UC Davis shpreads beer schience goshphel
(hic)
Beer is as old as civilization. Civilization as we care to remember it, anyway.
It was mankind's first stride into biotechnology. It helped push nomadic tribes into agriculture. It founded nations. It got Charlie Bamforth a job.
Bamforth, a PhD, DSc, chair of the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California and Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences likes his beer, as the title suggests. Thursday evening Bamforth discussed the glory of brewing science at Xerox PARC as a part of a five-part series of the science of food.
Beer is good for you, according to Bamforth, and who are we to argue? It is a rich source of B vitamins which play an important role in cell metabolism. Studies about wine (drunk in moderation) increasing a person's health merely involves the alcohol intake and therefore is exactly the same for its frothy cousin.
"A study showed that people who bought wine at a grocery store also bought things like tofu and low fat yogurt and lettuce leaves," said Bamforth. "People who bought beer bought things like burgers, minced beef and cigarettes. Now just imagine how unhealthy they would be if they didn't drink beer."
UC Davis apparently shares Bamforth's love for the beer science. His "Introduction to Beer and Brewing" course is the third most popular class on campus. Who knew there were so many would-be biochemists out there? (The most popular class at the university is about sex. The professor of brussel sprouts and early morning jogs could not be reached for comment.)
Good beer production is long and difficult. It involves soaking malt barley, boiling the solution with hops, cooling and fermenting with yeast and the release of Co2 and ethyl alcohol. For the layman, it it goes something this: C6H12O6 --> 2C2H5OH + 2CO2 = Deeeebby! Deeeeeebby!! I broke a window for you Debby!!
The key to beer-making is consistency. While wine connoisseurs worry about vintage, grape harvests, aging and sniff at corks, the best batch of beer is one that tastes exactly like the last one. Because beer doesn't age well, getting a consistent taste is a major problem for importers. That means your la-di-da foreign brew is probably suffering from fatigue by the time it gets to your fridge. The best time to drink a beer is immediately after it's been bottled.
The most important fact about beer science is that it's one of the few food-groups that doesn't lose its appeal after you learn too much about it. There's nothing like a visit to the local slaughterhouse or meditation on pickled cucumber factories using outdoor brine tanks with no lids to ruin a perfectly good deli sandwich. Sure, brewers use something called "starchy endosperm" to make your beer; that's smalltime. Shrug it off. Have a beer or something. ®
COMMENTS
USA A OK
"A study showed that people who bought wine at a grocery store also bought things like tofu and low fat yogurt and lettuce leaves," said Bamforth. "People who bought beer bought things like burgers, minced beef and cigarettes. Now just imagine how unhealthy they would be if they didn't drink beer."
Says all you need to know. Thinks Wine = Posh, Beer = Slob. Personaly I find that with traditional English food (Stew, Pie etc) a good Beer (A nice heavy winter Ale) Is far more appropriat than Wine.
Typical Amarican atitude though. "Our stuff is the best, and what other nations do MUST be an inferior copy. Im not checking, but it must be because im from the USA!"
la di da beer!!
The good professor might know the best time to drink the mass produced pale yellow(remind you of anything) but he shows a remarkable lack of knowledge about bottled beer and its history!!
The original budweiser beer was and still is brewed in Czechoslovakia and is sold under the name budvar,,,I would suggest that for those of you in the states you try and get hold of some and then drink the same amount that you would normally do of american budweiser not only will you find that there is a different, more mature taste; you might find its effect somewhat different!
A lot of British and particularly Belgian beer is bottled without it being pasteurised (which is basically heating it up and then cooling it) which kills of the yeast and results in a "dead" liquid that will not evolve any further. This resulting live beer still has live yeast in it and it continues to mature and gain complexity and will eventually end up with a vey fine sediment in the bottom of the bottle.
But then if you look at the full title of his professorship I think the game is given away "Bamforth, a PhD, DSc, chair of the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California and Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences"
Does make you wonder whether his teaching is totally free from commercial influence?
What is this bottled beer?
What is the point of getting your beer bottled? It would make it impossible for the bar staff to top up the pint?
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