[Translate to English:] Foto | Bart van Overbeeke

Intro 2018 | Tasting and smelling beer

"Are there students who are still 17?", is the first question that is asked during the beer brewing workshop that was held in Helix this afternoon. Boris Zwaan, a third-year Chemical Engineering student, brews beer at home and would like to explain this to the intro kids. Of course, the participants can also taste the beer, but there is perhaps even more to smell.

All participating intro kids have a glass of specialty beer in front of them, but they can’t drink it yet. Because first they have to smell the beer, Boris Zwaan says, who has been brewing beer for about three years. What do they think about the smell, he wants to know from the intro kids. The answers vary from 'cloves', to 'spaghetti' and 'red wine' and 'I do not smell anything, my nose is blocked!' And then they get permission to taste (Swan: "Now that’s something else then a Stratumbiertje, right?", hinting towards the lager available at Eindhoven’s most famous cafe street Stratumseind). Later on they also get a white beer. The participants listen attentively when the hobby brewer takes them through the manufacturing process; from mashing the barley, to the cooking and fermenting process.

In between, the olfactory is once again spoiled with smell of barley, hops and other additives. Fun fact: if you smell that scent for hours at a time, you can become high, says Zwaan. With a lot of knowledge in their pocket, the students hop off to their next workshop.

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