Fermentation is used in the brewing of beer to give beer its foaminess and also to make it alcoholic. It is a very precise process, and different beers will go through different styles of fermentation. Generally, styles of fermenting beer can be divided into two broad types based on the two major kinds of yeast that are used in brewing: top-fermenting yeast and bottom-fermenting yeast. Ale is fermented with top-fermenting yeasts and is brewed at a higher temperature.
This misunderstanding arose from the fact that a yeast cell, when viewed with a microscope, doesn't look alive like many protozoa do. Yeast appears to be a simple orb, with no real method of locomotion or consumption. It was not until later that the connection between yeast and fermentation was discovered. Yeast's role in fermentation could not be fully understood until scientists began realizing the biological nature of yeast. It took many years and much controversy for the top chemists of the nineteenth century to admit that yeast is a living thing. It was the result of microscopic experiments performed independently by multiple scientists in the 1830s to prove that yeast is actually a microscopic creature that reproduces by budding.
However, the processes performed by yeast during fermentation could not be fully understood until the experiments of Louis Pasteur in the 1850s and 1860s. In 1857, Pasteur released the results of his experiments on lactic acid fermentation, which is a type of fermentation that commonly occurs in human muscles when the blood is unable to supply enough oxygen to the muscles during exertion. His results in that experiment proved that this sort of fermentation is caused by living things. During the 1860's, Pasteur devised an experiment in which he filled a specially-crafted bottle full of a broth that should induce fermentation.
The bottle's neck was heavily serpentine, and this meant that though the broth was exposed to air, it shouldn't ferment as it would in a normal bottle. This was Pasteur's hypothesis, and is exactly what occurred. This experiment showed that some catalyst was required other than air and a substrate for fermentation to occur.
This experiment dealt the final blow to the theory of spontaneous generation, and led to the discovery of enzymes, which are the mechanisms used by living things to digest matter. In fact, Pasteur's work in this field evolved into a science of its own, called zymology. Today, it is called microbiology, and is the result of many modern advances in food spoilage prevention, not to mention a major catalyst in the evolution of the modern medical field.
This misunderstanding arose from the fact that a yeast cell, when viewed with a microscope, doesn't look alive like many protozoa do. Yeast appears to be a simple orb, with no real method of locomotion or consumption. It was not until later that the connection between yeast and fermentation was discovered. Yeast's role in fermentation could not be fully understood until scientists began realizing the biological nature of yeast. It took many years and much controversy for the top chemists of the nineteenth century to admit that yeast is a living thing. It was the result of microscopic experiments performed independently by multiple scientists in the 1830s to prove that yeast is actually a microscopic creature that reproduces by budding.
However, the processes performed by yeast during fermentation could not be fully understood until the experiments of Louis Pasteur in the 1850s and 1860s. In 1857, Pasteur released the results of his experiments on lactic acid fermentation, which is a type of fermentation that commonly occurs in human muscles when the blood is unable to supply enough oxygen to the muscles during exertion. His results in that experiment proved that this sort of fermentation is caused by living things. During the 1860's, Pasteur devised an experiment in which he filled a specially-crafted bottle full of a broth that should induce fermentation.
The bottle's neck was heavily serpentine, and this meant that though the broth was exposed to air, it shouldn't ferment as it would in a normal bottle. This was Pasteur's hypothesis, and is exactly what occurred. This experiment showed that some catalyst was required other than air and a substrate for fermentation to occur.
This experiment dealt the final blow to the theory of spontaneous generation, and led to the discovery of enzymes, which are the mechanisms used by living things to digest matter. In fact, Pasteur's work in this field evolved into a science of its own, called zymology. Today, it is called microbiology, and is the result of many modern advances in food spoilage prevention, not to mention a major catalyst in the evolution of the modern medical field.
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