/oss/taxonomy/term/1534/all en /oss/article/you-asked/how-ibu-measured <p>I tried over 50 new beers in 2022. From Les Grands Bois here in Quebec all the way to Ucluelet Brewing across the country, my friends and I embarked on our own sort of brewery tour. The most memorable brews included Farmery’s Manitoba Maple Lager, Rebellion Brewing’s Lentil Beer, and Tofino Brewing’s Kelp Stout. As these names suggest, we selected our flights based off of funky ingredients and good advertising. But along the way, we learnt to read past the names and inspected the vital stats reported for each drink, including ABV, SRM, and IBU.</p> Fri, 30 Dec 2022 11:00:00 +0000 Cat Wang, B.Sc. 9344 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-history/sweet-and-sticky-science-sugar <p>Sugar is sweet and sticky.  That’s a fact.  In fact, during the reign of Edward the Confessor in the early eleventh century, "ale tasters" were employed to check on the work of brewers.  They would test the ale by spilling some on a wooden seat and sitting on the spill in their leather breeches.  If they had difficulty getting up after a short time because their breeches stuck to the seat, they knew that the ale had been sugared.  Today we don't have to worry about such adulteration of our ale, and I think in any case we would have a hard time finding leather breeches.  But the stickiness o</p> Fri, 03 Dec 2021 23:31:20 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8944 at /oss /oss/article/health/link-between-alcohol-and-breast-cancer <p> </p> <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in</em><span> </span><a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-the-link-between-alcohol-and-breast-cancer">The Montreal Gazette</a><span>.</span></p> Wed, 10 Jul 2019 19:04:33 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 7823 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know-health/beer-liquor <p>Have you ever heard the saying "beer before liquor never been sicker"? Or “liquor before beer, you’re in the clear”? What about “grape or grain but never the twain”? Well, it turns out that there might be some truth to at least some of these adages.</p> <p>There are a few factors to consider here.</p> Thu, 06 Jun 2019 19:07:06 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 7791 at /oss /oss/article/videos/right-chemistry-are-proponents-hydrogen-water-all-wet <p></p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-1"></div> Thu, 02 Aug 2018 20:30:57 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7206 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/beer-can-survive-nuclear-fallout <p><span><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/09/18/161338723/u-s-explodes-atomic-bombs-near-beers-to-see-if-they-are-safe-to-drink">In 1957 the U.S. government conducted a study</a></span><span> aptly named “The Effect of Nuclear Explosions on Commercially Packaged Beverages”. The researchers placed cans and bottles of beer and other drinks in various proximities to a nuclear explosion, some above ground, some sheltered, and left them to experience the nightmare of a nuclear explosion.</span></p> Wed, 07 Mar 2018 17:38:12 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 6948 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know-history/monks-and-beer <p>In the Middle Ages much of beer brewing was carried out by monks. Water is a source of many disease causing organisms which cannot survive in alcohol. Trial and error demonstrated that beer drinkers were much less likely to get sick than water drinkers. Monks must have been a happy lot.</p> Thu, 11 May 2017 00:58:54 +0000 OSS 2432 at /oss /oss/article/food-health-history-news-quirky-science-toxicity/beer-foam-and-artificial-hips <p>Forty eight years ago there was an epidemic of heart failure in Quebec City. The clue was that the thirty men affected were all beer drinkers. In a round about way, the culprit was the introduction of a new dish washing detergent that left a residue on glasses. Detergent is the enemy of foam on beer and brewers countered the problem by adding a foam boosting agent, cobalt sulphate, to their product. It seems the potential toxicity of the cobalt compound was not considered. It should have been because cobalt affects the heart and causes heart failure.</p> Wed, 05 Mar 2014 11:04:57 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2108 at /oss /oss/article/quirky-science-you-asked/why-does-lipstick-cause-beer-lose-its-foam <p>It just wouldn’t be the same without the foam, would it? Beer I’m talking about. You don’t want the glass to be full of it, but you certainly want enough to tickle your lips when you go bottoms up. But if you happen to be wearing lipstick, you may have a problem. The foam may just collapse around your mouth! So what’s going on?</p> Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:57:49 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1815 at /oss