"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators."P. J. O'Rourke
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Beer Making Tips..The Affordable to Great Beer.
Brew low cost beer. The amount of time you spend on brewing beer makes the small difference in cost between "just OK" ingredients and top quality ingredients a minor point. Either way, the cost of brewing a 5 gallon batch is much cheaper than buying a ...
Raise Your Beer Mug To The World Or How To Say Cheers! In Zulu
The Moguls did it. So did the Vikings. "A mouth of a perfectly happy man is filled with beer." After coining that phrase, you don't think this anonymous Egyptian from 2200 BC kept it to himself. I can see him raise his drinking vessel to his Nile-side ...
The Almighty Beer-Can Chicken
A popular method of cooking chicken in recent years both in Barbeque contest as well as backyard barbeques is the beer-can chicken. Cooking a beer-can chicken couldn't be any easier but the results are worthwhile. This is a technique that delivers a ...
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Regional Characteristics of Craft Brewing.
It is surely apparent to even the most casual observer that the selection of small batch, or micro brewed, beer has grown steadily for many years. Early on in the craft brewing revival it was widely speculated that the microbrew revolution was merely a fad and once over, factory beers would once again be the only beer left standing on the shelves. But these smaller brewers have not only survived, they have thrived and revitalized many brewing traditions nearly lost forever. What has emerged is rather amazing. When you travel the United States and sample beers over a wide geographic range, patterns emerge in the beer styles and flavors you sample. These brewing tendancies are based on the history of beer making in the region, the availability of ingredients, and even the climate of the area and its effect on the demand for various beer styles.
Let's look at some of the broad regions of the country and what you can expect in the general styles of beers. While this exercise sheds some light on how each region has evolved, it is by no means an absolute reference. There are many wonderful exceptions to every generalization.
North East
New England has roots that run to the very beginnings of when Europeans first settled North America, and one of the first traditions these settlers brought with them was brewing. Many of our founding fathers not only enjoyed a brewed libation, they often made their own. One of the biggest craft brewers even takes its very name from a famous patriot and brewer from the American Revolution. The microbrew revolution has not traveled far from its heritage, and you will find almost exclusively beers made in the English tradition. This is ale country, and most brewpubs even have the traditional hand pulled beer engine offering true cask conditioned ales at cellar temperatures. While English ales rule in the North East, a few renegades are offering Belgian style ales. These beers are very traditional in their hops and malt balance, smooth and very drinkable.
Midwest
Many Germans migrated during the 1800's to the Midwest in search of farm land and work in the booming cities. With them they brought a long tradition of brewing cold fermented lagers from their homeland of Germany, Bavaria, Poland, and other middle European countries. True to form, this portion of the country still has some of the best lagers to be found in the world. It is this part of the country where brewing survived during prohibition and then blossomed after its downfall. The United States largest brewers are still in the Midwest, but they are no longer alone. The beer selection you will primarily find here focuses on lighter beers that have been cold fermented and offer crisp clean colors, the floral and citrus aromas of Noble hops, and little in the way of estery yeast by-products. The exception to this rule is the amazing bounty of aromas you may find in a glass of traditional Hefeweizen, or wheat beers with the yeast left unfiltered.
South
Settled mainly by the French, the south and Gulf Coast has little in the way of a brewing history. The very warm climate made growing malt and hops nearly impossible, and fermenting in this heat is unpredictable. As such, the South does not have many brewpubs and Micros in order to define their space. With the advent of refrigeration, and the ease of shipping ingredients now, there are some great brews beginning to take shape. So perhaps it would be better to wait until more brewing traditions have been created before pigeon-holing this newcomer to the brewing scene. One thing that is noticeable is the effect hot weather has on the beer drinkers desire. Lighter beers served ice cold are in much greater fashion than the heavier and warmer ales served by their neighbors to the North.
Mountains
The mountains of Colorado, Nevada, and Idaho are especially noted for unparalleled skiing. Along with skis, vacationers often bring a hearty thirst worked up from multiple trips down the mountains. Here an ever-growing brewpub scene offers some of the most varied selections in the country. It is almost like the brewers of the mountain region reflect the many expectations brought by visitors from every corner of the world. Here you will find German lagers, English Ales, and American originals all served side by side. But one characteristic that begins to shine through comes from the proximity of the hops growing region in the Pacific Northwest. Beer here has a distinct extra dose of hops that make them All American. Instead of using hops imported from Europe, beer is most often embued with American varieties descended from traditional hops of the world.
West Coast and Pacific Northwest
The West Coast is mostly affected by the very close US center of hops growing in Oregon and Washington states. Beer styles here are most certainly American. The Pacific Northwest is also the heart of barley growing in the United States, so it is no surprise that the density of micro brewed beer is higher here than most anywhere else in the country. And every brewery or brewpub offers many styles with assertive hops; in the kettle for bitterness as well as large amounts of dry hops in the barrel for aroma. Most styles are American adaptations of German or English traditional brews, adapted for the cool wet weather and utilizing the abundance of local ingredients.
While throughout the world there are literally dozens of st yles of beer, relatively few are brewed in any one region of the United States. Each area has been influenced by climate, availability of ingredients, and tradition, to develop a limited number of distinct beer offerings.
About the author:
Michael Briggs is a beer fanatic and a frequent contributor to BreweryMall.
Written By: Michael Briggs
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 U.S. Troops Get Super Bowl Treat -- Beer - KPHO
In what is sure to be a major morale boost, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said American troops can have two 12-ounce beers during the Super Bowl without fear of being court-martialed. The military orders commanders to "keep in mind all host nation ...
No cash for trash? French Quarter may stink again - Olympian
NEW ORLEANS – Since Hurricane Katrina, the beer-soaked, urine-splashed, puke-puddled French Quarter of old has been scrubbed clean. But with the city facing tough financial times, it may no longer be able to afford to pay for all the services of an ...
to drink beer for Super Bowl - Lucianne.com
Boeing Co. said Friday it will lay off 4,500 workers at its Commercial Airplanes unit. It's unknown how many of the lay offs will be at the company's Gresham plant, which supplies the Seattle-based unit. Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said that because ...
1/8 TNA Impact Hits & Misses: Beer Money, PPV Hype, New Tag Champs - Pro Wrestling Torch
This was an unusual episode of Impact. It is not very often that any two hour wrestling show only has five total Hits and Misses, particularly Impact which on a bad week can easily have 5 Misses alone. But, this week I found myself totally ...
Odin Shows Up at Nebraska Beer Bash - Southern Poverty Law Center
On Sept. 1, the national socialist Movement (NSM) held a neo-Nazi anti-immigration rally in Omaha, Neb. That night, about 60 NSM members and supporters, many of them racist skinheads, celebrated in a horse pasture. They guzzled beer, slam-danced to ...
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