DailyDirt: Beer Googling

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Fri, Dec 14th 2012 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Beer has been around for centuries, and it's arguably responsible for the development of civilization and the prevention of waterborne illnesses. Beer is still evolving and improving as food scientists play around with the yeasts and the ingredients that go into making modern beers. Before you head off to happy hour, check out a few of these beer-related factoids.

Microbiologists are engineering beer foam that lasts longer by identifying a gene in yeast for producing proteins with better bubble stability. But will nose grease still work to get rid of the foam? [url]
It looks like beer and tastes like beer, but it's not beer. It's a soft drink. Is there a point to non-alcoholic beverages that taste like their more potent relatives? Has Star Trek trademarked Synthohol yet? [url]
Drinking some beer (or wine) could enhance creative problem solving. Being too focused on a problem might blind a person to outside-the-box solutions, so alcohol's effects on the brain might provide a certain amount of distraction to allow more free-thinking creativity. [url]

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Filed Under: alcohol, beer, beer foam, creativity, drink, food, non-alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, synthohol
Companies: coca-cola

11 Comments

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jameshogg (profile), 14 Dec 2012 @ 5:01pm

NO BEER.

Only Whiskey, Cider, Jager, Vodka or gtfo plz
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- jameshogg (profile), 14 Dec 2012 @ 5:03pm
  
  Re:
  Um... what happened to my comment?
  
  After the 'plz' I put an arrow and a 3 to make a love heart, then said "Dunno how people can drink beer TBH."
  
  Weird..
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  - Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 14 Dec 2012 @ 7:34pm
    
    Re: Re:
    The arrow that you put up is the open tag character in HTML. The website thought you were trying to encode something so it doesn't show anything after the open arrow until it gets the closed arrow.
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    - jameshogg (profile), 18 Dec 2012 @ 2:12pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Ah okay. Thanks :)
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wally (profile), 14 Dec 2012 @ 5:33pm

"Microbiologists are engineering beer foam that lasts longer by identifying a gene in yeast for producing proteins with better bubble stability. But will nose grease still work to get rid of the foam?"

The problem is not too much foam or too little...it's a matter of getting it just right. As an American, I grew up viewing that the perfect glass of beer had anywhere between 1 or 3 centimeters of foam from the top of the liquid. To achieve this, all one has to do is hold the can or bottle of beer at a 45 degree angle in the pouring hand, place the lip of the bottle or can at the rim of a glass, and gradually pour in the liquid like you were slowly turning a steering wheel and pour it so that both glass and bottle are moving in the same general direction. The result is just enough foam to make a good drink and general presentation.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Dec 2012 @ 7:15pm

switched links
The 2nd and 3rd links are reversed. The link that says problem solving leads to the coca-cola beer and vice versa. I'm not sure if Michael hasn't had enough to drink yet, or if he's had too much!
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- Michael Ho (profile), 18 Dec 2012 @ 4:25pm
  
  Re: switched links
  yup, had too much to drink while doing the research on beer... :P
  
  (fixed now, thanks!)
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GrayArea (profile), 14 Dec 2012 @ 7:56pm

beer foam
If you brew your beer yourself, Nottingham yeast has lovely tiny bubbles that I think are just about perfect.
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- Wally (profile), 14 Dec 2012 @ 9:23pm
  
  Re: beer foam
  Come to Ohio some time to the Westlake Market...Lake Erie Brewing Company. I would recommend the Edmund Fitzgerald beer they make...no preservatives and the basic ancient Mesopotamian ingredients are in it. It's an excellent Winter or Autumn beer.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2012 @ 6:22am

Companies have been making NA beer for years. Now Coca-Cola has decided to enter the market.
Must've been a slow news day.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2012 @ 6:35pm

if it looks like beer and it tastes like beer then it's probably piss.
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