As this is my first attempt to write anything beer related…ever…I thought it might be interesting (well at least to me) to tell the story of how I came to understand the significance of brewing craft beer. There are many who have their own version of this story, and I’ve enjoyed listening to each one told to me…but this one is mine.
Like many of you, I consumed untold gallons of commoditized fizz water. For most in my generation, we had four or five virtually identical selections at our local store or pub. I was a working guy in my twenties; I played golf poorly and liked avoiding cart fees, so I took a job working at a country club. Free tallboys and golf…those were the salad days. Much debate went into whether it would be this lite or light that. I distinctly remember thinking there were discernable differences between those beers. Today, I fancy myself a lover of all things craft beer (which I assume you do as well) I have brewed my own beer for nearly twenty years, and it is painful to admit that back then I fell victim to their marketing regime. Their commercials were cool, they had really hot chicks at events, and they put a bigger hole in the top of the can. I thought they were geniuses. I had taken the blue pill in the Matrix.
But somewhere along the way things changed, I was at my local pub after work and this old man bellies up to the bar. He was six, maybe seven sheets into the wind, and told me “yehknow…brewing beer made this country what it is today, a young kid like yourself wouldn’t know the first thing ‘bout that…why don’t yehgo look it up in one of those computers of yours, it might even teach you something. At the time, I thought to myself, well you shouldn’t be driving buddy… I gave him a look in his bleary disapproving eyes to let him know I wasn’t afraid of him; I took my round of cold sameness off the bar, and walked away.
But for some reason what the old man said stuck with me. I knew that beer had been around forever, but what the hell was he talking about? So I decided to listen to Ol’ Bleary Eyes and did a little research. Mark Twain once said, “Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.” This is my way of saying that if my explanation of how brewing shaped the country seems cursory and imperfect…so be it.
In many ways beer represents who we are as people. Does this sound a bit dramatic to you? Consider a few of the following little gems I’ve found…researchers published by the National Academy of Sciences have isolated the origins of lager yeast found in Europe. The arrival of this hybrid yeast strain occurred in the 15th century, which coincides with the Columbian Exchange to North America. An article in USA Today regarding this research begins, “If you like lager beer you have Christopher Columbus to thank for it.” A passenger aboard the Mayflower wrote that they “could not now take time for further search or consideration, our victuals being much spent, especially our beer.” At Monticello, the wife of Thomas Jefferson brewed fifteen gallon batches every two weeks. Oh, and Washington? His recipe for “small beer” includes 3 gallons of molasses. If you home brew, try using some molasses, Brew Master Washington insists upon it.
Just before the turn of the century, the US was replete with local breweries. The Brewer’s Association took a look at the numbers, and tells us there are just over 500 more breweries today than in 1887. Yes, read that again…. There were just 0ver 50 million people in the US then, and ol’ four beers a day Grover Cleveland was president. Clearly, local breweries and pubs were part of virtually every community. Beer was more than just a beverage to take the edge off of a hard day’s work. It represented the community, it was something unique to each city or town, and in a way it was a symbol of “us”. Take a look at this fancy chart I scrounged up for you…
Then it hit me…there are well over 300 million people in this country today, and it’s been generations since prohibition. Something seemed very wrong here. Remember Ol’ Bleary Eyes and his comment about brewing beer making the country what it is today? I don’t believe he was making a comment steeped in boastful patriotism. I think it possessed a tinge of sarcasm and sadness. You see, beer is everywhere. We are awash in sameness…it’s the number of unique breweries that never returned. Prohibition, Consolidation, and Acquisition have over the years suppressed the number of local breweries relative to our population, and it continues today. Moreover, these Leviathans of Beer are no longer American companies. Here are a few painful truths for you: SAB Miller headquarters: London, England – Anheuser Busch InBev headquarters: Leuven, Belgium & São Paulo, Brazil – Molson Coors headquarters: Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The afore mentioned Leviathan’s make up roughly one third of global market share, you can get your geek on here.
Imagine for a moment if a majority of cities in the United States had their very own brewery as they did back then. I was born in Texas, there are 247 cities with a population greater than 10,000 in my country– ahem…state. Yet trusty Wikipedia lists just 70 active breweries here. Even if that number is stale, Texas would undoubtedly be teaming with breweries large and small, were it not for history and these aptly named Leviathans.
To me, brewing craft beer means so much more than making a great product; it represents a reclaiming of our identity, sharing a sense of community, and maintaining a connection to our heritage. Recently, I attended a party where many new adventurous brewers gathered to celebrate after an event. I observed a room filled with dreamers from all walks of life, unique, and impossible to duplicate. There are so many great inspiring examples from this community of brewers; and I will seek to chronicle their stories in the coming years. Today’s craft brewers are this strange mix of the past and present. They use modern systems to follow timeless methods. They are charting a new course that was set long ago, and we should be proud of them.