For. The. Love. Of. Pete.
I used to brew beer, sometimes even going to the effort of malting barley myself. That is where I get most of my terminology for such processes. For instance:
Malted Barley: A form of raw barley processed in a controlled environment (to let the grain germinate and sprout partially), then dried. The chief purpose of this process is to naturally create sugar and soluble starches, which are needed to brew beer
Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, and malt vinegar. Malting grains develops the enzymes that are required to modify the grain's starches into sugars, principally maltose. Barley is the most common malt because of its high diastatic power or enzyme content. Other grains may be malted, although the resulting malt may not have sufficient enzymatic content to convert its own starch content fully and efficiently.
The malt is crushed to break apart the grain kernels, increase their surface area, and separate the smaller pieces from the husks. The resulting grist is mixed with heated water in a vat called a "mash tun" for a process known as "mashing". During this process, natural enzymes within the malt break down much of the starch into sugars which play a vital part in the fermentation process. Mashing usually takes 1 to 2 hours, and during this time various temperature rests (waiting periods) activate different enzymes depending upon the type of malt being used, its modification level, and the desires of the brewmaster. The activity of these enzymes convert the starches of the grains to dextrines and then to fermentable sugars such as maltose. The mash tun generally contains a slotted "false bottom" or other form of manifold which acts as a strainer allowing for the separation of the liquid from the grain.
[Beer Tangent: The most common ingredient used in home brewing is corn sugar, dextrose obtained from corn starch. Sometimes added during the fermentation process to give the saccharomyces cerevisiae more to chow down on & create more ethyl alcohol, sometimes added right before bottling to produce carbonation.]
So, the brewer & then distiller views it all as sugar and every one I ever spoke with in that culture referred to it as such.
Some of the carbohydrates may start out as starches, but it is going to be worked on by enzymes into sugars if you expect it to be consumed by the yeast and transformed into CO2* & ethyl alcohol.If the ethanol production facilities using corn to produce ethanol are using a different process NOT involving malt/mash/enzymes/yeast, I would be interested. There are other ways, but getting little microorganisms to do the work for you has been the means of choice for millenia.
Answered my own question:
Conventional ethanol and cellulosic ethanol are the same product, but are produced utilizing different feedstocks and processes. Conventional ethanol is derived from grains such as corn and wheat or soybeans. Corn, the predominant feedstock, is converted to ethanol in either a dry or wet milling process. In dry milling operations, liquefied corn starch is produced by heating corn meal with water and enzymes. A second enzyme converts the liquefied starch to sugars, which are fermented by yeast into ethanol and carbon dioxide. Wet milling operations separate the fiber, germ (oil), and protein from the starch before it is fermented into ethanol.
Same thing I used to do and humans have done since the Egyptians.
In the end, terminology does not matter , as the BTU content of ethyl alcohol is what it is, no matter how it is obtained. Also, corn yield per acre does fluctuate, but mean yields and acreage devoted to corn & other ag foodstuffs, and the amount of ethanol produced from a given amount of corn can be determined.
* [enviro_squeal]Eek! CO2 is a byproduct of ethanol production?! How are they getting the energy to heat up the mash?! Coal-fired plants, maybe?![/enviro_squeal] It does look like there is no such thing as a free lunch, free beer, or internal combustion engines running on carbon-heavy compounds that don't produce CO2 somewhere in the mix. Or wort.
