YEASTS AND MOULDS. 151 



6. Use and Properties. 



A beverage, usually taken in compara- Usually taken in small amounts, pro- 



tively large doses, producing a mild form ducing a speedy, though transient, form of 

 of intoxication. intoxication. Taken as a wine. In Japan 



sak6 is usually heated before drinking. 



! n-m^M^^- 



YAVV -"'" K 3 



FIG. 70. Sake making. Steamed rice cells (c) attacked by the hyphae (a) of 

 Aspergillus oryzce which feed upon the dextrinized rice starch, converting it into 

 sacchrine substances. Yeast cells and bacilli are usually associated with the hyphal 

 fungus, feeding upon the saccharine substances formed. 



There are numerous varieties oiSaccharomyces concerned in beer brewing. 

 There are several kinds of upper or top yeasts (Kahmhefe Oberhefe) and sev- 

 eral kinds of bottom or lower yeasts (Unterhefe), each kind possessing 

 supposedly special properties. Just what part the more or less incidentally 

 associated organisms (as bacteria, moulds, and foreign yeasts) may play in 

 the fermentation processes is not clearly understood. It is known that some 



