SOC 3382 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Distillation, Rectified Spirit, Starch

• School: University of Houston
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 3382
• Professor: Graves

Document Summary

Fermentation: certain yeasts act on sugar in the presence of water, and this chemical action is fermentation, forms the basis of all alcoholic beverages. Raw materials: fruits, addition of the appropriate yeast to a mixture of crushed grapes and water will begin the fermentation process because of the sugar content in fruits, cereal grains: require malt to convert starch into sugar. Yeast has a limited tolerance for alcohol: when the concentration reaches 15 percent, the yeast dies and fermentation ceases. Distillation: process in which a solution containing alcohol is heated, and the vapors are collected and condensed into liquid form again, said to be discovered in arabia around a d 800. Proof: a measure of the alcohol content of a distilled beverage, the percentage of alcohol by volume is one-half of the proof number, example: 90-proof whiskey is 45 percent alcohol.