Last year, Philadelphia’s Dock Street Brewery embarked on a rather unusual beer brewing experiment that saw them mounting a pair of custom-made headphones on one of their barrels and proceeding to play a selection of music over the next six months. Amazingly, the final product was notable for a more “complex and funky taste” than your typical music-free barrel.
“It seemed like the yeast was more active,” brewer Sasha Certo-Ware told Draft Magazine . “We’re creating a state of agitation and vibrations that would pulse the beer and make it taste different. I think there’s sound science behind it.”
Elsewhere at Cambridge Brewing in Massachusetts, Draft Magazine spoke with brewmaster Will Meyers about his own experiments fusing sound with beer brewing, where he’s drawn on his background in music theory, plus his knowledge of music’s effects on plant growth.
“It’s just a good vibration, man,” Meyers says. “Theoretically, everything is already vibrating at that frequency; we’re just concentrating it.”
Check out “ Good vibrations: Brewers Use Music to Ferment Their Beers ” in Draft Magazine for the full report.
