Wine and beer
Cornell University offers an advanced course titled 'Understanding Wine and Beer'. Topics covered range from the history of viticulture to the microbiology of fermentation to the neurobiology of taste, along with the expected lectures on chemistry, color and tasting methods. Clearly, the two most popular alcoholic drinks have arrived.
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Pouring beer, an art or a Science?
How much foam does a glass of beer need? Does any type of beer require a different technique? Is there a beer-pouring technique at all?
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Pairing food and beer
The idea of giving deep thought to which food to serve with a selected wine goes back centuries. It will surprise many that the same is true of pairing a good beer with a favorite dish.
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Measuring beer
There are more than one concept to take the measure of a beer. Hops influence the bitterness, malts determine the sweetness. Finally, the alcohol content provides one last dimension to the brew.
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Hops for beer
Hops could be classified as a useless plant if not for its role in brewing. Hops is a basic ingredient for beer
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How to store beer
Unlike wine, the majority of beers are not brewed to age. Beer typically spoils within a few months, a year at most, with rare exceptions. Even specialty brews aren't made to improve over the five, ten or even longer age of some fine wines. There are some specialty brews, though, that can age up to 30 years.
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Malt for beer
Sometimes a problem is cleverly turned into an advantage. The world is indeed fortunate that barley is good for little more than making beer. But for that, it is excellently suited.
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Yeast for beer
Yeasts are living organisms, a uni-cellular fungus, and have a rare ability: to live with or without oxygen. In the presence of air, they multiply. In the absence of oxygen, they ferment sugars into alcohol. That's what makes beer brewing possible.
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Wheat beer is weizenbier
Wheat beer recipes are as old as Babylon, where wheat grain was often used to make a heady brew. The Middle Ages saw many new forms arise, where it was considered the brew of the nobility. Most beers of the period were dark and consuming this Weissbier -white beer- was therefore a mark of distinction.