Rays of delight podcast

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Ben Fogle


You know that Ben Fogle?

Well, he doesn't understand that yeast produces the alcohol in beer & similar beverages.

He thinks that making beer is like making instant coffee. You take a spoonful of coffee, add sugar and milk to taste, and stir it round to make a drink, yes?

He thinks that if you take malt, hops, water & yeast etc., and then stir it round for long enough, you get an alcoholic drink. He understands that yeast is one of the ingredients, but he thinks that by adding it you produce some chemical reaction in solution, rather than a biological & chemical one.

He can't grasp the concept that the yeast is made up of living organisms that transform the sugars present into alcohol, no matter how you explain it to him.

It's strange that someone like him could have such a gap in his knowledge.

He believes the same about wine; you just stir up grape juice & yeast for long enough and hey presto! you have wine. Which is true, but he doesn't understand why.

Unfortunately, that's the last time I'm going drinking with him. It's been a long, difficult night. I've blocked him on Facebook and deleted his number from my phone.

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