Since the late 1980's, America has been enjoying a beer renaissance. Not only have micro breweries and brew pubs sprung up all over like mushrooms after the rain, but homebrewing has also become a growing hobby, with hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic followers eagerly producing beer in their kitchens and garages--five gallons at a time. Then there are the professionals. Anheuser-Busch is the largest brewing operation in the world, producing hundreds of thousands of barrels of beer per day, with Miller and Coors in hot pursuit, hoping someday to catch up. If that still isn't enough beer to float your boat, consider that Americans still plop down considerable sums on imported beer.
Not since the pre-Prohibition glory days of brewing has America been so awash in suds. There is so much beer about, the bewildered would-be connoisseur turn to books such as "The Idiot's Guide to Beer" and "Beer for Dummies" to keep up with friends who drop the names of beer styles as if discussing fine French champagnes. These days, many bars and restaurants have extensive beer lists. But most people just grab a cold can from the refrigerator after mowing the lawn. They can't tell an ale from a lager, and they don't care. They want refreshment, not snob appeal. Finally, you have the homebrewer who is so dissatisfied by commercial brews and imports, he has to make his own.
So what is this elixir that slakes thirst while greatly contributing to the American economy?
Beer is water, hops, and barley malt fermented by yeast.
In Germany, where the Reinheitsgebot (Purity Law) still counts for something, most beer is indeed made up of four ingredients only. In North America, rice syrup and corn (brewing adjuncts) are also used in the brewing process to make a lighter-tasting product without sacrificing--or even boosting--alcohol content. Some beers, primarily Belgian styles and specialty ales, include fruit, cane and candy sugar, molasses, honey, herbs, chili peppers, and even maple syrup as brewing adjuncts. Other beers (German Weizen and American wheat styles) contain a portion of malted wheat or rye along with malted barley. Finally, beers can be bottom-fermented (lagers) or top- fermented (ales). In the hands of a skilled brewmaster, a simple product can indeed become quite complex. Beer can taste sweet or bitter, malty, hoppy, even smoky; its color can range from a pale yellow to an opaque black.
Beer has been around since prehistoric times and shares a close relationship with bread baking. Cultures who grew grain to bake bread almost always made beer, too. Natural microorganisms (wild yeasts) were accidentally discovered to be leavening agents. It did not take long before these wild yeasts were deliberately cultivated for baking. Soon, these same yeasts were working their magic to ferment grain mush for drinking purposes. Not only did beer provide much-needed B vitamins and calories to primitive populations, it also ensured a safe and ready supply of a potable, portable beverage. Since Trog the Ancient Agrarian felt relaxed and cheerful after having a few swigs of this newfangled brew, its popularity for the ages was assured. By 6000 BC, beer had even become part of religious rituals in Mesopotamia and was made by priests. The Babylonians and the Egyptians further refined ancient techniques to brew dozens of types of barley-based beers, using herbs instead of hops.
Hops in beer did not catch on until the ninth century AD, and even today in Scandinavian countries, woodruff, spruce twigs, or juniper berries are used in place of hops in home brew. By the mid- fourteenth century, hops became more popular in beer, not just for the pleasant bittering (and thirst-quenching) effect they had on the brew, but also for their preservative effect.
The Greeks, Romans, and Northern and Western barbarian tribes of Europe further refined beermaking and made it part of their economies. People were often paid with beer, and farmers grew grain and later hops expressly destined for the brew kettle.
Whether brewed at home by the village alewife or in relatively large batches up at the monastery or the royal court, beer was drunk by everyone, even children. Relatively free of contamination, unlike the local water, beer provided a significant share of daily caloric intake. Its alcoholic properties were less important, although certain beer styles were brewed with intoxication in mind. Following the decline and secularization of the monasteries, independent brewing guilds were formed, eventually giving rise to commercial brewing entities.
When the New World was discovered, beer came along with the European settlers. Its potability during the ocean voyage made it the shipboard beverage of choice. Once here, the Europeans discovered that native Americans were brewing beer with corn. Although Europeans preferred the taste of their own barley-based beverage, they soon learned that incorporating corn as part of the brew mash was convenient, cost-effective, and necessary when barley crops were not as abundant as expected. People in the southern colonies soon discovered rice was also an ideal brewing adjunct. Homebrewing still flourished, particularly in rural areas, but large cities quickly acquired commercial brewing ventures.
