Beer Brewing Technology

Technology in the art and science of brewing beer is advancing in our current age more than it has in over 5000 years.

For instance, in 2006 Anheuser-Busch and Hussmann Corporation began making it possible for beer drinkers to enjoy the coldest beer they've possibly ever tasted that, furthermore, stays colder longer with a newly developed proprietary technology.

Called The Chill Chamber, it uses super-cooling technology to take the temperature of beer in aluminum bottles as low as 22 F or 10 F colder than ice, but without freezing it. The beer is colder than ever before available even when it is first delivered to an establishment.

Perhaps even more exciting to some connoisseurs are the advent of the beer-like alcoholic beverages that have come to be grouped together under the name of "third beer" due to the fact that they fall into neither the regular nor low-malt beer category.

While beer is made with malt, "third beers" use such alternatives as pea protein, soy protein, or soy peptide. In addition to their low price, their major selling point is their light, crisp taste favored by consumers in recent times.

We are in an age of enjoying the overall best beer ever brewed, and one reason for that is due to, of all things, copper. Brewers employ a number of different means to reduce the levels of H2S in their beer because, while harmless, H2S (hydrogen sulfide) gives forth what is for many a subtle but off-putting odor, which some take subconsciously to be an "off" flavor.

These techniques include the brewers' selection of yeast strains that produce low levels of H2S, low fermentation temperatures, and longer aging periods with minimum amounts of oxygen ingestation.

These methods may reduce the level of H2S, but they can also affect the final flavor of the beer and negatively impact the final character of the beer.

Researchers have found that the most effective means to control H2S is by using copper. Copper, exposed to the beer at the right amounts, combines with the H2S into copper sulfide (CuS), which can then be easily removed from the final product.

Adding in more super science to mingle with the delicious stuff of beer, researchers at EA Technology and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology have recently discovered that ultrasound pulses can be used to speed up the removal of carbon dioxide from beer, meaning more of the magical liquid can be delivered to a pub near you faster than ever before.

And this is just the tip of the beer-chilling ice. Cheers!