Head start: Scientists crack beer-froth enigma

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2007

PARIS (AFP) — There is the nagging question of whether life exists other than on Earth. The enduring mystery of who made us -- and why.

And then there is this: Why does the foam on a pint of lager quickly disappear but the head on a pint of Guinness linger?

Answers to questions 1 and 2 are still being sought, but the Great Beer Riddle, at least, may soon be solved.

Writing in the prestigious British science journal Nature, an elite scientific duo say they have devised an equation to describe beer froth.

The breakthrough will not only settle the vexatious lager vs. stout debate, it will also help the quest to pour a perfect pint every time.

Beer foam is a microstructure with complex interfaces. In other words: a cellular structure comprising...