Link of the Moment: Beer Review

A few years ago, I found a San Diego-based microbrew called Old Viscosity Ale.  Inspired by the post, fellow blogger John Spevacek tracked down some of the product and rigorously tested its tagline "Not your dad's 30 weight."  He published the results in the most recent Rheology Bulletin on page 7.  [Disclosure: I'm acknowledged in the paper.]  Congratulations to John on his humorous work, and thanks to Editor Faith Morrison for including the work in the Bulletin.
One side benefit of John's sampling work is that he supplied a bottle for my own consumption.  I am no longer an unpaid blogger.  I have been compensated in beer.

SunChips Observations

John has already covered the polylactic acid SunChips bags in several posts [1], so there’s little need for additional comments on the package, its properties, its benefits, or its shortcomings. As someone in the food industry [2], I have two observations. The first is that this is a very public launch and failure. Most packaging changes are barely noticed by the consumer and are set up to be seamless. For example, ConAgra launched a new 46 ounce ketchup bottle two years ago. The bottle won an industry award, but I don’t believe the launch was ever noted on the product.
The second observation is that SunChips will likely be a laboratory for green packaging for some time. Two years ago, SunChips packaging advertised a partnership with TerraCycle, a company that was (and is) looking for ways to recycle plastic and develop green technologies. I don’t recall seeing similar information on any of Frito-Lay’s other products, so a recycling outlook will likely be part of the brand’s identity.

[1] Posts 1, 2, 3, 4

[2] Disclosure: I work for ConAgra Foods, which competes against Frito-Lay in the ready-to-eat snack category.

Product of the Moment: Old Viscosity Beer

Featured today is Old Viscosity Ale, brewed by the Port Brewing Company in San Diego, CA.  Their web site states "Code named by our brewers-'The Big Black Nasty,' this is monstrous dark ale is brewed to no particular style. Thick and sludgy like oil from the crankcase of a wheat threshing combine, Old Viscosity blurs the boundaries of Porter, Stout, Old Ale and Barleywines."  


Sadly, this beer is not available in Nebraska, so I won't be able to verify the viscosity myself.  (My interests are purely scientific, of course.)  The beer is available in CA, AZ, WA, and CO, and in the metro areas of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston.

Changing the Hot Dog

Back in February, the American Academy of Pediatrics called for the hot dog to be redesigned, as the current shape is a choking hazard for young children.  The current shape is the same size as a young person's throat and can get stuck and cause asphixiation. 
Now, Eugene Gagliardi has invented a "The Guard Dog," a device that scores hot dogs along the axis, so the meat breaks up during chewing.

Disclosure: I work for ConAgra Foods, which sells Hebrew National Hot Dogs.

Recipe of the Moment: Dripless Popsicles

An acqaintance of ours (who runs a daycare center) told us the secret ingredient for popsicles that don't drip: gelatin.  A recipe can be found here and was found using the keyword search "dripless popsicles".

It's Not Really a Contradiction...

...it's just viscoelastic.

Starburst Candies has started a new ad campaign that states the chews are "solid, yet juicy like a liquid."

Here's one of the ads, which introduces the Scotch-Korean spokesperson.



Actually, the candies have a temperature-sensitive glass transition temperature. When the candies are placed in a warm, moist environment, they soften and can be chewed.