Topline Heavy-drinking adults under 30 are consuming less alcohol compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study suggests, adding to evidence that found Gen Z's drinking habits have impacted alcohol brands, causing some to shift into no- and low-alcoholic drinks. Shot of a group of people...

This week I cover the topic of osmotic shock in yeast, and how it can impact the fermentation performance of very high gravity beers, meads, wines, and concentrated seltzers. I had never heard of the term osmotic shock until I started making very high gravity meads. Some of my large melomels (fruit meads) had starting gravities in the 1.160 (36 Plato) range with alcohol content higher than 15%, which is high enough to create osmotic shock or stress.

A new study finds heavy-drinking young adults decreased alcohol intake during the pandemic. The researchers found alcohol use and alcohol-related problems substantially decreased in heavy-drinking young adults during the pandemic, and these decreases were still evident as the pandemic began to...