Unleash Your Inner Beer Geek.

I just stumbled upon this today, and wanted to share it.  You can download academic and scientific articles done on brewing and distilling from The Journal of The Institute of Brewing and Distilling. 

If you’re into the science of brewing (on a deeper level than most) it can be pretty fascinating information.  I just finished reading an article located on this site about malting buckwheat.  I figured it might help with my upcoming gluten-free beer project.

Watch out, though.  With titles such as “Optimisation of the Mashing Procedure for 100% Malted Proso Millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) as a Raw Material for Gluten-free Beverages and Beers”, you might be in for some rough reading. 

Just do what I do.  When they start walking you through all of the statistical analysis, skip to the “Discussion” and “Conclusion” sections.  It’ll save you a bald spot from all the head-scratching and you’ll get roughly the same information.  You only really need to analyze the data if you think their conclusions are wrong or if you’re evaluating the article for accuracy.

Here are some highlights I’ve found.

Effects of Vessel Geometry, Fermenting Volume and Yeast Repitching on Fermenting Beer
R. A. Speers and Scott Stokes

I figure it must be worthwhile if you’re contemplating getting a larger fermenter or investing in a conical fermenter.  It also probably has some good information on that age-old home brewing practice of repitching yeast.

Evaluation of Ideal Everyday Italian Food and Beer Pairings with Regular Consumers and Food and Beverage Experts
Gianluca Donadini, Giorgia Spigno, Maria Daria Fumi and Roberto Pastori

I like the idea of this.  A scientific study done on a completely subjective facet of life – food and beer pairing.

Alternative Paradigms for the Production of Beer
Stephen T. Russell, R. Paul Singh and Charles W. Bamforth

This is the ultimate article about mass-producing alcoholic beverages, and should make every home brewer and beer lover cringe.  The idea put forth in the article is that, in theory, a beverage manufacturer could strip down the brewing process to the following: 

This method would be based on the production of a bland alcoholic base with the downstream adjustment of quality parameters such as flavour, colour, foam, and carbonation. The new method would be predicted to provide reductions in cost, materials usage, energy demand, carbon dioxide footprint, and by-product production challenges. 

Basically, buy a flavorless, colorless form of inexpensive alcohol, then flavor it and color it to look like beer, then force carbonate it.  It’s taking mass-production to a whole new level in brewing.  You basically get rid of the entire brewing process, and then redefine it in the most cost-efficient way with no regard to how beer is traditionally made.  It’s a revolutionary idea, but I can tell you I don’t like it.  Do they find that these approaches will save producers money?  Yes, and they also save greatly on by-products and waste.  But, honestly, answer me this:  Would you buy it?