Interesting article over at the Wired Science blog about the chemicals that make the difference between ordinary beer and extraordinary beer.

For years, scientists have been trying to identify the chemicals that give the best beers a noble hop aroma. Using sophisticated lab equipment, three researchers have identified several chemicals that may be responsible for a spicy scent. This is no small task since hops contain as many as a thousand different smelly chemicals and the ones that are most abundant are not responsible for the characteristic aroma. Some chemicals smell much stronger than others. The most potent chemicals are often responsible for the finer points of an aroma even if they are only present at very low levels.

Their results have been published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

(via Hail the Ale!)