In Friday’s NPR segment on different types of lagers, Stanford University genetics professor Gavin Sherlock discusses his studies of 17 different strains of yeast used to make lagers. The yeast strains can be tracked through time as they were used in both North American and European breweries.
Gavin Sherlock. Buy him a beer.
Though Sherlock doesn’t brew himself, he admits to some “brewing experiments in college.”
When asked what about his favorite lager, Sherlock says:
“I don’t drink so much lager. I’m more of an ale person. My favorite lager would probably be American, the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. . .Wait, that’s an ale. . .I wouldn’t drink Budweiser or Miller.”
As for the Bud v. Miller debate, Sherlock says that the two probably use very similar yeasts. One the lager family tree, that makes them equivalent to brothers sleeping in the same bed.
My favorite non-sequiter of a question from the host: “Did yeast lead you to the beer or did beer lead you to the yeast?”
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3 responses so far ↓
1 broy // Sep 15, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Wonder if he cared to elaborate on the “brewing experiments in college”
2 Gavin Sherlock // Sep 16, 2008 at 9:34 am
The experiments were at least reproducible - we made beer, we drunk it, we got drunk, and had hangovers the next day. We did this three days in a row with exactly the same results
Trouble is, the beer wasn’t very good - I’m a better geneticist than I am a brewer.
3 Friar Tuck // Sep 18, 2008 at 3:56 pm
That’s the trouble with NPR. Why would american beer drinkers want to listen to a brit tell them what to drink? Sam Adams made beer with one hand and killed red coats with the other.
P.S.
Bloody Hell? Bollocks? What gay expressions they have over there.