Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Antimicrobial Tisane from Hops

Hops, one of the main ingredients in beer, are now being used to produce a naturally antimicrobial tisane. The variety used is called "Teamaker," and it is substantially less bitter than typical brewery hops. This is because hops have antimicrobial (bitter) alpha acids and (not bitter) beta acids, but whereas most hops have more alphas, Teamaker hops have more betas. Read more here.

In semi-related news, Queens' contemporary art museum, P.S.1 has announced a new, sustainable architectural plan for their courtyard. The whimsical design includes a large V-shaped (yay!) structure of heavy cardboard tubes, in which a variety of herbs, garden vegetables, and even (you guessed it) barley and hops will be grown. They intend to use fresh tomatoes for bloody marys, various vegetables and herbs for fresh juices (made at a juice stand in the courtyard), and the barley and hops for their very own P.S.1 beer. Now if only they would start growing tea!

Read more on P.S.1's plans.

Side note: I visited P.S.1 last weekend for their current exhibit of feminist art. It's a fantastic show! If you are into art and/or feminism and will be in NYC before the show comes down, I highly recommend checking it out!

1 comment:

Steph said...

Ah, I wish I were going to be there! Sounds like a great show!