Could Holsteins Play a Role in the Next Craft Beer Craze

"Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet eating her curds and whey." There's a nursery rhyme we all know, and soon could be living. Imagine sitting on your tuffet watching the Mets, Yankees or Sox while drinking your "whey" as a cold one. It would be flavorful and could be a boon for dairy, especially the Greek Yogurt Industry.

The production of Greek Yogurt creates an acid whey that is basically useless and has become a huge problem for the industry. A Cornell assistant professor is working on a solution that would convert the waste into alcohol, which then could become a beer, a spirit or fermented beverage. Great news for the dairy industry and consumers would get the benefit of an endless array of flavors.

I'll forego the science jargon, suffice it to say, Sam Alcaine, assistant professor in the Department of Food Science at Cornell has found a couple of ways to make the conversion happen and has already produced a low-alcohol beer.

about 2.7 percent alcohol by volume – with a sour and salty flavor comparable to German-style gose beer and other concoctions similar to pulque, a traditional central Mexican drink made from agave.

Alcaine isn't just another pretty brainiac, he once worked as a product innovator at Miller Brewing. With his work, someday you may belly up to the bar and say, "I'll have a Guernsey." You can read more about his project at Cornell's website.

SOURCE: Cornell Cooperative Extension