A month in already? Things proceed apace, but I was shocked when Unbound gently nudged me and told me it had been a month since my first Shed post. So here's an update.
Last week I made my first research trip for the book. I spent an afternoon in Copenhagen at the Carlsberg Research Centre, talking to a man who has spent his entire life researching yeast genetics. I wanted to learn more about the work of Emil Hansen, the brilliant scientist who first succeeded in isolating and propagating single strain, bottom fermenting yeast.
His breakthrough means that lager yeast is still referred to as Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis. As big lager brands grew in the late nineteenth century, he made it possible for consistent beer to be brewed time after time, with a greatly reduced risk of bacterial infection.
Pic: portrait of Emil Hansen at his desk in the Carlsberg Research Institute
Off the back of his discovery Carlsberg became one of the biggest - and richest - brewers in the world. In an age when big brewers grow ever bigger by mergers and acquisitions that are often hostile, it's nice to think about one that grew massive simply by making better beer - and sharing the secret of better beer with the world.
Pic: Yeast propagator of identical design and vintage to the one Hansen used to create modern beer
I learned a lot more about Hansen and his discovery, and the legacy he leaves to Carlsberg and brewers all around the world, and it will all go in the book.
In the meantime, let's use the fact that we have to sit around for a while before the book comes out to change the way it is written.
This is a perfect example of the kind of story I want to tell in this book. I've done a lot of travel already, but plan to do a great deal more this summer. So where should I go? What question have you always wanted an answer to regarding beer? Which hop growing region do you think needs to be in there? Whose story do you want to hear? In return for paying for this book in advance, you get to help shape its content. If there's a story within the remit of this book that you'd like to hear, or a place you'd like me to visit, let me know below and let's kick a few ideas around.
Cheers.