Brewing beer leads to production of many waste streams such as spent grain and spent brewer’s yeast. Efforts have been made to repurpose the brewer’s spent grain for use in animal feed, biofuel production, or simply compost, but in many cases, this spent grain ends up in landfills. However, researchers …
“Low and No” – A Trend in Beer
Low- and no-alcohol (NA) beers are a unique and growing trend in the alcoholic fermented beverages industry. An article from Forbes Magazine tracked the rise in consumption of these products during the “Dry January” period. The article states that in 2019 only 5% of Dry January participants drank NA beers …
Botanically Speaking, Garlic is a Vegetable
One important category of fermented foods is fermented vegetables. When we think of fermented vegetable products, we often think of kimchi, pickles, and sauerkraut but one interesting food in this category is fermented garlic (Allium sativum). Check out this recipe for fermenting garlic at home. Garlic is known for its …
Fermented Moods
Did you know that fermented foods may help improve cognitive performance and directly impact the enteroendocrine system? But how is this possible? They affect hormones such as ghrelin (hunger signal), neuropeptide-Y, serotonin, and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1)(stimulates insulin production). This is possible through a bidirectional communication network, called the microbiota-gut-brain …
Liquid Wine From 2000 Years Ago Was Found in China
The earliest evidence of wine-producing could date back to 6000 BCE, as some wine residual compounds were found in ancient jars from Tbilisi, Georgia (read more here). However, due to the history of thousands of years, most ancient wines were not conserved well. Most of them are only left with …
Traditional Fermentation or Starter Culture?
Fermentation practices date back many Millenia but remain popular today. Many fermented foods are traditionally fermented by the naturally existing flora, while others have defined starter cultures. However, many food products fermented in traditional ways have an unknown microbial composition. One study sought to determine the dominant strains of lactic …