Answer: In a nutshell, yeast is a simple life form. As it lives and multiplies in your fermenting beverage, it consumes simple sugars (it's food) and produces carbon dioxide and alcohol as wastes. All alcohols, even distilled spirits, would be impossible without yeast.

Question #2: I tried fermenting Kool-Aid and the alcohol content was too low.

Answer: Sugar is food for yeast, but it contains no nutrients. Kool-Aid powder contains no nutrients. You can add a tablespoon or two of frozen orange juice concentrate to the Kool-Aid and supply nutrients for the yeast. I also recommending adding more sugar than Kool-Aid normally requires. Lastly, it's best to ferment the sugar/water/nutrient mixture first, and add the Kool-Aid flavoring later. Kool-Aid contains chemicals that have unpredictable results to a yeast habitat. When fermenting non-juice mixtures or difficult-to-ferment juice mixtures, it also helps to shake the bottle gently daily to mix up the nutrients.

Question #3: How do I know exactly how much alcohol is in my beverage?

Answer: To determine the actual alcohol content, you need a hydrometer. They are cheap (under 10 bucks, I actually sell them if you need one). To determine alcohol content you take a reading before fermentation and again after fermentation, the difference between the two is the actual alcohol content.

Question #4: I want to make alcohol content higher than 15%. How do I do it?

Answer: Legally, you probably can't. Although there are turbo yeasts (actually, very specialized yeast/nutrient mixtures, and rather expensive) that can achieve alcohol content between 18-20%, you can't go any higher without distilling. Federal law in the United States allows any individual to produce alcoholic beverages via fermentation, but not through distillation. (this is throw-back to the repeal of prohibition) Distilling is the process of purifying a liquid. Just like distilled water is nearly 100% pure water, distilling a fermented beverage containing alcohol can produce nearly 100% pure alcohol. Alcohol has a much lower evaporation temperature than water, so a fermented beverage placed in a water distiller will collect all the alcohol first. There are instructions on how to do this in abundance on the internet, but it's only recommended if you live in a country where beverage distillation is legal!

Question #5: I've heard of people going blind or dying from drinking homemade alcohol. Are EZ Caps dangerous?