regarding alcohol

Bilb,

I think it was a chemist named Büchner who found out looong time ago that enzymes, not whole live cells, are the actual agent of the fermentation process, although the cells are the source of the enzymes. In fact, the very word "enzyme" means something like "In the yeast".

You are splitting hairs. Yeast break sugar down as a food source and the end result is energy for the yeast, CO2 for the atmosphere, and alcohol for us. Of course yeast use enzymes as part of the reaction that splits the sugar.

Ray

Its probably easier to go buy yeast then going to the store and asking for enzymes.Who knows what you'll get.. And thats the twooth

well, I thought maybe the enzymes were the excrement of the yeast and they floated around making alcohol. in retrospect, yeah that doesn't make a whole lot of sense either, but hey............I hadda ask.

they floated around making alcohol. <

no, the enzymes do the actual work but they are part of the content of the yeast cells.

Somebody once explained to me that beer is the waste product of yeast. Basically they eat sugar and pis* out beer.... Hasn't stopped me from drinking it though.

I bet if you looked on google you probably could find a detailed explanation of it. IF you do please post the URL.

Well, not exactly. Alcohol is the product of yeast consuming the sugar; the process is fermentation. If you are making wine, the yeast there don't "piss" out beer, but they do ferment the sugars present and the end result is the alcohol in the wine.