Beer and Cola

[m***@gmail.com]

Hello everyone, How true is it that Beers generally have more sugar
than Coca-Cola or Fanta?
I was involved in an argument yesterday, and I don't believe this. I
am of the opinion that even though, initially, during the brewing
process, this could be possible. But considering the fact that
fermentation occurs almost at the last stage of brewing, one expects
that whatever sugars present should have been converted to CO2 and
alcohol.

The other party in this argument is of the opinion that Caramels are
constituents of beer and have a high sugar content.

Now, if that is true, aren't these caramels also fermented? Or perhaps
the sugar content of beers vary from brewer to brewer?

[Marvin]

Post by m***@gmail.com
Hello everyone, How true is it that Beers generally have more sugar
than Coca-Cola or Fanta?

Certainly not true of the beers I drink.

Post by m***@gmail.com
I was involved in an argument yesterday, and I don't believe this. I
am of the opinion that even though, initially, during the brewing
process, this could be possible. But considering the fact that
fermentation occurs almost at the last stage of brewing, one expects
that whatever sugars present should have been converted to CO2 and
alcohol.
The other party in this argument is of the opinion that Caramels are
constituents of beer and have a high sugar content.

Caramels are made form sugar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caramel

Post by m***@gmail.com
Now, if that is true, aren't these caramels also fermented? Or perhaps
the sugar content of beers vary from brewer to brewer?

Both are true. But fermentation stops if the alcohol
content gets high. That is rarely the case for beer. When
I was a college stdent, I often drank Ballentine's India
Ale, which had an alcohol content of 12%, which is about
where yeasts stop fermenting.

[David Stranz]

Post by Marvin

Post by m***@gmail.com
Hello everyone, How true is it that Beers generally have more
sugar than Coca-Cola or Fanta?

Certainly not true of the beers I drink.

Post by m***@gmail.com
I was involved in an argument yesterday, and I don't believe
this. I am of the opinion that even though, initially, during
the brewing process, this could be possible. But considering
the fact that fermentation occurs almost at the last stage of
brewing, one expects that whatever sugars present should have
been converted to CO2 and alcohol.
The other party in this argument is of the opinion that
Caramels are constituents of beer and have a high sugar
content.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caramel

Post by m***@gmail.com
Now, if that is true, aren't these caramels also fermented? Or
perhaps the sugar content of beers vary from brewer to brewer?

Both are true. But fermentation stops if the alcohol
content gets high. That is rarely the case for beer. When
I was a college stdent, I often drank Ballentine's India
Ale, which had an alcohol content of 12%, which is about
where yeasts stop fermenting.

Wine yeasts can get up to ~15 - 16%, but they also will stop working.
I've had to cut grape must with water in order to get fermemtation to
dryness because the starting sugar content was too high.

Perhaps the argument over sugar content in beer vs. Coke is a
confusion over the source of the calories. Certain beers, like that
India Ale, some of the strong ales from Dogfish Head, and Belgian-
style beers (like Unibroue) have very high alcohol content, in the 9
- 11% range. Lots of calories in that alcohol.

[Marvin]

David Stranz wrote:
<snip>

Post by David Stranz
Perhaps the argument over sugar content in beer vs. Coke is a
confusion over the source of the calories. Certain beers, like that
India Ale, some of the strong ales from Dogfish Head, and Belgian-
style beers (like Unibroue) have very high alcohol content, in the 9
- 11% range. Lots of calories in that alcohol.

I worked in a research lab at Harvard Medical School in the
mid-1950s, and I picked up some medical knowledge.
Alcoholism was s significant problem in Boston then. I heard
doctors say that the patients often were vitamin and mineral
deficient because they got most of their calories from
alcohol. That is probably still the case.

Beer is better than hard liquors or wine in that regard. It
isn't a balanced diet, though.