To Produce the modified Cheongiu that has high ethanol content, an ethanol-tolerant strain Saccharo-myces cerevislae SE2l1 was screened from Saccharomyces cerevisiae Kyokai No. 10 strain. The isolate showed faster growth than in the medium containing 10% ethanol compared with original strain. The isolate produced a higher concentration of ethanol and showed higher resistance to ethanol, high osmolarity and heat than the original strain. The analyses of yeast membrane components indicated that there were no significant changes in composition of sterols and phospholipids between the isolated and the original strain. However, during the fermentation, the iso-lated strain could change the fatty acid composition in the membrane more rapidly in the direction of decreasing membrane unsaturation and accumulate more trehalose in the cell than the original strain. These data suggest that the ability to change its membrane fatty acid composition and to accumulate trehalose may make the isolated strain easily adapt to changes in external condition.