Most beer brewed in the thirteen American British Colonies was ale (a beer made with yeast that rises to the top during fermentation). Ale dominated the American brewing scene until the mid-nineteenth century, when the arrival of large numbers of German immigrants, coupled with advances in microbiology (yeast management and pasteurization) and technology (railroads, refrigeration, and steam-powered breweries) transformed America into a nation of lager beer drinkers. Lager brewing had its start in Bavaria, but was further refined in Bohemia, where the Pilsener style of beer became an overnight sensation in all of Central Europe.
Lagers (beers made with yeast that sinks to the bottom during fermentation) were revolutionary. Because the yeast sank, the beer was clear, not cloudy like ale. Lager beer produced fewer esters, so it tasted more like beer and less like wine, cider, or fruit. It did not sour as quickly. Pilsener beers were light in color, too, and presented great visual and esthetic appeal. For the first time, beer could be served in a clear glass, not an opaque tankard.
Lager beers required ice and cold conditions for maturation, so at first they were available only in Northern and Midwestern cities with a reliable ice supply. Eventually, with the coming of the railroad and reliable refrigeration, lager could be shipped by rail to thirsty populations as far away as the frontier and Deep South. Eberhard Anheuser and his son-in-law, Adolphus Busch, of St. Louis made a fortune using technology to quench the thirst of a growing nation. They were hardly alone. Throughout the United States, many a German immigrant became a wealthy beer baron. Sizable cities were often home to dozens of prospering lager breweries. Only in the Northeast United States did ale continue to be produced, though less and less over time.
In California, where the railroad and refrigeration did not appear until considerably later in the nineteenth century, German settlers made do with frontier conditions and brewed any way they could. Using locally-grown hops, barley, and whatever water they had, they brewed with lager yeasts, but fermented the brew at ambient air temperatures with brewing techniques suited for alemaking. In so doing, the California-German brewers created the only indigenous American beer style, steam (or California common) beer.
Not since Prohibition have Americans had so many beer styles from which to choose.
If you ask for a lager beer today, you will most likely be served a Pilsener (Pils). Golden yellow in color, dry, bitter, highly carbonated and clear, this is what everyone thinks of when beer is mentioned. But other lager beer styles are Dortmunder (less dry, but stronger than a Pils), Bock (strong, pale or dark, sweet; includes Maibock, a traditional spring beer in Germany), Doppelbock (stronger still, pale or dark, sweet), Eisbock (incredibly strong and sweet), Münchner helles Bier (light in color, malty), Münchener dunkles Bier (dark in color, malty), and Märzen-Bier (malty, amber brew common at Oktoberfest). The low-alcohol, slightly bitter Schwarzbier (black beer) is particularly tasty. Or try something truly American and enjoy a California common (steam beer).
And what will you get if you ask for an ale? Order a white beer/Witbier, and you'll get a Belgian-style wheat ale, flavored with orange peel or even coriander. You can get a Berliner Weisse, a low-alcohol German ale flavored with sugar syrup. Try a Weizen or Dunkelweizen (the dark version), a Bavarian wheat beer that tastes like vanilla, banana, and cloves because of the special ale yeast strain used in its production. Don't like wheat beer? Then stick with the British favorites of mild (lightly hopped), pale (what is says, although color can get into the amber range), bitter (well hopped), old (medium-strong dark ale), porter (dark and robust), or stout (robust, bitter, and nearly black, Guinness makes a classic), or even imperial stout (a sweet stout with a formidable alcohol content). Try an Altbier (German ales that come in all colors and strengths), or a barley wine (highly hopped, extremely malty, and very high in alcohol, this beer requires a designated driver). Adventuresome types can sample the many different Belgian abbey (Trappist) ales. In all colors and varying levels of strong, these ales will have you giving praise to heaven. And you'll be going to heaven in no time flat, unless you find someone to drive you home. Many of these beers contain so much alcohol, they must be fermented with champagne yeasts.
Beer, like bread, is perishable, and is best consumed while fresh. It should be stored in a cool, dark place not subject to sudden temperature fluctuations. The only exception to the "drink while fresh" rule is a very strong, bottle-conditioned brew. In this case, it pays to wait at least a year before savoring its delights.
Enjoy!
Paula Weber
Printed with permission of the author. From the Newsletter of the Indiana German Heritage Society Winter 1999/2000