Category: microbrews

Microbrewery And America

The term microbrewery originally originated in the
United Kingdom during the late 1970s. Though it
was originally used to reflect on the size of the
breweries, it gradually came to reflect a different
attitude and approach to adaptability, flexibility,
experimentation, and customer service.

The term eventually spread to the United States,
where it was eventually used to indicate a brewery
that produces no less than 15,000 barrels of beer
per year. The term microbrewery is now falling
out of touch in the United States, as the term
craft brewer is preferred.

During the early twentieth century, prohibition drove
a majority of the breweries into bankruptcy because
they couldn’t rely on selling bogus wine as
wineries of that era previously did. After going
through several decades of consolidation of
breweries, most commercial American beer produced
by a few large companies, resulting in a mild
tasting lager of which Budweiser is a great example.

Some beer drinks will consequently crave a variety
and turn to homebrewing and eventually start doing
it on a much larger scale. When they need inspiration
they’ll turn to Britain, Germany, and Belgium where
centuries old tradition of artisan beer and cask
ale production have never died out.

The popularity behind these products was the fact
that they trend was spread quickly, and hundreds
of smaller breweries popped up, attached to a bar
where the product could be enjoyed by all. As
microbrews gained in popularity, some became more
than just simple microbrews, as they catered to a
broader range of beer.

Normally, American microbreweries will distribute
through wholesalers in traditional three tier
systems, then act as their own distributor and
sell to retailers. Selling includes tap rooms,
restaurants, or even off premise sales.

()

PPPPP

Discovering Microbrews

Brewed on every continent around the world and
enjoyed in every nation, beer can quench every type
of thirst and go down as easily as spring water
to thick, heady concoctions that resemble that of
the thickest oatmeal.

Just as the gourmet blends have conquered a large
portion of the coffee business, handcrafted brews
continue to keep a firm hold on the most serious
of beer drinkers. There are hundreds of thousands
of brews out there, which are sure to please even
the hardest to please.

When it comes to the gourmet types of microbrews,
there are some things to keep in mind. If you
are new to microbrews and gourmet types, you’ll
find the tips below to be very beneficial.

Start light
When you go to a pub or just out to drink, you
should start off light with a basic lager, pilsner,
or wheat beer. After that, you can work your way
towards the full flavored beers, such as porters
and Oktoberfest beers. These can be very potent,
especially for those who don’t really drink that
much.

Starting light is also good for your overall
tolerance, as drinking light will prepare you for
the more potent drinks. This way, you can enjoy
plenty of microbrews without having to worry
about stopping too early.

Brewpub
The ideal way to try new types of beer is to pay
a visit to a local brewpub. Many of these small
brewery/restaurants will offer samplers, which
feature small glasses with four to five of their
most popular beers.

This way, you can experience a variety of beer
tastes without having to spend a lot of money.
Once you have tried a couple of the beers, you’ll
know what to order.

Dark beers
If you are a casual beer drinker or can handle
your tolerance, you shouldn’t be afraid in the
least to try dark beers. The dark color doesn’t
mean that the beer is heavier or contains more
calories, it simply means that the malt in the
beer is roasted longer or roasted to a more darker
color than most.

Small business
Small businesses and small businessmen are yet
another reason to get into microbrewed beer other
than the taste. Local microbrew producers brew
their beers in small batches, so you’ll be helping
to keep the business afloat, rather than supporting
the large giants of the industry.

When you know that your money is going to help the
little people, you’ll normally find the brew to go
down much smoother. Small microbreweries need
all the help they can get to continue brewing,
which is reason enough to support them. You’ll get
a great beer for your money – and you’ll be
supporting those that actually need your help.

()

PPPPP

Original Microbrews

Beer is almost as old as civilization itself. It is
mentioned in Sumerian texts that date back more than
5,000 years ago. Beginning in the 1950s, scientists
debated the notion that beer, not bread, was actually
the start of the development for agriculture.

Almost every culture around the world has invented
its own concotion of beer. History says brewing
was a home based operation, as part of the preparation
in meals. From South Africa to China, the production
of beer grew in scale with the rise of society,
then later became primarily a function of the state.

The physical evidence of ancient brewing isn’t easy
to obtain. With most cultures, home beer brewing
required only the basic of ingredients, such as a
fire, cooking vessels, and some jars. None of these
materials are unique to the brewing process. Jars
that were found near a kiln could have been used
for storing barley or wheat for bread, while cooking
pots could have been used for heating liquids.

So far, archaeologists haven’t been able to find a
complete set of evidence. One of the oldest
breweries was found in southern Egypt and dates back
to over 5,000 years ago. At this site, teams found
well heated vats that were encrusted on the inside
with a cereal based residue.

