Alcoholic fermentation: sugar into ethanol

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The standard

A completed fermentation has broken down the fermentable sugar to a set residual level. If sugar remains unintentionally, the fermentation has stuck, not finished.

Criteria

It is carried by yeast, not by bacteria
It turns glucose and fructose into ethanol and carbon dioxide
It gives off heat and releases aroma compounds
Its completion is measured by residual sugar, not by duration

Distinction

Alcoholic fermentation ≠ malolactic fermentation: malolactic fermentation converts acid and produces no alcohol. A completed fermentation is therefore recognised not by taste, but by the absence of residual sugar.