PS268 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Alcoholic Drink, Beer In Canada, Aqua Vitae
Document Summary
Early use of alcohol seems to have been worldwide: beer was drunk by the native people whom columbus met. Fermentation: the production of alcohol form sugars through the action of yeasts. Distillation: the evaporation and condensing of alcohol vapours to produce beverages with higher alcohol content. Fermentation forms the basis for all alcoholic beverages. Certain yeasts act on sugar, and the addition of the appropaite yeast (which is pervasive in the air wherever plants grow) to a mixture of crushed grapes and water will begin the fermentation process. The eyast has only a limited tolerance for alcohol: when the concentration reaches 15% the yeast dies and fermentation ceases. While up to 15% is theoretically possible, in practice the standard alcohol content for wine is about 12% Cereal grains can also be used to produce alcoholic beverages. However, cereal grains contain startch rather than sugar, and before fermentation can begin the startch must be convertd to ugar.
