Brewing is used to convert the starches in the malt to sugar, which is then usable by the yeast later in the brewing process. Doing the latter rest at the lower end of the range favours β-amylase enzymes, producing more low-order sugars like maltotriose, maltose, and glucose which are more fermentable by the yeast. This in turn creates a beer lower in body and higher in alcohol. A rest closer to the higher end of the range favours α-amylase enzymes, creating more higher-order sugars and dextrins which are less fermentable by the yeast, so a fuller-bodied beer with less alcohol is
Christian views on alcohol gifts," including wine and ale. As the Pilgrim Fathers set out for America, they brought a considerable amount of alcohol with them for the voyage (more than 28,617 liters = 7,560 gallons, or 4 litres/person/day), and once settled, they served alcohol at "virtually all functions, including ordinations, funerals, and regular Sabbath meals." M. E. Lender summarizes the "colonists had assimilated alcohol use, based on Old World patterns, into their community lifestyles" and that "[l]ocal brewing began almost as soon as the colonists were safely ashore." Increase Mather, a prominent colonial clergyman and president of Harvard, expressed the common view in