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Still hanging in there taking the quizzes and reading the material. I wonder what the drop rate has been? I had a feeling Fermentation would be one of the tough sections... and it is lol.
 
Still in the course. I think the final exam will be a killer for me. Without a background in organic chemistry, I find I have trouble remembering the material from one unit - remembering details from the whole course will be a real challenge.
 
I'm still hanging with the class. As long as exams remain open book I can search the material to hone in on an answer :). I will admit the Biochem is serving no purpose to improving my HB skills. I view that part of the course as "the right of passage" for the Chem/Biochem majors taking it for credit :).

DY


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Yeah, I'm still with it too, The Fermentation quiz is pretty much ALL chemistry, so the test should be pretty tough. Prior to that, the "Boiling-Hopping" section was no cake walk.....
 
I'm still in. I don't feel like I'm learning much and there seems to be more beer chemistry trivia like question and not really geared to making me a better brewer. I think there could have been more on the utilization of hops and some deep dives on the calculations. Since this unit and a water one would be their best chance to shine as chemists, I don't have much hope for a more biochem subject of fermentation.

Am I the only one who feels that the early sections had better content?


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I would have preferred an approach that concentrated on how the brewer can affect the chemistry. I like knowing the chemistry, I was a Bio major, knowing the Kreb's cycle and glycolysis is all well and good but how can I as a brewer use this to make better beer?? What specifically can or should I do to drive reactions one way or another and what is the expected outcome? I equate this to my job as a pilot. I can know everything about the aircraft systems but if I can't change how those systems operate in flight, when something goes wrong, then it's useless knowledge....it's trivia.


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I know Dr Morvant is on the board and he has been very receptive to ideas. I believe he has done a pretty good job creating a production vs chemistry overview. Like I said in an earlier post, I really do find myself thinking on a more molecular level, understanding what is happening when I am brewing. Maybe we can talk him into creating a Chemistry in the Brewhouse course next. See Doc? We already have your course title! :mug:
 
I guess I think that this course was not necessarily intended to make one a better brewer. Maybe just a more informed brewer with respect to the chemistry of beer. I'm still hanging in there, too late to quit now. I have learned a lot in this course, though I'm not sure if it will improve my home brew, but more knowledge is never a bad thing...
 
I'm still with it.. quitting is not an option for me. i do not have a chemistry background but i have learned a tremendous amount from the course.
 
I took Organic Chem courses, but that was over 13 years ago, hop utilization was helpful, but only in the additional resources section and just like the other units there were tid bits of info to be picked up on, but not through the videos just the additional resources section. Hey guys, think of it like this; how much or how lil you learn, if you pick up on certain aspects that make you more aware during the process, that would be beneficial, right? So for a free course to pick up on any beneficial stuff is helpful and anything learned is appreciated, right?

TO be honest after working, hanging with my girls, by the time I get quiet time to sit down and go through the lessons without especially my youngest climbing all over me...it's draining. However I've book marked some pages that are great reference points.

I love the fact that my wife laughs at me for drinking a beer while taking Chemistry of Beer...and I say Why the hell not?
 
Wingnutt73 said:
Is it to late to do this? Just saw this post and do I really need to be a OU student?
Click to expand...

I believe the course is almost over.
No you do not need to be a OU student. they offer a large selection of free online courses. You only get credit if you are a OU student. If your looking just to better your knowledge base then take a look at some of the other courses or wait and see if they hold another session of this class after this semester completes.
 
I took the Fermentation quiz on Monday. It was probably the toughest one so far and all about chemistry. Miraculously I got 8 out of 10 correct. Thank goodness for open book test otherwise it would have been "best guesses" for my answers.


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OK, here's where this course I believe comes in handy. I saw this article recently:

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/how-not-to-get-drunk?src=spr_FBPAGE&spr_id=1456_54817918

and was immediately skeptical. I didn't see anything in this course that indicated that yeast had any alcohol deyhydrogenase as the article claims. It seems to me that if this was the case, the yeast would break down the alcohol that they had created themselves.

Does anyone know if this article is accurate or not? Because of this course, I now know about how these type of proteins catalyze reactions, etc. and have a better understanding of how yeast and brewing works, so that when reading something like this, I can be a lot more informed than the average bear.

Any thoughts?


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Yes, brewers yeast can use the enzyme to break down alcohol.

"Brewer's yeast also has another alcohol dehydrogenase, ADH2, which evolved out of a duplicate version of the chromosome containing the ADH1 gene. ADH2 is used by the yeast to convert ethanol back into acetaldehyde, and it is expressed only when sugar concentration is low. Having these two enzymes allows yeast to produce alcohol when sugar is plentiful (and this alcohol then kills off competing microbes), and then continue with the oxidation of the alcohol once the sugar, and competition, is gone."


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OK, then, if that is the case, what happens with bottle conditioned beers? Why doesn't the yeast eventually get rid of all the alcohol in the bottle? Is it just because there's not enough yeast? I'm definitely no biologist, so please explain...


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I still don't understand what the conditions are that prevent the yeast in a bottled conditioned beer from breaking down the alcohol.
 
POAS said:
I still don't understand what the conditions are that prevent the yeast in a bottled conditioned beer from breaking down the alcohol.
Click to expand...


I've been trying to dig it out of the literature and what it seems to be is an alternate carbon source once glucose is gone. It is not a primary energy source and appears to be a means for the yeast to properly shutdown and go dormant once their glucose source is exhausted. Glucose inhibits the ADH2 enzyme.


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I am not looking forward to the final. No time for it at this time of year. Can we extend the length of days by about 4 to 6 hours each?
 
The "Finishing & Packaging" Test came out today, only 5 questions, pretty easy one. Not looking forward to the final though........
 
Damn I am bummed I only discovered this thread today, I think I would have got at least two more questions right during the course if I had been part of the thread from the start of the course.:D

I need a miracle (or more accurately to get about 90%) in the final test to pass, but either way it has been a great experience and built a fabulous platform to learn from.

Anyone know how many people are still active (not just from HBT)? I know at the start there was something like 6800 enrolled and by about the 5th unit it was done to 1000 active. I am sure there has been even more drop out since then.
 
mtnagel said:
I do you know that?
Click to expand...

The overview at the beginning explains how the grades are calculated. I can't remember exactly how the final exam is weighted against the sum of the assignments, it is either 50:50 or 60:40 and you have to get 70% overall to pass.
 
There are 8 quizzes at 20 points each, plus the final at 100 points for a total of 260 possible points, you need 181 points to get a 70% and pass. The last email said the final is May 8 and 9.

They still haven't given me credit on the first quiz for "sequence". Not a huge deal, but you'd think they could get some sort of automated thing to run and fix it.
 
Good luck all.

I just took the final exam. It is touch and go whether I got the badge...

I think if you have crunched the course so far you will sail through this one. The advice given in the last e-mail to go over past quizzes and assignments is very very very good!
 
I just finished the final. I took a good 90 minutes and reviewed every question-D. Couple that with my abysmal quiz scores for a course score of 58%. I think I'll sell off my equipment and go drown my sorrows with a 12 pack of Natural Light. Damn chemistry.
 

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