theatlantic:

[Image: National Journal]

In honor of Oktoberfest, find our what your beer says about your politics.

On today’s Fresh Air, Sandor Katz talks about DIY techniques for making your own cheese, wine, cured meats and beer: ““Fruit and honey will spontaneously ferment into alcohol whereas grains, which are complex carbohydrates rather than simple carbohydrates, need to be predigested. They need to have those complex carbs broken down into simple carbs. In the Western tradition of beer-making, we do this through malting — which is germination, or sprouting. In the Asian tradition, molds are used. And really, the most ancient method of doing this is chewing — using our human saliva to break down starches into sugars, and then you brew the beer from the grains which have already been malted or otherwise enzymatically broken down into starches.”

sam’s latest commitment (by qichao)

newyorker:

A cheese cartoon of the day. For more cartoons from this week’s issue: http://nyr.kr/ryp6Ai

Today: DIY tips for fermenting beer, wine, cheese and meat.

Tomorrow: Part Two of Fermentation (To quote Rent: wine and beer!)

If you missed Part One of Fermentation (To not quote Rent: Yogurt and Probiotics!)

Beer Pong (by skinnyandy)

Today: The Art of Fermentation with fermentation guru Sandor Katz.