Alcohol (ethyl alcohol) can be made by either fermentation, which is the oldest way and can be 12% or 24 proof, or distillation, which is used to make liquor and whiskey with alcohol concentrations of 95% or 190 proof concentration. The time alcohol takes to affect your body is dependent on the size of the consumer's body, size, sex, the kind of alcohol, rate of consumption, and any drugs used with it.

Short-term effects from drinking alcohol include: a distorted sense of perception, reduced inhibitions, drowsiness, raised heartbeat, and less motor coordination. Long-term effects from drinking alcohol include issues with: the mouth (oral lesions becoming cancerous), bronchi (wind pipes that become cancerous), stomach (hemorrhage and ulcerations can be caused by extreme overflow of hydrochloric acid that eventually weakens the lining of the stomach), duodenum (small intestines are damaged), kidneys (inflammation), liver (liver disease), circulatory system (high blood pressure), nervous system (alcohol kills brain cells causing blackouts, memory loss, and poor vision), skeletal system (a calcium depletion), muscular system (loss of muscle tone), reproductive system (in males the testicles shrink and in females the ovaries atrophy), and pregnancy (where an alcoholic mother is in danger of her baby being born with a birth defect such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, as well as experiencing a difficult labor or a spontaneous abortion). Physiological effects of alcohol include: delusions, memory or control loss, denial, euphoria, judgment impairment, hostile humor, and loss of inhibitions.