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The Chemistry Of Beer

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ACS
I got an interesting press release this morning from the American Chemistry Society (ACS) touting the Chemistry of Beer, as they put it, “just in time for Saint Patrick’s Day. Today they “released a new video, The Chemistry of Beer, which focuses on the science involved in producing the world’s third most popular beverage (after water and tea).”

From the press release:

Shot in high-definition format, the video features Sam Adams Senior Brewing Manager Grant Wood, who holds a degree in Food Science & Technology from Texas A&M University. It explains the process of turning barley, hops, water and yeast into a lager or ale. Among the insights:

  1. Yeast is the most important ingredient because it determines if the brew is ale or lager.
  2. Water is crucial, too, and it must be free of organic substances and “off” flavors.
  3. Key flavor compounds are packed into those little flower clusters called hops, which add flavor and a pleasant bitterness to the beer.

Produced by the ACS Office of Public Affairs, the video includes plenty of “did-you-know” fodder for those St. Patrick’s Day conversations over a pint. Did you know, for instance, that the fermentation process in which yeast produce alcohol also produces almost 600 flavor compounds? The Chemistry of Beer ends with a message that all drinkers should take to heart, St. Patrick’s Day and every day: Drink responsibly!

The whole video was shot at Boston Beer’s pilot brewery in their Jamaica Plain location in Boston. Grant, who you probably know if you’ve visited the brewery or have been in the industry for any length of time, gives a polished tour and explanation of the brewing process. It’s probably nothing you haven’t seen before, but it’s relatively comprehensive and does a good job of explaining brewing in a nutshell, with an emphasis on the chemistry, of course.

Beer In Art #118: Frank Waller’s Harvesting Hops

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art-beer
This week’s work of art is by New York artist Frank Waller, a founding member of the Art Students’ League in 1875. The painting, Harvesting Hops Near Cooperstown, New York, was completed in 1884 and today hangs in the Fenimore Art Museum.

Frank_Waller-harvesting_hops

The Fenimore also has a short biography of Waller:

A nineteenth century American painter, educator and etcher, Frank Waller (1842-1923) began his career as a businessman. In 1870, however, he traveled to Rome to study art under John G. Chapman. For the next several years Waller traveled extensively in both Europe and Egypt. Upon his return to the United States he became a founding member of New York’s influential Art Students’ League (1875) and served as its first president. As well, Frank Waller served as honorary secretary of the Egypt Exploration Fund Society. He was also a noted architect and a Fellow of both the Academy of Design and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake

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guinness-glass
My sister-in-law sent me this delicious looking recipe for a chocolate cheesecake made with Guinness, though I suspect any Irish dry stout would work. The recipe comes from Closet Cooking, a food blog by a man named Kevin in Ontario, Canada.

Guinness-Chocolate-Cheesecake-2

This recipe for the Guinness chocolate cheesecake is a pretty basic chocolate cheesecake recipe with the addition of the Guinness but the similarities stop there. The addition of the Guinness changes the texture and properties of the cheesecake making it more souffle like. Normally you can tell when a cheesecake is done by shaking it a bit and if only the center wiggles it is done but the entire surface of this cheesecake will wiggle the whole time, even after 2 hours of baking. You pretty much just have to trust the recipe and the results are certainly worth it!

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The Guinness chocolate cheesecake is a moist one as might be expected with all of the extra liquid provided by the Guinness but it is also nice and light and creamy. This cheesecake has a texture that seems to be like a cross between a souffle and fudge and it is simply amazing! The Guinness flavour is very subtle but it seems to enhance the overall chocolate flavour which is quite welcome. In all honesty, this cheese cake does not need any garnishes but feel free to top it with some Bailey whipped cream if you like.

Here’s the recipe, but without the blockquotes for ease of reading:

Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake
(makes 6+ servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons heavy cream
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup Guinness

Directions:

1. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, cocoa powder, sugar, and butter and press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.
2. Melt the chocolate in the cream in a double boiler.
3. Cream the cream cheese.
4. Mix in the sugar, chocolate, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and Guinness.
5. Pour the mixture into the spring form pans.
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 60 minutes.
7. Turn off heat and leave cheesecake in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 60 minutes.
8. Let it cool completely.
9. Chill the cheesecake in the fridge overnight.

Guinness-Chocolate-Cheesecake-1

Boy that looks tasty. I’m hungry.

Guinness Ad #59: The Toucan Be Enjoyed Together!

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guinness-toucan
Our 59th Guinness ad shows the iconic toucan carrying two trays. One, of course, has Guinness on it and the other a tasty meal. The slogan, using a play on words, is “The Toucan be enjoyed together!” Nice to see food and beer being suggested, but it’s a little funny to see it being presented as something unusual, or at least as a combination that wasn’t obvious. You mean I can eat AND drink beer?

Guinness-snacks-2

Celebrate Triple Rock’s 25th Anniversary Monday

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triple-rock-check
Geez has time flown. Twenty-five plus years ago you weren’t even allowed to operate a brewpub in the State of California. Finally in 1983 that finally changed, thanks to some hard work and a lot of meetings. Shortly thereafter, the first two brewpubs in California opened, Mendocino Brewing and Buffalo Bill’s. The third opened 25 years ago come this Monday, March 14, 1986. It was started by the Martin brothers — John and Reid — who had both homebrewed in college. It originally opened under a name you may not be familiar with: Roaring Rock. Unfortunately, the folks from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, who brewed Rolling Rock, thought the name was too close to their own, and so the Martins had to pick a new name. Eventually they settled on Triple Rock Brewery & Alehouse.

