Il6 BACTERIA, YEASTS, AND MOLDS 



hardly a desirable way to obtain an alcoholic drink if one 

 is desired ; for the flavor of such a brew after longer fer- 

 mentation in no way resembles that of commercial beer, and 

 is generally regarded as rather unpleasant. 



In making such home-brewed beer it must be remem- 

 bered that the fermentation, which results in the produc- 

 tion of carbon dioxide and alcohol, is due to the action of 

 the yeast upon the sugar and not to the beer extract. The 

 extract is added in these cases chiefly to produce a peculiar 

 flavor in the product, which renders it palatable. The 

 commercial beer extracts simply give a pimgent taste and 

 perhaps stimulate the growth of the yeast; but it is the 

 fermentation of the sugar that causes the sparkle due to 

 the carbon dioxide, and any sugary solution will ferment in 

 a similar way if yeast is added. The product is not palatable, 

 however, unless something is present to give it a flavor. 

 The only reason why such homemade beers are less intoxi- 

 cating than commercial beers is because the fermentation 

 is allowed to continue but a short time, long enough to 

 produce an abimdance of carbon dioxide but only a little 

 alcohol. 



Homemade beers of this type are probably less popular 

 to-day than formerly, largely because of the wide variety of 

 comparatively inexpensive charged drinks sold in bottled 

 form. These bottled drinks are not fermented, but are 

 artificially charged with carbon dioxide so as to give them 

 the sparkle of beers without the alcohol. Some of these 

 charged drinks, like ginger ale, birch beer, and root beer, 

 are much the same in taste as the old-fashioned homemade 

 beers; while others of the "near-beer" type more closely 

 resemble the commercial beer now forbidden in this coun- 