Another ancient brewery was discovered along the
Nile in the middle of Egypt. The site was located
in what is thought to be the Sun Temple, where
a king’s wife was buried. Archaeologists found
a complex set of rooms that had been used for
cereal processing. Ovens, grains, and larger jars
indicate that the rooms were used as a bakery or
a brewery.

In a different area of the world, excavators found
a brewery dating back to the times of the Romans.
On this site, there were preserved tables that
date from A.D. 100, with beer being specifically
mentioned on several of the tablets.

The chemical evidence of beer would prove to be a
site’s purpose once and for all, although that
normally isn’t easy. Alcohol is much too delicate
to last for centuries, as any cereal based residue
found could have come from baking just as easily
as from brewing.

Throughout the course of time, there will always
be evidence of beer being brewed many centuries
ago. Without actually finding physical evidence
though, it can be really hard to determine. If
there were physical evidence, it would be really
different indeed.

()

PPPPP

Brewpub Heaven

Everyone knows that if your looking for the best in
coffee, you go to Seattle. For wine, you go to
California. When it comes to the best in beer, you
go to Portland Oregon, where your never more than
15 minutes away from a quality brewpub.

The Williamette Rive in western Oregon has been
the center of hop growing and brewing since the
days of the pioneers. When the microbrew revolution
began, the history and the hops were already there,
along with the spring water, the grain, and the
fruit for summer beers. As a result, regional
brewers and microbrewers began to pop up all over
the place.

After that, it didn’t take long at all for the
brewpub to follow. These beers weren’t just for
washing down food anymore. The hand crafted beers
could be used in cooking, just like wine. In
the brewpubs of Portland, the beer also forms a
base for salad dressing, spices up marinades, and
even helps to sweeten the desserts as well.

Many brewpubs will offer a sampler of the best
in beer tasting. You can think of it as wine tasting
without the snooty steward. You sip on small
amounts of a variety of brews to see what the
brewer can do, from the light and hoppy to the
dark yet sweet brews.

What to expect
1. Good head on the beer. Good head
ensures that you’ll get a strong smell of the
brew, so be sure to pour it into your glass very
carefully.
2. Always use a glass. You should always
use a clean glass, a very clean glass. In most
brewing establishments, the glasses are always hand
washed and air dried to ensure that there isn’t a
speck of grease in the glass to deflate the head
and leave soapy looking bubbles behind.
3. The English are right. As the English
know, refrigerated beer is too cold to fully
appreciate the taste. In brewpubs, the beer is
served at temperatures that are cool but not that
cold. The iced and chilled glasses are saved for
martinis.
4. Vocabulary. Beer has a mouth feel,
which describes the body of the brew – light,
medium, and full. The color can be misleading,
as even light bodied beers can be full bodied.

Anytime you are looking for the best in microbrews,
you can count on Oregon to deliver the best in
beer. There are hundreds of brewpubs here, with
everything you could ever want. Anytime you
are in the area, don’t hesitate to stop off and
see why the microbrews here are easily among the
best in the United States – or the world for
that matter.

()

PPPPP

Process Of Homebrewing Microbrews

The normal batch of homebrewed beer is five gallons
in volume, which is enough for 2 cases, or 48 12
ounce bottle of beer.

The typical homebrewed beer is produced by boiling
water, malt extract and hops together in a large
kettle and then cooling the resulting wort and adding
yeast for fermenting. Experienced homebrewers will
make their own extract from crushed malt barley by
a more complicated process of mashing the grain in
boiling hot water.

With both cases, the wort is boiled for 15 min to
an hour, to help remove some impurities, dissolve
the character of the hops, then break down some of
the sugar. The wort is then cooled down to a
pitching temperature.

The cooled wort is then poured into the primary
fermenter in a manner of aggression, as to aerate
the wort. Sufficient oxygen is also necessary for
the yeast’s growth stage. The yeast is then put
into the wort.

The primary fermentation will take place in a large
food bucket or carboy. Sometimes it is left open
but often stoppered with the carbon dioxide gas
that’s produced by venting through a fermentation
lock.

The process of making microbrews takes a lot of
time indeed, although you can take the necessary
short cuts once you learn more about how the
process works. If this is your first time brewing,
you should always use common sense and know what
you are doing.

One of the best things about making your own
homebrews is the fact that you can experiment with
ingredients and brew your own creations. You can
brew almost anything, providing you have the right
type of equipment – which can easily be found.

()

PPPPP

Alaskan Brewing

The Alaskan brewing company is the oldest operating
brewery in Alaska, with their amber beer being
their most popular brand. They produce two other
brands as well, pale ale and Alaskan frontier
amber. If you enjoy fresh amber beer, Alaskan
brewing is what you want.

