It's ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol. After it enters your digestive system, it takes a ride in your bloodstream, passes through cell membranes and strolls through the heart. It especially likes to hang out in the brain, where it becomes a central nervous system depressant. While in the brain, ethanol wanders around, causes feel-good dopamine to be released and links up with nerve receptors. The liver breaks down alcohol into acetaldehyde and then further into acetic acid. So, technically, you get drunk when you consume alcohol faster than breaking it down.