Brews and Fermentation

We are reading the history of wines, beers and distilled alcohol from McGee's On Food and Cooking and Sue Shepard's Potted, Canned, and Pickled. And we are learning that the science of fermentation can be a lot of fun even if fermented hops may not taste very good!

Here are a couple of places in the SF Bay Area where you can learn how carbohydrates are converted into alcohols, acids, and other by-products. The kids might feel a little out of place, but I'm sure adults (and under-aged factory geeks) will enjoy ;)  The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fairfield, where they produce five 6-packs per second (that's a lot of beer!) and Anchor Steam, a cool microbrewery in San Francisco. I would recommend going to these tours with a bit of knowledge about how beer is brewed... you'll enjoy your visit so much more as it is a lot of information to take in.

Good Eats episodes:
True Brew III: Amber Waves (Season 6)

Fermentation Nation (Season 13)

• Beer Bread
• Lamb Shoulder Chops with Red Wine

Now, my son wants to play with moldy rice and make sake! (sigh)