Wine, Beer, and Distilled Spirits Summary and Analysis

Wine has been fermented since at least 3000 BCE, when the Egyptians made both red and white wine. The important components are sugars, which the yeasts feed on and covert to alcohol; acids, which help prevent the growth of microbes; tannins, which contribute a body and weightlessness to wine; pigments that provide color, as well as astringency, and aromatic compounds.

Beer is made from grain, rather than grapes. Because yeast cannot break down starch alone, the grain must be treated to break starch down to sugar prior to fermentation. Throughout the ages, beer has been the drink of the common citizens, and people used their own saliva, mold or the grain itself, known as malting, to break down the starches.

Distilled spirits are the concentrated essence of beer and wine, and come from the...