Fermentation: Gulden Draak Beer and Yoghurt

A few days ago I had a wonderful Gulden Draak beer, from Belgium. We're fortunate to have a great pub nearby that has an ever-changing selection of draft beers from around the world - often beers that are only available seasonally or for a short period of time. Gulden Draak (which means golden dragon) is a dark triple "live" beer - not pasteurized. It was really outstanding - I've since read that it's won a number of awards.

This got me to thinking about fermented foods. There's a long human history of using fermentation processes to change and preserve foods, and there's apparently increasing evidence of the health benefits of naturally fermented foods - sourdough bread, yoghurt, kafir, tempeh, miso and also wine and beer. I didn't know much about how beer is produced - we've never gone in for home-brewing - so I looked it up. It's a fairly complex process - here's a good article. One thing I didn't know (among many) was that different species of yeast are used to produce different types of beer.

This reminded me that I needed to make some yoghurt. I like making my own yoghurt - it's easy and I know exactly what I want to be in it. I also like really tart European-style yoghurt, which isn't that easy to find. I use my handy Yogourmet yoghurt maker. The process is simple - you heat the milk slowly, stirring frequently, to just over 180 degrees (F) to kill off other bacteria, cool the milk to just under 100F, then add the starter culture (I need to order more, as mine is a bit old - it still works), and put the milk into the inner container of the yoghurt maker, which is surrounded by a water bath. I use 1% milk - the higher the fat content the firmer the yoghurt - it's a bit runny but it works for me. On goes the lid and it's plugged in and left alone for 24 hours. Then there's yoghurt, which keeps for a long time in the refrigerator. I love it on cereal, particularly on muesli.