Become a Beer Expert at the Palo Alto Library

John Tucci, the brewmaster for Gordon Biersch, captivated a Silicon Valley crowd in Palo Alto Thursday evening.

"What determines the alcohol content in beer?" asked one attendee.

"Each grain has a certain amount of sugar in it, so it's the amount of the sugar we want to extract, or made soluble, from that grain," replied Tucci.

These types of questions and more specific ones, like the science of making beer, are part of a three part "Brew University" series at the Palo Alto City Library downtown location. Tucci will teach all three parts.

Tucci explained that Gordon Biersch follows the German purity laws, which came about to prevent things like animals and feces to be used to make beer. "There were all kinds of weirdness going on," Tucci said in early beer-making.

But most importantly, water, barley and hops became the main ingredients included in the original purity laws, but not yet yeast, because there microscopes hadn't been invented. With the introduction of the microscopes—Tucci believes it has to do with Louis Pasteur trying to figure out why beer went bad—yeast became a key ingredient.

"It's like a sourdough starter?" another woman yelled out.

"Correct," Tucci said.

Another woman asked how many beers keep their probiotic qualities and Tucci answered more likely the Belgian sour beers.

The first session of the libraries three-part series is an "introduction to beer," the second is called "beer geeks: techie side of beer" and "beer and food pairings." All sessions end with beer at Gordon Biersch, at 640 Emerson St. Registration is required.

Tucci continued and explained that the enemy of beer is age, temperature and light. Light in particular can affect the taste of the hops giving a skunky flavor. Age makes the compounds ripen, makes the flavors undesirable. And all beer, he said, should be served cold.

Nearly 40 people registered for the PAPL's Brew University.

"I love beer. There are a lot of wine tastings, and you never see beer-tasting," said Meenashi Thakur of Palo Alto, who learned of the workshop via the libraries email newsletter. "The library usually has stuff for kids. This one was ust for adults."

Her sister, who visited from India, attended too. "Breweries are coming up in India," said Sharmila Thakur. "Five years ago, you could only find bottled beer. Now you see more breweries in Delhi and suburbs." 

Community Relations Librarian Cheryl Lee expressed her delight at the turnout and the enthusiasm of the participants. She explained that the library has partnered with Gordon Biersch for fundraisers for the past four years and this just seemed like a natural evolution.

Lee added that hosting these three "it's like a beta-tasting" and they would consider hosting more. "I got the clearance from city attorney," she said.

"We wondered what we could do together to enrich the programs and that's how this came about," Lee said. "We want to make sure that the library is relevant in the community. We want to do something different."