Chemistry
Did you forget that we are Chemistry teachers? What good is this unless there is some good Chemistry involved. This page will be updated over time to allow pupils (from our school or beyond) to get involved with some good Chemistry related practical work at school. It may also be of interest to anyone else who wants to see some of the Science involved.
We've included a simple blonde ale / golden ale recipe here that pupils can have a go at making in school with their teacher's support. Please follow our instructions on how to make beer, and obviously the beer cannot be sold. You should risk assess the safe production (ideally done in a food preparation area such as a home economics classroom). We've used these as part of our Drugs and Alcohol course and often you could allow parents to collect the final products. Labelling (including %ABV, units of alcohol, safe consumption levels, allergens, etc.) also gives a great starting point to the legal and responsible side of alcohol for National 4 students.
The recipe will cost between £7-8 and you can use this link to use a presaved version we've made for you from the Home Brew Store Edinburgh. The hops will actually be enough for 5 batches (you can store them in a freezer). You'll also only need about 3g of yeast, so this will also last a few batches (store in a fridge). Check out the brewing salt additions in our recipe - they are based on our water profile, so you may tweak them using our calculator and your own water profile. They aren't essential, but do help with the flavour and of course the chemistry!
Alternatively, the Home Brew Store in Edinburgh also sell their own all grain kits for a 4.5L batch.
Please have a read through the water chemistry document to find out how to adjust or analyse water chemistry, or the suitable method that we've developed to determine the alcohol content of beer using titrations and redox reactions.
Both are suitable for use in Scottish AH Chemistry projects (or Higher assignments for adventurous types). They include titration, gravimetric analysis, ppm calculations, etc.
