Science

Space Beer!

Science & technology is really Japan's kind of thing.   Okayama University sent barley grains to the International Space Station to be stored to see how they survived in space. &

Gravity and alcohol measurement at home

The alcohol content of beer needs to be measured for two prime reasons;   The amount of tax paid on a beer is proportional to the alcohol content and so people can see how the beer they'r

Water chemistry for brewing

The dissolved salts in the water used for brewing affect the flavour of the finished beer.

Hop Extracts

The flavour compounds in hops can be extracted by the process of the boil stage of brewing. This is the traditional way to impart the hop flavour into beer and has been used for centuries.

Where beer gets its flavour part 1: Yeast

The flavour of beer comes not just from the ingredients, but also the processes involved in brewing.   Yeast's main task for the brewer is converting glucose into alcohol and carbon dioxi

Yeast

Saccharomyces cerevisae is the yeast (a type of fungus) that ferments the sugary wort into beer and makes bread rise by generating carbon dioxide.   Saccharomyces is derived from t

Measuring bitterness in beer

Different varieties of hops have different bitterness and aroma characteristics.

Light Strike & Skunking of beer

Ultraviolet light reacts with certain hop compounds to produce a sulphurous smell.   The compound formed is 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol (MBT) and humans are very sensitive to it and can det

Light Absorption by Various Beer Bottle Glass

Type of review: 
podcast

James Spencer interviewed Brad Sturgeon of Monmouth College, Illinois on Basic Brewing Radio about research he had carried out about different colours of glass bottle letting different wavelengths

rating: 
5

Malt

Barley has been around for about 20,000 years when it was bred from its ancestor into its more recogisable form in ancient Egypt.   It belongs to the grass family and produces grains cont

Hops & Bitterness

Hops are generally divided into two categories: bittering and aroma.   The hops are added to the wort during the boil stage where the flavour compounds are extracted into the wort.