|
 This week, we're quenching our thirst for knowledge with the science of Beer and Brewing! We learn about how beer is made, why nitrogen is vital for the perfect pint of Guinness and why professors of brewing think they have the best job in the world. We also delve into the natural history of beer, to discuss the age old argument, what came first, the beer or the bread? We look into the future of beer, finding out how the chemistry of carbon dioxide could provide a purer pint. Also, a spicy way to specifically kill pain, saving slight with plastic corneas, and the hot, smelly sex lives of ancient plants. Plus, in Kitchen Science, Ben goes for the hard stuff by learning about distillation and the science of scotch.
Listen Now
Download as mp3
m4a or Subscribe Free
Birds do it, bees do it, but now Irene Terry, from the University of Utah, has found that primitive plants indulge in hot, smelly sex...
I use morphine patches and if I forget to put one on I get the same withdrawal symptoms a heroin addict would! In the science news this week there was a story about using chilli combined with a pain killer to selectively kill pain. Could this be an alternative to morphine?
While many people enjoy a beer, some prefer a shot of the hard stuff. Ben set out to find out about the science of scotch, by trying out some distillation...
Now, there must be thousands of beers available worldwide and of course, beer sales are very big business. But how do we actually make beer and why do we taste the tastes in beer that we taste? We asked Professor Charlie Bamforth, professor of beer and brewing at the University ...
I sometimes brew my own beer. When I open a bottle of beer that I’ve brewed, sometimes it behaves nicely and fizzes up all over the place but this doesn’t seem to be correlated with how long the beer has spent in the bottle. Since I reuse the bottles I’m wondering, therefore, if ...
What makes Guinness® or stout so dark, thick and foamy and so good compared to the lighter, clear beers that you get elsewhere and places like the US?’
My daughter recently went on a school trip and she was told that in Tudor times, if beers were poured with no head on them then they would put dead mice in the beer! Can you explain what this would achieve and why?
Beer is one of the world’s oldest alcoholic beverages, dating back over seven thousand years and it’s still one of the most popular drinks in society today. But how’s it made? How was it discovered in the first place? Meera went to the Natural History Museum for one of their Dar...
Lambic beers that are typically from Belgium use wild yeast and taste wonderful! So how much of the flavour of beer comes from the yeast itself?
The chemistry of carbon dioxide could give us better beers, by supplying brewers with exactly the compounds they need, extracted from hops. Dr Ray Marriott tells us more...
As much as we enjoy the odd beer it’s always best to enjoy it in moderation because drinking alcohol does have its health downsides. Ben went to the pub to meet up with Mike Allison, a liver specialist from Addenbrooke’s hospital, to find out more about the damage that alcohol c...
I want to know if humans have a functioning Jacobson’s Organ? As I’ve heard several different opinions on this matter.
Continued from part one, where we set up the distillation equipment, Ben returns from the pub to find the results...
I caught a three inch long spider in my house with a special miniature vacuum cleaner designed to catch spiders. I didn’t know how to kill it so I coated it liberally with WD40. it took about five minutes to die, which I hope wasn’t too painful, so what was in the WD40 that kille...
(With regards using carbon dioxide to extract chemicals from hops) I assume the CO2 used in your fractionation process is part of the general CO2 found in the air and gets recycled accordingly?
Is there any danger to health from drinking cider?
Why do we cry when we laugh?
-
Related ContentComments
|
|
