links for 2011-02-19

The odd thing is that I too had my smack-pack liquid yeast not really take in my boho pils. Panicked that it'd get contaminated I pitched in some yeast from a bottle of an Oktoberfest ale I had around (didn't have time to get to the brew shop). It's bubbling away now, but I sure hope it's not contaminated (it would be my first). I'll know in a few days when I move it to the secondary. And I think this was the first time I've ever used liquid – I always prefer dry, but they didn't have any.

"The images taken with the scanning electron microscope of sauerkraut, kombucha, and some stinky cheeses show beautiful and complex landscapes made by and of microbes."

Really cool EM images of food bugs.

Searching for practical microbes in the Amazon forest for the production of cellulosic ethanol. (In Portuguese). Brazil is a major producer of ethanol from sugar cane. Now they want to see if they can branch out to other sources of carbohydrates for ethanol production.