© Pint of Science, 2026. All rights reserved.
Sunlight is a wonderful thing. It helps plants like hops to grow for the production of beer; it also helps a certain tree to grow cocoa beans. But what else can it do? If we could harness it, perhaps we would be able to perform some chemical reactions more sustainably? Come along to the ‘Vitamins B, C and S’ evening to hear about what gives chocolate its flavour, how the sun is an ally for sustainable chemical reactions, and how to use hops for beer and beyond.
Here Comes the Sun: Harnessing the Power of Light for Sustainable Chemistry Processes
Dr Anabel Lanterna
(Assistant Professor in the School of Chemistry at the University of Nottingham)
Dr Anabel Lanterna is a Assistant Professor at the university of Nottingham
Heart of cocoa: tracing the molecular origins of chocolate flavour
Dr Tristan Dew
(Assistant Professor in Molecular Phenomics in the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham)
Tristan Dew is an Assistant Professor in Molecular Phenomics- Future Food Beacon/ DIvision of food, Nutrition and Dietetices
Brewing beer sustainably - simmer down!
Prof. David Cook
(AB InBev Professor of Brewing Science, University of Nottingham )
Brewing, as with all production industries, needs to significantly reduce its environmental footprint in order to assure a sustainable future for beer production. In this talk, I will start by looking at beer production globally and consider some of the major strategies being employed to reduce water consumption, primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions. I will then introduce a recent innovative technology called 'simmer and strip' which offers significant scope to brew beers more sustainably.
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Other The Blind Rabbit events
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