menschmaschine
Well-Known Member
I have a passionate hatred for the common cold. If I won the Powerball, I would establish a laboratory with a sole purpose of eradicating the common cold. And the holidays, what with the comingling with friends, family, the general public, and many other types of non-handwashing, sneezing-in-your-face jerks, brought me one of these things which I loathe so much.
Contrary to old-timey belief, you can't catch "the death of a cold" by being outside in the winter without a hat on. As a matter of fact, the more time you spend outside, the better off you probably are because you're not in close contact with other people. Because that is how we really get colds... person-to-person. They shouldn't even be called "colds". They're really upper respiratory infections (URIs), but getting people to call them URIs is about as likely as getting the US to switch to metric.
Most colds are caused by Rhinoviruses and Coronaviruses. And although they have nothing to do with yeast, getting a cold is a perfect analogy to fermentation. Even the timing is similar. I thought if I looked at colds in beer terms, I might have a more positive outlook:
-Viral transmission/inoculation = pitching yeast
-Incubation period (pre-symptoms) = lag time
-Sore throat = start of fermentation
-Cold goes to your head, blocking your nasal passages = Full Krausen
-You start sneezing, hacking, blowing snot everywhere = Blow-off
-Mucus production wanes, your nose starts to open up = Krausen falls
-You're blowing all of the mucus remnants out = Clearing
And now, you've become beer.
I'm currently at the "Krausen falls" stage on my way to becoming beer and this symbol perfectly descibes how I feel:
Contrary to old-timey belief, you can't catch "the death of a cold" by being outside in the winter without a hat on. As a matter of fact, the more time you spend outside, the better off you probably are because you're not in close contact with other people. Because that is how we really get colds... person-to-person. They shouldn't even be called "colds". They're really upper respiratory infections (URIs), but getting people to call them URIs is about as likely as getting the US to switch to metric.
Most colds are caused by Rhinoviruses and Coronaviruses. And although they have nothing to do with yeast, getting a cold is a perfect analogy to fermentation. Even the timing is similar. I thought if I looked at colds in beer terms, I might have a more positive outlook:
-Viral transmission/inoculation = pitching yeast
-Incubation period (pre-symptoms) = lag time
-Sore throat = start of fermentation
-Cold goes to your head, blocking your nasal passages = Full Krausen
-You start sneezing, hacking, blowing snot everywhere = Blow-off
-Mucus production wanes, your nose starts to open up = Krausen falls
-You're blowing all of the mucus remnants out = Clearing
And now, you've become beer.
I'm currently at the "Krausen falls" stage on my way to becoming beer and this symbol perfectly descibes how I feel:
