Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Smith ’12 instructs junior biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki in a Jepson Science Center lab. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Smith ’12, senior biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki and Ray Parrish ’91, co-owner of Maltese Brewing Co. in Fredericksburg appeared on Dec. 17 on With Good Reason about their work to create the world’s spiciest beer and submit it to the Guinness Book of World Records. The show airs Sundays at 2 p.m. on Fredericksburg’s Radio IQ 88.3 Digital and at various times throughout the week on stations across Virginia and the United States. Check the website for show times.

Food is Family:  Ever tried to drink a bottle of hot sauce? That’s what Ray Parrish says his new Signal One beer tastes like. He’s teamed up with Sarah Smith and her student, Val Ebenki, to attempt to create the world’s spiciest beer. Listen here.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Smith ’12 instructs junior biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki in a Jepson Science Center lab. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Smith’s work with junior biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki was recently highlighted in an article in The Free Lance-Star about how the pair are helping Mary Washington alum Ray Parrish ’91, co-owner of Maltese Brewing Company in Fredericksburg, who aspires to earn a Guinness World Record for spicest beer. Smith and Ebenki are determining the heat content of Maltese’s Signal One 2.0, a pineapple IPA infused with 500 Carolina Reaper chilies, the world’s hottest pepper. Read more.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Smith ’12 instructs junior biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki in a Jepson Science Center lab. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Smith ’12 and junior biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki were featured in a segment on WJLA/ABC-7 about the pair assisting 1991 alum Ray Parrish’s quest to brew the world’s spiciest beer. With Smith and Ebenki’s scientific expertise, Parrish, who co-owns Maltese Brewing Company in Fredericksburg, is attempting to secure a Guinness World Record for Signal One. 2.0, a pineapple IPA infused with 500 Carolina Reaper chilies, the world’s hottest pepper. Read more.