A LONGSTANDING puzzle over how to make the perfect head of beer may have been solved by British scientists.
Experts have concocted a method of mapping foam – and can now discover which ways of creating foam are the most stable.
It will allow for the development of loads of foam-tastic products.
Scientists at the University of Manchester hope to improve the creamy topping on coffees, the heads of pints of beer, and even our shampoos.
There’s also interest in making firefighting foams more stable, along with oil-absorbing foams that are used to tackle environmental disasters.
“For decades scientists have tried to get a handle on how to control reliably the lifetime and stability of foams made from liquids that contain mixed additives,” said lead researcher Dr Richard Campbell, from the University of Manchester.
“This is important, as some products benefit from foams that are ultra-stable and others from foams that are very unstable.”
Foams are made up of bubbles, so researchers studied the building blocks of these bubbles.
These are known as foam films, and understanding them is essential to a perfect pint pour.
Researchers “mapped” the foam using a brand new technique, and found the link between the stability of foam and the way the ingredients arrange themselves.
Now scientists can apply this technology to beer, and – through trial and error – eventually create a perfect pour with an everlasting head.
The dream is to create a beer foam that will remain stable right to the bottom of your glass.
This new link was discovered by firing neutrons at foam.
Here's what you need to know about the beloved alcoholic beverage...
Scientists explained that the phenomonenon is “just like when we see light reflecting off a shiny object and our brains help us identify from its appearance”.
“When neutrons reflect up off a liquid they are fired at, we can use a computer to reveal crucial information about its surface,” Dr Campbell explained.
“The difference is that the information is on a molecular level that we cannot see with our eyes.”
The research was published in the journal Chemical Communications.
In other news, the price of a pint could soar to £10 as experts warn over a global beer shortage thanks to climate change.
Tapping a beer can doesn’t stop it fizzing over when it’s opened, myth-busting scientists have claimed.
A catastrophic “beer tsunami” killed eight people at a London brewery in the 19th Century.
And boffins have brewed 5,000-year-old “biblical beer” enjoyed by Pharaohs – by scraping ingredients from ancient pots.
Do you have a trick for pouring the perfect pint? Let us know in the comments!
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