Packaged in beer

The typical airy structure of aerogel (Electron microscopy, colored) Image: Empa Researchers have extracted nanocellulose from a waste product of beer brewing and processed it into an aerogel. The high-quality biodegradable material could be used in food packaging. It all starts with the mash: the mixture of malt and water, which is stirred and gently heated for several hours. The resulting liquid is known as the wort, and eventually, several processing steps later, as beer. The remaining malt - known as brewer's spent grain - has a much less glamorous path ahead of it. It usually ends up as animal feed or on the compost heap. Due to its highly porous structure, the resulting aerogel is very light while also being an excellent thermal insulator.