On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1410

maydeteriorateinafewdays.Itturnsoutthat
light in the blue-green to ultraviolet parts of
the light spectrum reacts with one of the hop
acids to form an unstable free radical, which
inturnreactswithsulfurcompoundstoforma
close relative of chemicals in the skunk’s
defensive arsenal. Brown glass can absorb
blue-greenwavelengthsbeforetheygettothe
beer inside, but green bottles don’t. As a
result,green-bottledGermanandDutchbeers
areoftensulfurous,andmanyconsumersnow
expect this! One American brewer with
trademark clear bottles developed a modified
hop extract that’s free of the vulnerable hop
acid, and this prevents its beer from going
skunky.
Serving Beer In the United States, beer is
oftendrunkice-coldandstraightfromthecan
or bottle. This is fine for a light, thirstquenchingbeer,butdoesn’tdojusticetobeers
designed to have some character. The colder


anyfoodis,thelessfullitsflavorwillseem.
Lagerbeersareusuallybestservedsomewhat
warmer than refrigerator temperature, around
50ºF/10 C, while top-fermented ales are
servedatacoolroomtemperature,from50to
60ºF/10–15ºC. Beers worth savoring are
pouredintoaglass,wheresomeofthecarbon
dioxide gas can escape and moderate their
prickliness,andwheretheircolorandheadof

foamcanbeappreciated.
BeerFoam:The“Head”Beerisnottheonly
intrinsically bubbly liquid we enjoy, but it’s
the only one whose bubbles we expect to
persistlongenoughtoforma“head”offoam
atop the glass. Beer lovers even value the
abilityofthefoamtoclingtotheglassasthe
liquid level drops, a quality known aslacing
(or, in more impressive German,
Schaumhaftvermögen).Therearemanyfactors
that influence foaming, from the amount of
carbon dioxide dissolved in the beer to the