Triple-Rock-Opening-Day-2
Triple Rock when it opened in 1986.

This Monday, March 14, 2011, Triple Rock will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of opening its doors. Here’s what will be going on at the brewpub all day long:

In celebration Rodger has re-brewed “Brew #1,″ the first beer ever made in the Triple Rock system. Reid & John originally brewed it on Christmas Day 1985. On March 14th we will be pouring Brew #1 (a Pale Ale) all day for just $1.75 a pint (the original price for a pint in 1986). We will also tap a hopped-up cask version of Brew #1 at 5 pm. Kind of a “2011 hopping meets 1986 cask ale” beer. Come by and try both of them!

The kitchen will be serving some old-school items, such as our original Muffaletta sandwich. But no, you’re not going to have to go to the “window” to order your grub, like you did in ’86.

John & Reid will preside over the tapping of the cask, and maybe go for another round of arm-wresting (John lost to Reid at the Festivus celebration last Dec.) Join past & present TRB brewers, staff, and long-time regulars to toast The Rock’s 25 years of making beer!

We’ve also created a special anniversary tee-shirt that pays homage to our original name, ”Roaring Rock Brewery”. There will be just one small print run of this shirt, so you should get yours before they’re gone. But, if you are up on your trivia of the early days of Roaring Rock/Triple Rock — you just may win one!

Triple-Rock-25th

Strong Women Brew Strong Beer

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santa-cruz-mt
Just stumbled upon this awesome ad for Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing. They’ve used the “Strong Women Brew Strong Beer” slogan on other artwork, but this new version by local illustrator Janet Allinger is the best yet. It has a “Rosie the Riveter” feel to it and according to her blog it will be used as a poster by the brewery. I hope they’ll have a version to buy in their online shop soon. I know at least a few brewsters who will probably want one for themselves.

StrongWomen2011

Brewing TV Visits The Bay Area

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brewing-tv
A few months ago the good folks from Brewing TV in the wilds of Minnesota came for a visit to the Bay Area. Brewing TV is part of Northern Brewer Homebrew Supply. In addition to mail-order business, they also operate two homebrew shops in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Jon Weber, from Beer Obsessed acted as their guide as they visited the Marin Brewing Company, Triple Rock Brewery, Linden Street Brewing Company, Dying Vines Brewing along with some homebrewing with Nathan Smith. I met up with them at Marin Brewing where we talked more generally about beer in the Bay Area. Enjoy.

7 Things

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brookston
David Turley at Musings Over A Pint punked me last week — in a good way, and on my birthday no less — by pulling me into 7 Things, an internet version of a chain letter. I’m sure it’s a coincidence, but 7 Things is also the name of a song by Miley Cyrus (a.k.a. Hannah Montana). Before you think I knew that little factoid off the top of my head, I did a Google search for “7 Things” to see what I could find out about it. The idea is “I’m supposed to write seven things that people might not know about me” and then bestow the same “honor” on 15 more unsuspecting bloggers. David also nominated fellow beer bloggers Tom, Lew, Eric, Jeremy, Brad, Julie, Thomas, Joel, and Edmond, though so far none of them have stepped up. So I guess it’s up to me to get the ball rolling. I’ve never been too shy about sharing personal details and I’m just superstitious enough to think I better do it … or else.

clothespin

7 Things You May Not Know About Me

  1. I’m obsessed with wooden clothespins. I even used to wear one every day on my collar.
  2. I write and throw with my right hand, but bat and play golf left-handed. I believe I may be partially ambidextrous. I can beat you at ping pong with either hand.
  3. Whenever I travel, I pick up small rocks to bring home as souvenirs. I try to find the most interesting and diverse rocks I can. I now have jars and bowls in the house filled with stones from around the world.
  4. I was active in the Boy Scouts when I was a kid, and even worked at the Scout Camp during the summer when I was in high school. I still have some of the council and OA patches I collected. I even have my bright red scouting jacket with the giant wolf on the back indicating my membership in the “Order of the Arrow” for the Minsi (now Kittatinny) Lodge 5. Once a geek, always a geek.
  5. Something like ten to fifteen years ago when I was struggling with whether or not to pursue writing more seriously, I wrote to one of my favorite authors, John Updike. Updike was born in the same small Pennsylvania town as I was: Shillington. Many of his earlier works were set in towns like Shillington, especially the Olinger Stories. He sent me back a hand-typed postcard that was very encouraging, which he signed and also wrote a note in the margin. I keep it framed in my office as inspiration.
  6. I have a half-brother and a half-sister but didn’t grow up with them. My father had a child with each of his subsequent two wives after he and my mother divorced when I was a year old. I used to keep in touch with my brother but lost track of him over ten years ago. I’ve met my sister two, maybe three times.
  7. I also have an e-wife. I was married in the early 1980s for just under four years. A somewhat funny side story is that the last I heard, she thinks I’m dead. About ten years ago I called a mutual friend of ours, who answered the phone by saying “hey, you’re not dead.” I thought he was joking because we hadn’t talked for a number of years, but it turned out he’d heard from my ex and she’d told him she thought I was dead.

So now you know.

Here are my nominations for 15 bloggers to follow in my footsteps:

If any of you actually post your own 7 Things, please be so kind as to post a comment here with a link to yours. Thanks. Oh, and by the way, if you don’t … something might happen. Or it might not. Just sayin’.