MadSci Network: General Biology |
To really answer your question I need a few more details; like what type of homemade beverages and what ingredients are used? If quality and safe ingredients are used, then homemade alcoholic beverages are safe for consumption without pasteurization. Although, alcohol, itself can be toxic at high enough doses. An example of an unsafe home fermentation would where moldy ingredients might be used, or if wild mold is allowed to grow in the fermentation. These wild molds can produce toxic substances that end up in the final beverage. These toxins are also quite heat stable, so heat pasteurization would not eliminate them. Many home-brew recipes will have a cooking step involved prior to inoculation with yeast. One reason for including this step is to kill off the spoilage microorganisms that can be commonly found in raw materials. Cooking after the fermentation is not necessary. Many commercially produced beers are pasteurized or filtered after fermentation to prevent any microbial spoilage which might affect the quality of the product, but this type of spoilage is not really a safety concern. I hope that answers your question.
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