輕拍啤酒的側(cè)面真的能減少泡沫嗎?

輕拍啤酒的側(cè)面真的能減少泡沫嗎?

The long and storied history of beer is rife with colorful traditions.

悠久而又傳奇的啤酒歷史充滿了豐富多彩的傳統(tǒng)。

Canned beer — a relatively modern development — doesn't enjoy that kind of history. But there's one custom that's been around since the first can of suds hit store shelves in 1935.

罐裝啤酒——一個相對現(xiàn)代的發(fā)展——不喜歡那種歷史。但自從1935年第一罐肥皂水上架以來，有一個習(xí)俗就一直存在。

A shaken can of beer is an accident waiting to happen. (Photo: Mariyana M/Shutterstock)

That's the traditional tap on the side of the can — believed to prevent all that fizz from erupting when you open it.

這是傳統(tǒng)的輕敲易拉罐側(cè)面的方法，據(jù)說可以防止你打開易拉罐時所有的氣泡都冒出來。

The trouble is, no one has actually taken the time to confirm if it actually works. Sure, you might have gotten fizz on your chin once or twice, even after tapping. But who's to say that tap didn't save you from an even worse fate — an entire face-full of beer?

問題是，沒有人真正花時間去確認它是否真的有效。當然，你可能會有一兩次下巴起泡，即使是在輕敲之后。但誰又能說輕拍沒有把你從更糟糕的情況中拯救出來呢?

Beer drinkers, on the whole, may not pay that much attention to the issue.

總的來說，喝啤酒的人可能不會太注意這個問題。

There's at least some theoretical basis for the tap. As MIT Technology Review notes, a tap should free up bubbles that may cling to the inner wall of a can. Once those bubbles float to the top of the can, they dissipate politely. Most importantly, no one should get wet.

至少有一些理論基礎(chǔ)。正如《麻省理工學(xué)院技術(shù)評論》所指出的，輕敲應(yīng)該會釋放出附著在易拉罐內(nèi)壁上的氣泡。一旦這些氣泡浮到罐子的頂部，它們就會禮貌地消散。最重要的是，沒有人會弄濕。

That reasoning may be good enough for most beer drinkers, but scientists tend not to let these things slide.

這種推理對大多數(shù)啤酒飲用者來說可能足夠好了，但科學(xué)家們往往不會讓這些事情隨波逐流。

So researchers at the University of Southern Denmark set out to determine if that tap actually eased the volatile nature of canned beer. Especially after a can has been shaken, priming all those tiny bubbles from the carbonation process for an explosion.

因此，南丹麥大學(xué)的研究人員開始研究這種水龍頭是否真的能緩解罐裝啤酒的揮發(fā)性。尤其是在一個易拉罐被搖過之后，從碳酸化過程中產(chǎn)生的小氣泡就會爆炸。

SPOILER ALERT: It doesn't.

劇透警告:不是的。

But it's worth raising a glass to the researchers for their remarkable dedication to the experiment. For their study, published this month in the journal arXiv, they tested the tap theory on no less than 1,000 cans of beer.

但值得為研究人員對實驗的卓越貢獻舉杯。他們的研究本月發(fā)表在《arXiv》雜志上，他們在不少于1000罐啤酒上測試了這一理論。

"Given the strong Danish tradition in beer brewing and consumption, we set out to settle this matter with high-quality evidence," the researchers explained to MIT Technology Review.

研究人員向《麻省理工學(xué)院技術(shù)評論》解釋說:“鑒于丹麥啤酒釀造和消費的悠久傳統(tǒng)，我們打算用高質(zhì)量的證據(jù)來解決這個問題。”

Scientists were rightfully concerned about beer spillage. (Photo: PixieMe)

No, they didn't drink all that beer themselves. Staff and students at the university were invited to partake. For their experiment, researchers divided the cans into two groups: shaken and not shaken.

不，他們自己沒有喝完所有的啤酒。該大學(xué)的教職工和學(xué)生被邀請參加。在他們的實驗中，研究人員把罐子分成兩組:搖過的和沒搖過的。

The former were particularly abused, getting swished around by a machine at 440 rpm for a full two minutes. The researchers say that's about equal to being carried on a bicycle for 10 minutes.

前者尤其容易被濫用，在440轉(zhuǎn)/分鐘的轉(zhuǎn)速下被一臺機器來回甩動整整兩分鐘。研究人員表示，這大約相當于騎自行車10分鐘。

Once those cans were all fired up, researchers gave them a few taps. The beer testers weren't told which cans were potential fizz bombs. But those shaken cans did erupt as expected, losing about 3.45 grams of beer upon being opened. Not surprisingly, the unshaken cans lost much less beer, at around half a gram.

當這些易拉罐全部點燃后，研究人員給敲了它們幾下。啤酒測試者沒有被告知哪些罐子是潛在的氣泡炸彈。但這些搖搖晃晃的啤酒罐果然如預(yù)期般爆發(fā)了，打開時損失了約3.45克啤酒。毫不奇怪，未搖過的啤酒罐損失少得多，約半克。

And those three taps? They didn't make any difference on how much fizz spilled over, shaken or unshaken.

那三下呢?不管是搖過還是沒搖過，它們對溢出多少氣泡沒有任何影響。

Researchers aren't exactly sure why the tap method failed. But they suspect barley proteins may keep the bubbles from rising to the top of the can and dissipating. For that, a much harder tap may be required. But then, of course, you might be dangerously close to making those bubbles angry those bubbles — and getting a face-full of foam.

研究人員并不確定輕拍方法失敗的原因。但他們懷疑大麥蛋白可能會阻止氣泡升到罐頂并消散。為此，可能需要加大力度。但是，當然，你可能會很危險地接近于讓那些泡泡生氣，并看到一個滿是泡沫的臉。

If at all possible, the scientists suggest, it's best to simply wait and let those bubbles calm down on their own.

科學(xué)家們建議，如果可能的話，最好還是等一等，讓這些氣泡自己平靜下來。