Alcohol Fermentation
Have you been wondering how alcohol becomes what it is? Wonder no longer. We have the answer.
The process is called alcohol fermentation. For the most part, this process involves using yeast to break down sugars and turn them into alcohol. Some would say this is essentially speeding up the rotting of food, and they would be right. But instead of allowing it to happen under less than perfect conditions, it's a controlled process that break down the starches until they have become the desirable fermented substance that will turn into cider, beer or wine.
The results you will get in the alcohol fermentation process, and the items you will use, depend on the kind of drink you are trying to make.
For beers and lagers hops and barley are used with live yeast put to work breaking down the initial ingredients. The yeast finds the sugar in the barley and works to break it down into an alcoholic beverage. The difference between lager and ales is where the yeast does its work. In lagers the yeast sinks to the bottom and breaks things down. In bitters and ales, it's a yeast that sticks to the top of the mixture.
If you are hankering for a little wine, you can thank the grapes that are used for this drink in doing their part for the fermentation process. The sugar in the grapes is just what the yeast needs to break down the crushed fruit into an alcoholic drink that will make its way to your tabletop. The type of grape used in the alcohol fermentation will decide the type of wine that comes out of the process.
Making your stronger spirits takes a little more work. The yeast that has done all the work in beers and wine can't hack it in the higher levels of alcohol that are required for spirits, so there is an additional process that is used to create these drinks. The initial fermentation process is much like the other drinks, but the liquid produced at this point is much too watery to be the spirits we are used to. This is where distillation comes in. The mixture is heated. Once it gets to the boiling point of ethanol alcohol, which is lower than water, the ethanol turns to vapor. That vapor is then caught, cooled, and becomes the sprits that go in your favorite liquor bottle.
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