BeerDude
Homebrewing
FOLKLORE & LINKS
Just about every ancient culture has left some artifact of beer making.
Beer was used as payment to the workers who built the pyramids, which
explains how the enormous feat was accomplished.
For a
long time all ale was brown. Pale ale appeared in England in
the
1600s because a shortage of coal forced brewers to roast malt to a
lighter color.
Porter, a dark ale with a flavor hinting of
coffee or chocolate, was made popular by porters, who moved goods to
and from ships in England. Ironically, the first ale to be called
porter was actually a light-colored ale.
Wheat beer was
invented by German monks who needed a beverage that helped them stay
nourished during lent. Monks must go without food during
lent, but
beer? Heavens no!
Queen Elizabeth II drank 2
quarts (not pints, quarts) of beer every morning. Wow.
King James hated the taste of hops in his ale so much that he forbade
the addition of hops to any ale brewed in his kingdom.
Speaking
of hops, they are closely related to marijuana, which was added to beer
by some cultures during the 1600s. Imagine that concoction!
In
the mid 1800s, Eberhard Anheuser toured the Budweiss region of
what is now the Czech Republic. Beers in
the Budweis region were called "Budweisers", and beer favored by kings
in that region were called "Beer of Kings". Amheiser migrated to the
USA, formed the Anheuser-Busch Brewing
Company, named his new
American beer "Budweiser", and swapped the motto to "King of Beers".
Standard American-style
beer is made from barley and rice. The rice provides a way of adding
alcohol that is cheaper than barley. That's why standard American-style
beer is
lighter and less flavorful than most imported or craft beers.
Reputable
sources say otherwise, but I swear the tradition of serving Mexican
beer with a lime-wedge in the top of the bottle started at Hussong's
Bar in Ensenada, Mexico, sometime in the late 60s or early 70s. You
could buy cheap Mexican beer like Corona for 75 cents a bottle, or 2
for a dollar. If you bought 2, they would plug the second one with a
lime-wedge so you wouldn't spill it while stumbling around
drinking the
first. Ah, those were the days!
http://www.homebrewmart.com
Good source of home-brewing
info and supplies, and the birthplace of award wining Ballast Point
Brewing!
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org
Home Brewers Association - the
name says it all
Comments
welcome: mark.eby@twc.com