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.

[monman12]

"Methinks you did not read the article, John."   "Also being 'dry' communites, they will not have dregs of their beer to use '

I did read the article (most of them being copies) and will repeat from my earlier  post that after one brew you will have a never ending supply of yeast in the form of the sludge (lees) in the bottom of the fermentation container. (bath mentioned in one article) The sludge/lees can be allowed to dry and then be used when required.

"they will not have dregs of their beer to use" Of course they will if they are producing alcohol no one drinks the sludge left..

As for the sugar content using orange juice, very inefficient (sugar/weight content)  but would work.  Not being familiar with availability of supplies in NT/Qld I would possibly  suggest plain sugar (approx $1/Kg here)

From the BBC article:  "Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion  said it was being bought in bulk to make moonshine."

That is plain silly,  you do not need much yeast to start fermentation,  and moonshine is DISTILLED beer.

Parliament in recess, weekend, not much happening, Australian icon, indigenous communities, and a minister who probably knows as much about beer  as the types available in the "Members Bar"

Cheap beer: granulated sugar, water, yeast starter, keep warm and patience.

.

[myoclon1cjerk]

Coopers? 😉

[moonflyte]

Alcoholism is a tragedy for Aborigines, many  become alcoholics and then the total breakdown of family, violence and sexual abuse  and community disharmony ensues.

It puts enormous strain on the  women and children.

[debra9275]

if  anyone watched "media watch' last night- they showed this story about vegemite being used to manufacture alcohol to be untrue

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-11/senator-scullions-claims-of-vegemite-monshine-highly-implausib...

the  original story came from Indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion. (CLP)

A fermentation expert doubts claims from Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion that Vegemite is being used to make home brew alcohol in Aboriginal communities, saying the yeast in the spread would almost certainly be dead by the time it arrived on shop shelves

Dr John Boffa, who is a medical officer at the Central Australian Aboriginal Health Congress, said he has never seen Vegemite used to create alcohol.

Dr Boffa, who is also a spokesman for the People's Alcohol Action Coalition, said claims the spread was being used to make alcohol were "a sideshow" that were not once mentioned in a recent parliamentary report into the harmful use of alcohol in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

"We have never had a case of it here. It is certainly not a substantive or widespread problem," Dr Boffa said

though I agree that acohol is a problem in some communities, it seems that vegemite is not as it is made from yeast extract, not yeast

I might add that this story about making alcohol from vegemite went world wide too

[debra9275]

http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s4295127.htm

[icyfroth]

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@debra9275 wrote:

if  anyone watched "media watch' last night- they showed this story about vegemite being used to manufacture alcohol to be untrue

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-11/senator-scullions-claims-of-vegemite-monshine-highly-implausib...

the  original story came from Indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion. (CLP)

A fermentation expert doubts claims from Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion that Vegemite is being used to make home brew alcohol in Aboriginal communities, saying the yeast in the spread would almost certainly be dead by the time it arrived on shop shelves

Dr John Boffa, who is a medical officer at the Central Australian Aboriginal Health Congress, said he has never seen Vegemite used to create alcohol.

Dr Boffa, who is also a spokesman for the People's Alcohol Action Coalition, said claims the spread was being used to make alcohol were "a sideshow" that were not once mentioned in a recent parliamentary report into the harmful use of alcohol in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

"We have never had a case of it here. It is certainly not a substantive or widespread problem," Dr Boffa said

though I agree that acohol is a problem in some communities, it seems that vegemite is not as it is made from yeast extract, not yeast

I might add that this story about making alcohol from vegemite went world wide too

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"Highly implausible is not the same as "untrue". 

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.

Entire Article Here

[debra9275]

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.

[icyfroth]

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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".

[myoclon1cjerk]

A spokeswoman for Kraft said it was nigh on impossible to brew alcohol from Vegemite because the yeast extract was dead.As John pointed out earlier,why not just buy a packet of brewers yeast?

[tezza2844]

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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.

---

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