LARC

“Every time you drink a pint of lager, you owe a debt to a small fungus that lives in the beech forests of Patagonia. This previously undescribed species – Saccharomyces eubayanus – merged with a close relative to create a hybrid, whose fermenting abilities produce all of today’s lagers. Without it, our pints would have a much darker complexion.”

Read the full article here.

(From the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Discover Magazine)

San Francisco cocktail week is September 19-25. There are so many great events, but one in particular caught my eye: Shaker & Flask!

“Join us for an evening of molecular gastronomy meets mixology in an event that showcases the science behind cocktails. Produced by San Francisco Cocktail Week in collaboration with Cocktail Lab, this event will be dedicated to the geekier, scientific side of cocktails, with guest bartenders who specialize in molecular mixology. Era-specific scientific equipment from decades past will be on display as bartenders show off their skills with techniques including using liquid nitrogen to craft the perfect cocktail, pressure-infused botanical vodkas, frozen cocktail popsicles and herb-infused raw egg white fizzes. Guests will be able to visit a variety of cocktail stations to interact with the “experiments” and sample the libations.”

Being the sucker for science and cocktails that I am, I’ll be there. Who’s with me?

/LARC - yenn

I am a huge fan of beer, and while this Tumblr is mainly about cocktails, understanding what is happening in the beer world is important to understanding what is happening with mass producers of spirits.

The documentary Beer Wars charts some of the issues craft brewers struggle with in the US. It also featured some of the depressing facts about the very small number of producers who control 80%+ of the market.

Mother Jones has a good piece about this exact phenomenon, and Philip H. Howard, an asst. professor at Michigan State University has an interactive map of ownership in the beer space.

In the spirits world, much of the same issues exist, which is why the cocktail renaissance has been so interesting. Simultaneous to this movement has been the natural/local/sustainable movement, the rise of DiY, and crafting in general. For those of us in major cities, people are making their own homemade products. Much like craft brewing, these give rise to new and original flavors and can impact the direction of the entire industry.

/LARC - Carla