As you may already know, brewing beer in Alaska is
very hard to do. The coastal community of Juneau
doesn’t have road connections to the lower 48 states,
so everything arrives and leaves by water or air,
with weather always having the final say.

In 1986, the Alaskan brewing company became the
67th brewery to operate in the United States and
the only one to operate in Alaska. Since that time,
Alaskan brewery has received more than 30 major
medals and awards, including the best beer in the
nation award during the 1988 Great American Beer
Festival.

The popularity of their beers has led to a great
amount of efforts to keep up with the demand from
consumers. They also hold the unnofficial record
for the production on a 10 barrel brewing system,
which produces an amazing 42 batches a week.

The Alaskan Brewery offers several different styles
of brew as well, which are listed below:

1. Amber – This is the company’s flagship
beer, based on a turn of the century recipe that
was used to quench the thirst of the miners during
the Gold Rush era. It provides a smooth, malty,
rich taste that goes well with meals – or friends.
2. Pale – Pale is fresh, crips, and
inviting. Alaskan pale is great with crab, pawns,
and salads. The floral aroma of the hops is
derived from dry hopping the tanks during the entire
fermentation process.
3. Stout – The oatmeal style beer of stout
doesn’t have the harshness of other stouts. Great
with chocolate and hearty meals, stout is also
ideal to enjoy while walking in the snow.
4. ESB – If you like hops, the infusion
of hops in this delight will amaze your nose while
the refreshing cascade hops will provide a wonderful
crispness to both the flavor and the finish. This
beer is great with spicy food, wild game, and other
wintery food.
5. Smoked porter – Very exclusive, Alaskan
smoked porter has a world class reputation for its
excellence. Brewed in the fall, this beer is ideal
for storing in the cellar for later enjoyment.
6. Winter ale – This tender brew of spruce
trees has been used for brewing in Alaska since
the late 1700s.

()

PPPPP

Troubleshooting Home Brewing

Stuck fermentation
Stuck fermentation occurs when your beer fails to
ferment to completion. This can result from the
use of old yeast or poor ingredients. The best
way to take care of this problem, is to prevent
it from starting. To do this, you should:
1. Re-hydrate the yeast by adding it to
some water and adding wort to the yeast an hour
or more before you pitch. This will help ensure
that your yeast is still active.
2. Use an all malt or a recipe that has
a lot of it, as yeast needs nutrients to stay
alive. Corn and sugar lack these nutrients. If
your yeast still fails to survive, it cannot
reproduce. For this very reason, distilled water
shouldn’t be used when making beer.

Under carbonation
If you’ve used the proper amount of priming sugar
and your beer is still flat, it’s probably due
to the fact that you didn’t properly rise the
sanitizing solution from the bottles. If too
much sanitizer is left in the bottles, it can
kill the yeast, which results in flat beer. The
only way to prevent this is to stop it from
happening.

Over carbonation
Over carbonation can cause your beer to turn into
a foam disaster. It can result from these causes:
1. Too much or uneven priming sugar. You
should measure your primer carefully and dissolve
it thoroughly in boiling water and allow it the
proper time to cool. Before bottling, make sure
to stir this into your beer.
2. Bottling your beer too early can also
result in too much carbonation.
3. Poor sanitization is also a cause. If
you allow your beer to come in contact with wild
yeast, it can result in over carbonation and
possibly even off flavors.
4. Bottles that are under filled can
also contribute to over carbonation. You should
allow 1/2 inch of head space to allow your
beer time to pressurize.

By taking the proper time to fix problems, you’ll
ensure that your brew comes out great every
time you brew it. If you happen to run into a
problem, always take the time to rationize it
before you rush into fixing it. If you rush into
fixing a problem, you may start another one.

You should expect problems, especially if this
is your first time brewing. Even for expert home
brewers, problems can occur from time to time –
which is something you’ll learn to deal with.

()

PPPPP

Hybrid Microbrews

Cream ale/American lager/blonde ale
This blend produces a mild, pale, light bodied ale.
This can be made using a warm fermentation (either
top or bottom) and cold lagering or also by
blending top and bottom fermented beers.

The hop bitterness in the style is normally very
low, with hip aroma often absent. Sometimes they
are referred to as cream ales, yet they are crisp
and very refreshing.

American wheat ale/American wheat lager
This type of beer can be made by using either lager
yeast or an ale. Brewed with 50 percent wheat,
the hop rates are higher and the carbonation is
lower than German styles of wheat beers.

At low levels, a fruity estery aroma and flavor
is normal, although clovelike characteristics
shouldn’t be perceived. The color is normally
golden to light amber, with the body being light
to medium in character.

Fruit beers
These types of beers are made by using fruit as
an adjunct in the primary or secondary fermentation.
Fruit beers provide a very unique taste, and
they can also be quite potent if made in the right
ways.

