Microbrewed Adventures - Charles Papazian [73]
INDEED, THE craft brewers of Italy to whom I was introduced in 2000 were unlike any other craft brewers in the world. The combination of their romantic culture, exquisite regional cuisine, respect for their wine heritage and creative brewing techniques gives them the distinction of being the poets of the brewing industry. Currently they are few, but their ranks are growing. The world will be a far better place when the brewing poets of Italy emerge in numbers and offer their quality creations alongside all the other wonderful things Italy has to offer.
The Piozzo Experiment: The Secret Life of Beer
La Baladin, Piozzo, Italy
EINSTEIN ONCE SAID, “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
There are many facets of beer and brewing that go far beyond art and science. They are the mysteries and miracles. These are the things that intrigue me the most. I enjoy being able to appreciate them even though I don’t fully understand them.
Whenever I brew, I still “feel” the beer and am absolutely certain the beer knows that I care. So often I am asked about the difference between homebrewed and microbrewed beer and mass-produced beer. I am dead serious when I say the difference has something to do with the caring spirit that a homebrewer or microbrewer is able to transmit to the very nature of the wort and the care of yeast and fermentation. I’m not talking about scientific care but a frame of mind, which is transmitted. Who can deny that attitude of mind affects humans and their performance?
I’ve thought to myself, what about other living organisms? It is quite common knowledge that all living organisms respond to a variety of stimuli. Brewing scientists measure the effects of heat, time, pressure, motion and other forms of stress on yeast. The stream of activities is adjusted accordingly to produce beer as efficiently as possible with the desired qualities. This is what most professional brewers do to earn a living.
Homebrewers do not earn a living from making beer. For them, beer is simply a matter of pride and caring. Money and its impact on efficiency are less relevant. Though they consider the science of brewing, homebrewers are closer to and more accepting of the mysteries of brewing.
There is an Italian brewer who brews craft beers in the tiny hilltop village of Piozzo. On a second visit to La Baladin and Teo Musso’s brewhouse and fermentation area, a small group of American craft brewers and I marveled at Teo’s latest project. He had fitted his fermentation tanks with giant headphones. Piping in music for several hours a day, Teo had recently embarked on a two-year experiment attempting to discover aspects of “the secret life of beer.”
First impressions may elicit the reaction that this is preposterous. Yet Teo is serious, and he is not alone. There are scientists and healers throughout the world who would recognize that Teo might be on to something. Music is not only of a powerful essence in the lives of people, but it has also been a proven factor in the health of plants and other living organisms.
Just before I sat down to write of my experience and thoughts of the little village brewery in Piozzo, I remembered a book about music that author and acquaintance Don Campbell had given me a few years ago called The Mozart Effect (Avon Books, 1997). I had never read it, and now I wasn’t about to tackle its 350-plus pages. I took it off my shelf for a quick look. I did not thumb through its pages. I magically opened it directly to page 82 and a heading entitled “Sonic Bloom.” A brief introduction explored the use of music to enhance plant growth.
Headphones on the tanks; music for yeast
My fingers anticipated