Question

Maximum percentage of alcohol is present in which of the following products of yeast fermentation?
a. Brandy
b. Gin
c. Rum
d. Wine

Answer 1

Hint: Fermentation is a process that is used for production of many things like- alcoholic beverages, bread, yogurt, apple cider vinegar, etc. The generation of ethanol to use it as a biofuel is also made possible because of this process. Yeast ferments the sugars to make carbon dioxide and alcohol as by- products. Depending upon the processing of the alcohol fermented by the yeast, the percentage of alcohol in each product varies, resulting in formation of alcoholic beverages with different proportions of alcohol in them.

Complete answer:
• Alcoholic beverages can be of two types- distilled and undistilled.
• Wine is the un-distilled product of fermentation of fruit juice carried out with the help of yeast. Wine is produced with the help of alcoholic fermentation of grape juice.
• Various strains of Saccharomyces species are used to carry out the process of fermentation.
• The percentage of alcohol depends upon the processing of wine but commonly the range varies from $11 - 15\% $.
• Other three types of alcoholic beverages come under the category of distilled beverages.
• Rum is alcoholic distillate from fermented juice of sugarcane, sugarcane syrup, sugarcane molasses or other sugarcane by-product.
• Rum contains about 40% alcohol and is fermented with the help of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Rum is also used to prepare ice cream, candies, in curing tobacco.
• Gin is processed with the help of distillation of mash of malt or raw grain. Barley or rye’s malt is a producer of the greatest quality of gin but requires various distillation steps.
•Brandy is the distilled product of wine (fermented grape juice).
• Charente district in France is famous for the production of best brandy.
• Brandy is stored in wooden casks from which it gets its brown color.
• The alcohol range usually varies between $40 - 50\% $ but when brandy is colored with caramel, its alcohol level may reach up to- $60 - 70\% $.

Hence, the correct answer is option (A).

Note: It is known that during the middle ages, gin was used as a form of herbal medicine. Gin helps in fighting infections and prevent heart disease. Gin also helps in improving blood circulation along with fighting liver and kidney diseases. Rum is also known to decrease the cholesterol levels in our body. Rum and red wine consumption result in a great healthy heart as it is a blood thinner and helps in preventing heart attacks.