Odds 'n' Suds

Questions and Answers

	Why is beer froth always white?
	We percieve colour when light of certain wavelengths is reflected or transmitted by an object while others are absorbed. Anything which absorbs most of the blue and green frequencies will look red, while something which absorbs blue light will appear yellow. A material which absorbs no visible frequencies of light will appear white, and conversely one which absorbs all frequencies will appear black. Light beers absorb few frequencies, dark beers absorb many. There is also a small amount of reflection when light encounters a boundary between two transparent materials with different indices of refraction. At an air/glass boundary there is about 4% reflection, while the rest is transmitted with a change in direction due to refraction. In the foam on a liquid such as beer the walls of the foam bubbles are so thin that little of the light is absorbed by the liquid while reflection and scattering occur at each of the many liquid-air interfaces. The sum of all the scattered and reflected light results in a perception of white even though the liquid itself is colored. Sources: Beer & Health and Arizona State University
	What are Units of Alcohol?
	We've all come across doctors and dieticians talking about Units of Alcohol. In simple terms, a unit is 10ml of pure alcohol. Here's how you can calculate the units in any drink: Units = Volume in litres × Percentage alcohol by volume (ABV) For example, take a pint of Hook Norton Old Hooky at 4.6%. A pint is 568 ml or 0.568 litres, so 0.568 × 4.6 = 2.6 units. A litre of pure alcohol would contain 100 units. The 1992 White Paper Health of the Nation suggested that men should consume no more than 21 and women no more than 14 units of alcohol per week. In 1995 this was revised to 2-3 units per day for women and 3-4 for men, with two alcohol-free days after heavy drinking. The British Medical Association points out that the intake of up to two units a day can have a moderate protective effect against heart disease for men over 40 and post-menopausal women.
	What is the strongest beer in the world?
	This appears to be Dave, an English Barley Wine style beer produced in 1994 by brewer Hair of the Dog of Portland, Oregon. Its (literally) staggering strength of 29% ABV was achieved by taking 300 gallons of beer and freezing it twice, leaving only 100 gallons. This narrowly beats Japanese brewer Hakusekikan's Eisbock at 28% and Utopias from Samuel Adams of Boston, Massachusetts at 25.6%. Other past contenders include Samuel Adams Triple Bock at 17%, Zürich brewer Hürlimann's Samichlaus at 14%, and the German EKU 28 at 13.5%. Here in England, O'Hanlon's Thomas Hardy's Ale weighs in at 11.7%, just beating the notorious Baz's Bonce Blower at around 11.5%. To brew at these high strengths it is common to use champagne yeast, as beer yeasts cannot survive at this level of alcohol.
	What is the most expensive beer in the world?
	This is probably Samuel Adams Utopias. Limited runs of 24oz copper bottles go on sale for upwards of $100 each.

Trivia

• To test the quality of beer, medieval inspectors called Ale Conners would pour some beer onto a wooden stool and sit on it whilst wearing leather breeches until the beer dried. When they stood up, if the breeches stuck to the stool, the beer contained too much sugar and was rejected. Status: probably true although there appears to be disagreement on the specifics, such as whether sticking to the stool meant a pass or a fail.
• The Scandinavian toast "skol" (skål) originates from the Viking habit of drinking from the skulls of enemies killed in battle. Status: false The word derives from "skal", which means "shell", ie an early drinking bowl.
• The expression 'wet your whistle' came from England. Since the pubs could get rather noisy, the makers of the ceramic beer mugs began to bake whistles into the handles. So when you wanted a drink, you would 'wet your whistle'. Status: false The phrase has its origins in the 14^th century, when "whistle" was a slang term for mouth or throat.
• The Bass red triangle logo was the first registered trademark in the world. Status: true A Bass employee queued overnight for the privilege in 1875, when registration laws came into force in Britain. It was in use for some years before the advent of registration, but not as long as the lion trademark of Löwenbräu, which claims continuous use since 1383, and the horn logo of Stella Artois, claimed to be in use since 1366 (originally belonging to the Den Horen brewery, which was purchased by Artois in 1717).

Beer and Song

These Are a Few of My Favourite Beers

Pictish from Rochdale brew Alchemist’s Ale
Purity Gold is delicious and pale
Ossett Excelsior and fine Rooster’s Cream
This is the start of a beer drinker’s dream

Timothy Taylor, the Landlord I’ve listed
Harviestoun leaves me all Bitter and Twisted
Oakham JHB and Bishops Farewell
These are just some of the beers Bernie's sell

When I come back, from a long drive
After a hard day
I pick up a litre from Brian and Dave
And then I can feel... OK

Dorothy Goodbody’s Wye Valley Stout
So satisfying, with nowt taken out
Phoenix White Monk is the best bitter yet
This is one beer I can never forget

Abbeydale offers us all Absolution
Woodforde’s Headcracker, the final solution
Hartington Bitter served up on a Whim
Anglo Dutch haunts us with Ghost on the Rim

When my throat’s dry, when the thirst strikes
When I’m feeling sad
I simply call in to my favourite pub
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Oblivious - 21st century

Brewer's Lament

The pint’s an imperial measure
  Designed for the man with a thirst.
If it’s beer, it’s double the pleasure
  And others will follow the first.

Man’s worries and cares have receded
  From the ale that washed them away
By refreshing the parts that are needed
  A bit later on in the day.

But, alas he is hooked, and keeps boozing
  And finds to his utter dismay
That the parts he had hoped to be using
  Are numb and unwilling to play.

So next time you go out on the town,
  If it’s beer you are hoping to sup
Just remember, whatever goes down
  May prevent something else staying up.

Unknown, discovered by Jeannette Lloyd