BrewMyBeer · Fermentation teaching pack · Activity 1

Map the transformation

Fermentation starts with a suitable substrate and living microorganisms. Fill this map for beer, wine, cider, mead or sake. For sake, show starch conversion as a separate change that can overlap fermentation.

Starting material

What carries starch or sugar?

Available sugar

Is conversion needed first?

Fermented result

What did yeast change?

Drink family	Starting material	Conversion before or alongside fermentation	Fermented result
Beer
Wine
Cider or perry
Mead
Sake

Thinking prompt: Which rows begin with sugars already present in fruit or honey? Which need enzymes to make sugars available from starch?

Explain one row in your own words

BrewMyBeer · Fermentation teaching pack · Activity 2

Evidence or assumption?

A plan predicts what might happen. Evidence records what was actually measured or observed. Classify each statement, then add the missing context that would make it more useful.

“The recipe predicts 1.010.”

Plan, measurement, observation or conclusion?

“The hydrometer read 1.012.”

What instrument and sample details are missing?

“It has been fourteen days.”

Does elapsed time prove completion?

“Two corrected readings were unchanged.”

What else should the record identify?

Build a useful evidence record

Date and time	Instrument	Sample temperature	Reading	Visible observation

Safety boundary: a worksheet cannot certify fermentation completion or pressure safety. For a real product, follow the ingredient supplier, equipment manufacturer and a qualified process.

What is supported, and what remains uncertain?

BrewMyBeer · Fermentation teaching pack · Answer key

Check the reasoning

Activity 1

Beer: malted grain supplies starch; mash enzymes make sugars available; yeast ferments the wort.

Wine: grapes supply sugary juice; yeast ferments the juice or must. Skin contact is a separate choice that can affect colour and tannin.

Cider or perry: apples or pears supply sugary juice; yeast ferments it.

Mead: honey is diluted to make a fermentable must; yeast ferments its available sugars.

Sake: rice supplies starch; kōji enzymes make sugar available while yeast fermentation proceeds in the main mash.

Activity 2

A recipe prediction is a plan. A hydrometer number is a measurement, but it needs the instrument, calibration assumptions, sample temperature and reading method. Fourteen days is elapsed time, not completion evidence. Repeated corrected readings are stronger evidence when their dates, conditions and expected process are recorded.

The transferable idea: identify the material, name the change, record the evidence and state the uncertainty. This works across drink families without pretending every process is identical.

Primary references

American Homebrewers Association: beer ingredients and hydrometer measurement
Wine & Spirit Education Trust: wine types and production concepts
Beer Judge Certification Program: cider and mead guidance
Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association: sake brewing processes