ickle.org » brewer's yeast

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Brewer's yeast) is either the smallest thing of any importance, or the most important thing of its size, depending on how you look at it. Though at its size, looking at it won't be easy; even at a concentration of 100,000 cells per milliliter, your beer will look clear to the naked eye. It's there though, and

without it we'd be much less happy folks.

Yeast is responsible for fermentation, the converting of sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol through a biochemical process known alternatively as "the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway" and "the best kind of magic there is." Along the way, this delightful little fungus also produces a variety of flavor compounds which combine to give your favorite beer the unique taste you love.

NM