"cambridge" news and stories

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars and eateries across the country.

With Mother's Day just around the bend we hunted far and wide for an establishment whose name pays lip service to mama, happily stumbling upon the tiny but tantalizing tap selection at Cambridge (Mass.)' Hungry Mother. Though she only boasts five suds, they're solid: "Craft and quality beers pair just as well with food as wine [does]," says owner John Kessen. "Although [our draft list] is small, it's a really interesting one and a good cross section of styles."

This Mother plays favorites with careful curation:

5. Stone Ruination IPA is one of the most intense and highly regarded imperial IPAs on the market.

4. Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye is another nationally renowned India Pale Ale but, since it is brewed with 20 percent rye malt), it boasts a distinctly different flavor.

3. Fisherman's Brew, a local amber lager, donates part of their proceeds to out-of-work fisherman.

Read Mother's last two picks after the jump.

Researchers at Cambridge University have developed a new way of molding solid chocolate. Called "cold extrusion," the process takes unmelted chocolate and forces it through a die in much the same way that pasta is made. (The first thing that came to my mind, of course, was Ron Popeil making chocolate pasta with his Ronco pasta maker. Anyway...) Once the chocolate "straws" are extruded, they're apparently flexible enough to be tied or coiled. Chemical science publication Chemical Technology has more details.

[Photo: Chemical Technology]