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Beer: the most complex and fascinating of beverages when considered from a chemistry perspective. Which means that it is harder to make than any other drink. Brewers don't mess about with hyped rhetoric about their chosen specialty. They just get on and make a liquid that delights and does you good. And there is a beer for pretty much every occasion. Every drop a vintage. |
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Shirley Corriher's talks are full of fun and fascinating information. Many of you have seen her on Alton Brown's TV show Good Eats. She holds audiences spellbound while she acts out everything from proteins to starch. Shirley will talk about food mysteries that chemistry solves and then open the floor for your questions. |
| Sara Risch Working with foods and developing new food products often presents challenges which are sometimes mysterious. Reactions - often negative to the quality of the product - can occur. One example is mixing two flavors of similar character and after several days ending up with a completely different flavor. In the international arena, foods in different countries may have the same name but may have completely different properties. In trying to make caramel popcorn, a company was using butter and brown sugar that was sourced locally in Italy. The finished product bore no resemblance to a typical caramel corn sold in the US even though it was using the same formula. The solution to this and other food mysteries will be presented. |
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Chemistry is all about us, not just done in a laboratory. Some great examples are the drinks we consume. This lecture is about drink, alcoholic, carbonated, or otherwise. We shall ponder such questions as why James Bond prefers to have his vodka Martini shaken but not stirred. Fizz and foam have always spelled fun to me as early as I can remember. This lecture will be filled with demonstrations illustrating the world of bubbles, answering questions like "Why do bubbles in a carbonated beverage, such as soda water, beer, or champagne, grow in size when they rise?" and "Do all bubbles in a carbonated beverage rise upward?" |