Vegetable beers
These beers use vegetables as an adjunct in primary
or secondary fermentation, helping to provide an
obvious, yet harmonious quality. These beers
shouldn’t be overpowered by hop character.

Herb and spice beers
Herb and spice beers use either herbs or spices
other than hops to create a very distinct taste
and character. The spices can be derived from roots,
seeds, fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

Hybrid microbrews offer you a break from the
ordinary beers, providing unique tastes and very
distinct character. There are many types of hybrid
microbrews available, all you have to do is look
around or experiment.

()

PPPPP

Clipper City Microbrew Company

The Clipper City Brewing Company was founded by
by pioneer Hugh Sisson, with the intention of
restoring a rich brewing tradition to the entire
Baltimore area. By focusing on the classic styles
of beer that are made with fresh ingredients and
high standards, Clipper City is the largest
brewing company in Baltimore, giving the entire Bay
area residents reason to celebrate.

After the inception of craft brewing in Baltimore,
Hugh immersed himself in developing and market
recognition of both Sisson’s brewpub and all of its
beers.

The Clipper City Brewing Company produces three
regular offerings year round – Chesapeake lager,
Chesapeake amber, and the Chesapeake gold ale,
which was chosen as the official beer of the
Baltimore City bicentennial. Clipper City also
includes a line of specialty beers under the
Clipper Reserve heading.

These types include a Pilsner which is available in
May, Irish stout available in February, Oktoberfest
available in September, and a winter ale that’s
available in late November. Clipper City also
manufacturers a seperate line of beer, known as
the Oxford Brands, which include an English pale
ale and a refreshing summer blend made with real
raspberries known as the Oxford raspberry wheat.

For many years, Clipper City has proven that they
are the dominant brewing company in the entire
Baltimore area. Residents of the area enjoy the
many varieties this brewing company offers, as
they have everything for the seasons.

Even if you don’t live in the Baltimore area, there
are other ways to get the excellent beers that
Clipper City has to offer. There are several bars
and pubs that carry their beers, although most are
in the Baltimore and surrounding areas. If you’ve
been looking for a brew that is different from the
rest, you can count on the Clipper City Brewing
Company to deliver everything that you’ve never
thought possible about beer and microbrews.

()

PPPPP

Differences Between Keg And Cask Ale

Over the years, keg beers have gotten a lot better.
If a cask beer is in poor condition, it’s actually
possible for a fresh keg beer to be much better
tasting. Even though this may sound absurd, it’s
very common for someone who’s unfamilar with cask
ale to not be able to taste the difference between
keg and cask beer.

The warm temperature that cask beer is famous for
doesn’t apply in the summer months all that often
these days, as temperature control units in pubs
have beer run through coolers. The fact is, some
pubs will run cask ale lines through lager chillers
in order to get the beer below the maximum temperature
required, so cask ale may very well end up just as
cold as a keg lager.

This isn’t really a good thing, as ale requires a
cool rather than very cold temperature to bring out
all of its flavors. In a well run pub however, the
cask ale will be served at the right temperature –
cool but not too cold.

The smell of cask ale is much fresher and more
wholesome than keg beer. Keep in mind, the aroma of
cask ale doesn’t have the stored up impact of
bottled type beers, as this beer has already been
exposed to the air for a couple of days – meaning
there is no impact when you transfer it to your
beer glass.

Normally, the aroma wil be released into the air when
it has been warmed up, which will probably happen
when you get near the bottom of the glass.

The flavor of cask ale is very similiar to the aroma
in it, which is very fresh and delicate. Unlike
other bottled beers, the flavor of cask ale is
even more noticeable than the aroma. At first,
the aroma is very slight, although the flavor
more than makes up for it.

The intensity of the flavor will depend on the style
of beer. The CO2 bubbles themselves will have
very little flavor, therefore a mass of bursting
bubbles against your tongue will prevent the actual
beer from making contact.

With cask ale, there is little to no carbonation,
so more of the flavor will connect with your taste
buds. You should be able to note the fruity taste
up front, with balance in the middle and bitterness
in the end. The flavor of a cask ale is much more
noticed than keg or even bottled beer.

Bottle conditioned beers will also have this type
of flavor profile, although they’ll need to be
prepared and conditioned well in advance, meaning
that the bottle will need to be opened and allowed
to settle for a while. Cask ales offer the
conditioning being done fro you, so you won’t need
to do it.

The most important aspect of cask ale is how it
feels in your mouth. It shouldn’t be fizzy. If it
is, it’s either a keg beer or a cask ale that’s
been put on too soon. There will be a natural feel
in the beer, a life that makes you want to drink it.

()

PPPPP