4 ms·

Yeast was known as godisgoode (this is speculative) and one of the great moments in biochemistry history was the isolation of a single yeast strain, which led t

by dekhn 3y ago

Yeast was known as godisgoode (this is speculative) and one of the great moments in biochemistry history was the isolation of a single yeast strain, which led to the industrialization of beer production as well as many other cool things (some yeasts are great models for genetics). "In 1883 the Dane Emil Hansen published the findings of his research at the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen and described the isolation of a favourable pure yeast culture that he labelled "Unterhefe Nr. I" (bottom-fermenting yeast no. 1),[10] a culture that he identified as identical to the sample originally donated to Carlsberg in 1845 by the Spaten Brewery of Munich.[11] This yeast soon went into industrial production in Copenhagen in 1884 as Carlsberg yeast no. 1.[12]" It looks like the work by Pasteur and Hansen was continued here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisenheim_Yeast_Breeding_Center https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisenheim_Yeast_Breeding_Cent... If there was ever a holy temple to the science of beer, it's https://www.carlsberggroup.com/who-we-are/carlsberg-research-laboratory/ https://www.carlsberggroup.com/who-we-are/carlsberg-research... The study of biochemical fermentation is known as "zymurgy" or "zymology" and the enzyme (it's zymes all the way down) that carries this out is zymase (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zymase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zymase)

lmm 3y ago
That industrialization of beer was a major step backwards; flavourless but cheap lager almost eliminated good traditional beer.
- Paul_S 3y ago
  Modern beer, even the industrial lager you despise is much better that what 99% of people drank in the past. There is almost no bad beer, the standards for water quality and hygiene are high, the process and technology is well understood and we can replicate the same beer batch after batch, year after year.
  - fsckboy 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - serf 3y ago
      >you are stating as fact something you can't possibly know, how much people enjoyed tasting things in the past. it's trivial to state that food standards and water quality have increased in quality. taste is subjective, but those two things can be well judged against historical anecdote.
      - soperj 3y ago
        > water quality have increased in quality. Depends where you are. I'm sure the people of Flint might object.
        ch4s3 3y ago
        They fixed the pipes there[1]. [1] https://www.abc12.com/news/flint-water-emergency/flint-reaches-deadline-for-water-service-line-replacement/article_28f5bd78-3063-11ee-9b70-e3fb4cf16413.html https://www.abc12.com/news/flint-water-emergency/flint-reach...
        mc32 3y ago
        You know Flint isn’t the only place in the US with lead pipes and the US isn’t the only industrialized county with lead pipes… Moreover well water in some places is good in others not; even before industrialization.
  - lmm 3y ago
    Then why is an organisation based on opposition to that industrial lager, and improvement of beer quality more generally, probably the most major/successful/historically important single-issue consumer organisation, to the point that most other ones have modelled themselves on it?
    - Solvency 3y ago
      Because, honestly, beer and wine and spirits tend to attract elite level snobs.
- tcbawo 3y ago
  I’m not sure about the loss of flavor, but we have definitely seen waves of homogenization with macro beer producers. From what I’ve seen, this led to an explosion in regional and local microbreweries. There are lots of eclectic options out there nowadays.
- dekhn 3y ago
  I have had no trouble finding wonderful beers produced by industry. I think filtering, pasteurization, and the use of grains like rice, are the main sources of the lack of flavor. That said, anecdotally, I did see a drop in quality of Pilsner Urquell when they moved from their traditional brewery (which had quite the ecosystem in the ceiling) to the newer one. Lots of folks like to say that the crazy stuff going on over the vats affects the flavor.
  - lttlrck 3y ago
    When did it move? The best beer I ever had was draught Pilsner Urquell, sat outside the brewery in Plzeň circa 2000. Whatever they were doing inside... oh man, Perfection. I'll never forget.

by dekhn 3y ago

lmm 3y ago

That industrialization of beer was a major step backwards; flavourless but cheap lager almost eliminated good traditional beer.

Paul_S 3y ago
Modern beer, even the industrial lager you despise is much better that what 99% of people drank in the past. There is almost no bad beer, the standards for water quality and hygiene are high, the process and technology is well understood and we can replicate the same beer batch after batch, year after year.
- fsckboy 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - serf 3y ago
    >you are stating as fact something you can't possibly know, how much people enjoyed tasting things in the past. it's trivial to state that food standards and water quality have increased in quality. taste is subjective, but those two things can be well judged against historical anecdote.
    - soperj 3y ago
      > water quality have increased in quality. Depends where you are. I'm sure the people of Flint might object.
      - ch4s3 3y ago
        They fixed the pipes there[1]. [1] https://www.abc12.com/news/flint-water-emergency/flint-reaches-deadline-for-water-service-line-replacement/article_28f5bd78-3063-11ee-9b70-e3fb4cf16413.html https://www.abc12.com/news/flint-water-emergency/flint-reach...
      - mc32 3y ago
        You know Flint isn’t the only place in the US with lead pipes and the US isn’t the only industrialized county with lead pipes… Moreover well water in some places is good in others not; even before industrialization.
- lmm 3y ago
  Then why is an organisation based on opposition to that industrial lager, and improvement of beer quality more generally, probably the most major/successful/historically important single-issue consumer organisation, to the point that most other ones have modelled themselves on it?
  - Solvency 3y ago
    Because, honestly, beer and wine and spirits tend to attract elite level snobs.
tcbawo 3y ago
I’m not sure about the loss of flavor, but we have definitely seen waves of homogenization with macro beer producers. From what I’ve seen, this led to an explosion in regional and local microbreweries. There are lots of eclectic options out there nowadays.
dekhn 3y ago
I have had no trouble finding wonderful beers produced by industry. I think filtering, pasteurization, and the use of grains like rice, are the main sources of the lack of flavor. That said, anecdotally, I did see a drop in quality of Pilsner Urquell when they moved from their traditional brewery (which had quite the ecosystem in the ceiling) to the newer one. Lots of folks like to say that the crazy stuff going on over the vats affects the flavor.
- lttlrck 3y ago
  When did it move? The best beer I ever had was draught Pilsner Urquell, sat outside the brewery in Plzeň circa 2000. Whatever they were doing inside... oh man, Perfection. I'll never forget.