AN ABBREVIATED HISTORY OF BEER - PART TWO

A short treatise, of dubious accuracy yet compelling content, cobbled together from various sources on the Internet.

When last we spoke I was telling you how those intrepid and merry monks had introduced the scientific method and that dastardly weed the hop vine into the brewing process. The resulting ales were clearer, stronger and far more consistent than their secular counterparts. The increase in alcohol and the presence of hops meant the beer was able to last for longer periods of time. Now I write “dastardly” in reference to the Hop (Humulus lupulus) , as there were those that felt the Hop Flower was a vile additive. In some parts of the continent, notably England the Hop was, for a time, outlawed. One could add nettles, or elderberries, licorice or even an Old Cockerel to flavor ones beer, but never that vile weed. Eventual those stuffy old Brits caught on and the noble Hop has been paramount among flavorings ever since. This is well, as we know that in the late 1500's Queen Elizabeth I of England drank strong ale for breakfast. So fond of her ale was the fiery heir of Henry the VIII, that when she toured the Kingdom, she sent outriders ahead to make certain plenty of good Ale was to be had along her planned route.

With the age of colonization came the need for a beer that would travel well, which at this point being technologically unavailable, led to the creation of more local sources. In 1587 the first beer brewed in New World was at Sir Walter Raleigh's colony in Virginia. In 1612 the first commercial brewery opened in New Amsterdam (NYC, Manhattan) after colonists advertised in London newspapers for experienced brewers. In 1620 Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock because the beer supplies were running low. If they had not run out of beer where would they have gone? History would have been altered irretrievably. There would be no Mayflower Madam, The Red Sox would be playing in Cleveland and the Kennedy’s would have their compound in Asbury Park. Perhaps one of the few times in recorded history that running out of beer had a positive outcome.

In 1757 George Washington wrote his personal recipe "To Make Small Beer." You can find this recipe on the web if you are curious. It will yield a brew of about 11% alcohol. Small beer, huh? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1591417 In 1786 the Molson brewery is founded in what is today Canada.

Beer was an important part of colonial life and played a starring role in the American Revolution. Soldiers in the revolutionary army received rations of a quart of beer a day. Thomas Jefferson and Samuel Adams each had their own brewing operations. Jefferson’s recipes may be all but lost to history, but fortunately for us Americans, Jefferson took time off from brewing to jot down a few more important documents. The Yards Brewing Company of Philadelphia has bottled some beers based on period recipes for their Beers of the Revolution series. These hearty brews are not for the faint of heart, but do give some indication of what was in vogue in the Colonies back in the day. http://www.yardsbrewing.com

In 1789 James Madison proposed that Congress levy a low 8-cent duty per barrel on malt liquors to encourage "the manufacture of beer in every State in the Union."

It is fair to say that Beer and bread were the mainstays of the ordinary person's diet for centuries. In fact they shared many of the same ingredients, one had a little more water. Yeasts during this time were exactly the same as those used in bread – wild yeasts of various strains. Certainly this must have lead to some very interesting flavors, and until the advent of culturing yeast, a wide variation in taste from batch to batch.

(Coming up in Part three will be the Modern History of Brewing. We will see how Louis Pasteur changed the face of brewing, with the pasteurization of beer and the discovery that yeast is a living organism that can be cultured. (Question, if yeast is cultured, why are many beer drinkers’ uncultured slobs?) We will also look at the distinction between types of beer notably ales and lagers.

thebeerman@ahherald.com