Beer News

All the news that's fit to drink.

A compound in hops (and therefore beer) has been shown to have a positive effect on mental abilities. This is from research done at Oregon State University. Interestingly, this worked on younger lab mice, but not so much on older ones. That is, the younger ones that were fed this compound kept their wits about them in old age and didn't do stupid stuff like pull out in heavy traffic and drive 20 mph under the limit, for instance.
The discovery is seen as a step towards helping the elderly retain cognitive function. It sounds as if you need to start your children on IPAs now, but you didn't hear that from me. Article

Starbucks is trying out a coffee that tastes like beer in a few of its stores. The drink is called Dark Barrel Latte and includes what Starbucks calls "a chocolaty stout-flavored sauce." It doesn't actually contain any beer so, no, I don't know why they thought this would be popular. Article

Santa Rosa's Heritage Public House, a popular beer bar and restaurant, is now in the beer-making business. This adds one more microbrewery to the two dozen or so now operating in Sonoma County. Info from Heritage House.