The Apple DWI defense

DJ Spiess — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:04:41 +0000

The Apple DWI Defense

Newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported last week Marek Latas, a Polish lawmaker, was pulled over for a DWI. The legal blood alcohol content limit in Poland is 0.2 units. Latas was pulled over with a blood alcohol content of 0.7 units. I have no idea how units translate to the US blood alcohol content percentages, never less, it is clear by just comparing the numbers, he was drunk.

“I have been involved in no accident, I underwent a routine roadside check. I was confident there was no chance I had alcohol in my blood,” said Latas, a member of parliament for the conservative opposition Law and Justice Party.

Of course since I’m writing about this, you know he had a pretty interesting excuse for his intoxication.

He ate an apple.

A couple apples in fact. That was his excuse and his defense. The politician denies having any alcohol earlier in the day.

Can apples make a diabetic person seem drunk?

Does an apple a day keep the DWI check away?

Here’s the kicker. My first thought was this guy is full of cider. Turns out a diabetic can give a false positive.

The reason is a breathalyzer doesn’t really detect alcohol. The breathalyzer detects any molecules in the methyl group. If there is a large amount detected, the assumption is the breathalyzer is detecting alcohol (ethanol).

Another chemical which shows as a positive is acetone. It’s not too common to have acetones on your breath, unless you have ketoacidosis. According to wikipedia, “ketoacidosis is a type of metabolic acidosis which is caused by high concentrations of ketone bodies”. Ketoacidosis makes your breath smell like fruit or nail polish remover. Why is this important? Ketoacidosis is a known symptom of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. This is the tie to diabetes.
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Hypoglycemia is common for people with diabetes. Someone who is hypoglycemic will appear to be shaky, nervous, sweaty, dizzy, confused, anxious, and will have difficulty speaking. Sound familiar? These also happen to be the symptoms of a drunk at a DWI checkpoint. This was demonstrated in Diabetes, Breath Acetone and Breathalyzer Accuracy: A Case Study, 9(1) Alcohol, Drugs and Driving (1993).

The only question is, could several apples trigger hypoglycemia in the Polish politician? Apples typically are ok because the carbohydrates in apples are digested more slowly than other fruits. Enough apples could cause a sharp blood sugar crash later in the day however. His story is plausable.

There is one other substance which can trigger hypoglycemia. Alcohol.

The breathalyzer can be inaccurate and give false positives. It also catches many real drunks. Only a blood test will be able to say for sure.

Tough call for the judge.

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The insider on cider – A recipe for hard cider

DJ Spiess — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 06:19:51 +0000

With fall fast approaching, you might consider starting a hard cider. Hard cider makes a great alternative to beer and is very popular even with those who do not like beer. There are cider kits floating around like the one from Vinoka, but since Vinoka was recently purchased by RJ Spagnols, it is not clear if these kits are still available. Many homebrew stores have these kits on clearance.

The Process

Cider is very easy to make. All you really need is apple juice and yeast. The best apple juice is juice pressed from fresh apples right off the orchard, but many of us simply do not live near a good source of apples. We created a very tasty cider using apple juice from the store. You can use either cider or apple juice, just make sure it does not contain any preservatives. You will have a difficult time fermenting apple juice with preservatives. Mott’s apple juice is a good choice. We used Archer Farms apple cider from Target.

Cider from fresh apples makes great cider, but apple juice works great too

To make the hard cider, simply pour apple juice in the fermenter, add sugar and yeast, and wait till it ferments completely. Once the specific gravity has reached 1.000, add potassium sorbate. The resulting cider will be very dry since apple juice is a very fast and clean fermentable. Once you have stabilized your cider with potassium sorbate, you can add honey and apple concentrate to give a better apple flavor.

The Easy Cider Recipe

Here is the recipe that we used:

6 gallons 100% Cider (from Le Targét - Archer Farms)
White Labs Liquid Starter - English Cider Yeast
1 Lemon
0.5 gallons of water with 6 cups of white sugar diluted
-S.G. 1.062

Heat up the 0.5 gallons of water to a boil, and then dissolve the sugar in the water. If you use bottled water, try to use spring water and not distilled water. Spring water has more minerals to keep the yeast happy. Add the juice from the lemon to the sugar solution. Once the water is clear again, add it to the cider in your fermenter. Take an initial gravity reading, and make sure the temperature of the apple juice is between 60 F and 70 F. Add the yeast.

The final gravity should be 1.000 after 2 weeks. After the potassium sorbate is added, put the cider into a refrigerator for a week. This reduces the chance for any renewed fermentation. If you want to bottle your cider, do not add the potassium sorbate. Add 3/4 Cup Corn Sugar and bottle. If you are able to keg your cider, you will want to add the following ingredients.

1 can 100% apple juice concentrate (any kind will do)
1 pound of honey

Make sure you heat up the honey in some water before pouring into your hard cider. Cold ciders will cause the honey to become almost solid, and is very difficult to mix.

There are also many other variations you might try.

Try using brown sugar or strong honey. This will create a more caramel-like flavor.
Light Cinnamon might be added to the apple juice to give it a bit of spice.

Good luck with your cider, and let us know how you like it!