quoting some of the facts published in the article you posted. It's worth a read right through I don't dispute anything they've said, it backs up everything else about how  difficult or impossible it is to make alcohol out of Vegemite  🙂

[icyfroth]

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@debra9275 wrote:

No argument  from me 🙂

just quoting some of the facts published in the article you posted. It's worth a read right through I don't dispute anything they've said, it backs up everything else about how  difficult or impossible it is to make alcohol out of Vegemite  🙂

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yes it backs up that ppl have made home brew from it, and that it can be done.

And that it might be implausible that communites in NT do, but it's quite probable and has been known to happen according to far north region crime coordinator Geoff Marsh and One former school principal with decades of experience teaching in north Queensland Indigenous communities :

In Queensland, where there are 15 dry Indigenous communities, far north region crime coordinator Geoff Marsh said police were aware that homebrewers using the yeast in Vegemite to produce alcohol had “done it for years”.

“But there are a lot of products that contain yeast and it’s all a bit of a beat up. We’re not overly concerned about it at all in our position,” he told Guardian Australia.

One former school principal with decades of experience teaching in north Queensland Indigenous communities told Guardian Australia he first became aware of Vegemite used in brewing alcohol in the 1990s but this had since been eclipsed by an even unlikelier method – orange juice filtered through nappies.

So to call it not true is simply...well...not rue.

[debra9275]

To make alcohol from vegemite. You would have to add yeast and sugar to it.. The same as with fruit etc. you can't make alcohol from just Vegemite on it's own