The cultivation of encapsulated S. cerevisiae in NaCS-PDMDAAC polyelectrolyte complexes was studied. The results showed that the encapsulated microorganisms had the same growth trends as in its free cell culture and, thus, NaCS-PDMDAAC microcapsules were suitable for the encapsulation of these biological substances. The encapsulated S. cerevisiae cells were fermented sequentially for 16 batches. The highest cell density in the capsules reached 2.64 x 10(10) cells mL(-1) and the ethanol concentration was 47.0 g L-1. A model of the cultivation of the encapsulated S. cerevisiae was developed.