Posted: 12/30/2011 1:29:45 PM EDT
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A grain is used as food for the yeast, right?
Yeast feeds on the starches, and produce ethanol. So... what is sugar for? If shiners are going to use sugar, what is grain needed for? Couldn't they use just the sugar and yeast? |
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Starch=sugar. Just a more complex and less easily digestible form of it. Adding sugar to a mash increases the alcohol content of it, as yeast metabolizes sugar (in an anaerobic environment) to CO2 and Ethanol.
This is from a beer/wine brewer's perspective, I'm sure the same holds true for distillation. In other words, they do it to cause the global warmings. |
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Quoted: Starch=sugar. Just a more complex and less easily digestible form of it. Adding sugar to a mash increases the alcohol content of it, as yeast metabolizes sugar (in an anaerobic environment) to CO2 and Ethanol. This is from a beer/wine brewer's perspective, I'm sure the same holds true for distillation. In other words, they do it to cause the global warmings. LOL maybe that's how Algore got involved |
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Quoted:
Starch=sugar. Just a more complex and less easily digestible form of it. Adding sugar to a mash increases the alcohol content of it, as yeast metabolizes sugar (in an anaerobic environment) to CO2 and Ethanol. This is from a beer/wine brewer's perspective, I'm sure the same holds true for distillation. In other words, they do it to cause the global warmings. So if they use sugar, why use grain at all? Does grain impart a flavor you can't get with sugar? |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Starch=sugar. Just a more complex and less easily digestible form of it. Adding sugar to a mash increases the alcohol content of it, as yeast metabolizes sugar (in an anaerobic environment) to CO2 and Ethanol. This is from a beer/wine brewer's perspective, I'm sure the same holds true for distillation. In other words, they do it to cause the global warmings. So if they use sugar, why use grain at all? Does grain impart a flavor you can't get with sugar? Pretty much |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Starch=sugar. Just a more complex and less easily digestible form of it. Adding sugar to a mash increases the alcohol content of it, as yeast metabolizes sugar (in an anaerobic environment) to CO2 and Ethanol. This is from a beer/wine brewer's perspective, I'm sure the same holds true for distillation. In other words, they do it to cause the global warmings. So if they use sugar, why use grain at all? Does grain impart a flavor you can't get with sugar? Pretty much Yup. |
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Ever hear the term malt? A malt is a grain, (barley, wheat, rye,etc) that is wet and allowed to sprout for a certain amount of days. The budding plant produces sugars, enzymes and flavonoids that impart a certain flavor. The malt is then dried, ground and allowed to ferment until the sugars (starches) are turned into ethanol and/or Co2. If its destined to be beer, it is filtered and bottled. If it is destined to be liquor (whiskey), it is distilled.
Distilling is the process of heating the fermented malt to the point that the alcohol, which has a lower boiling point than water, cooks off. The liquor is usually aged in charcoal lined kegs for 3 or more years. The best are bottled as single malts or single barrels. The others are blended to produce a consistent product. Pure grain alcohol is unmalted grain that is ground and allowed to ferment. It is essentially flavorless and most liquors are cut with it to make it cheaper. Most cheap vodkas are grain. Everclear is grain that is distilled until is at 95% (190 proof) In the the olden days, proofing was accomplished by mixing some liquor and gunpowder in a small dish and fire applied. If the liquor was 50% alcohol or more, it would burn, thus "Proofed." Hence 100 proof is 50% alcohol. 200 proof would be 100% alcohol. Hope that helps. Sad that I know so much about alcohol, isn't it? 
NOT! I have had a blast learning. 
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Yeast feed on sugar to make the ethanol.
Starches (like from grain) have to be converted to sugar. This is where the malting comes in. Germinating the grains starts the conversion process. If you just use sugar right off the bat, you're making rum. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |