Understanding Fermented and Distilled Alcoholic Beverages Alcohol is produced through fermentation, where yeast converts sugars from grains, fruits, or plant extracts into alcohol and CO2. This process creates fermented beverages like wine (12-15% ABV) made from grapes and beer (4-6% ABV) made from barley. To achieve higher alcohol content, distillation is used by heating the beverage to evaporate alcohol while leaving water behind; this condensed vapor forms distilled spirits.
Types of Spirits Based on Base Ingredients Different base ingredients for fermentation lead to various types of spirits: rum comes from sugarcane juice or molasses; brandy originates from distilled wine or fruit-based products; whiskey uses grain mash such as barley or corn with Scotch being a subtype. Vodka derives traditionally from grains/potatoes but now includes other starch-rich plants too. Gin undergoes multiple distillations with botanicals like juniper berries added for flavoring while tequila stems exclusively from blue agave in Mexico's Tequila region.