Glossary · Chemistry
Ethanol
Also written alcohol, ethyl alcohol. Each is a name for the same thing, which is why none of them has an entry of its own.
Definition
The alcohol produced by fermentation and the compound that alcohol by volume measures. It contributes sweetness, warmth and body as well as intoxication.
- Subject
- Chemistry
- Also written
- alcohol, ethyl alcohol
In more detail
Ethanol in alcoholic beverages is classified in Group 1 — carcinogenic to humans — by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the World Health Organization states that there is no form of alcohol consumption that is risk-free. CiderHQ describes what ethanol does in a drink and does not present any consumption of it as beneficial.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Law and labelling
Alcohol by volume
The proportion of a drink’s volume that is pure ethanol at 20 degrees Celsius, expressed as a percentage. It is the figure labelling law requires on drinks above 1.2 per cent.
Law and labelling
Unit of alcohol
The United Kingdom measure of alcohol consumed: one unit is 10 ml, or 8 grams, of pure ethanol. Units are calculated as volume in litres multiplied by ABV.
Chemistry
Potential alcohol
The alcoholic strength a juice would reach if all its fermentable sugar were converted, estimated from the starting gravity.
Chemistry
Methanol
A toxic alcohol produced in small amounts when pectin is de-methylated, so that cider naturally contains a trace of it. Levels in cider are far below any toxic threshold.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
World Health Organization · health authority · passage verified 2026-08-24
The basis for CiderHQ publishing no health benefits for alcohol. Note carefully what this page does and does not carry: it states that no form of alcohol consumption is risk-free and that alcohol is an established carcinogen, but it does not itself set out the IARC classification. That is cited to IARC directly — see `iarc-alcohol-monograph`. The distinction matters because CiderHQ’s own rule is that a source is cited for what it actually says.
The Science of Cidermaking and associated technical writing
Andrew Lea · reference work · passage verified 2026-08-24
Written by a food chemist who worked at Long Ashton on apple phenolics. Unusual among specialist cider writing in that it is primary-research-adjacent: the author is describing work he did, and cites the literature. This is why it is registered at tier 1 for chemistry while a general cider book is not.
International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization · health authority · passage verified 2026-08-24 · covers Volume 100E, published 2012
Registered separately from the WHO fact sheet because the Group 1 classification is IARC’s and lives in the Monographs rather than on the fact sheet. Several pages here previously attributed it to the fact sheet, which does not carry it. IARC is part of WHO, so the claim was never wrong — it was cited to the wrong document, which is precisely the failure this evidence model exists to catch. The volume was opened on 2026-08-24 and the agent name confirmed: IARC classifies *consumption of alcoholic beverages*, not “alcohol” as a chemical. The distinction is not pedantry — it is the difference between a statement about a behaviour and a statement about a molecule.