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Where Can the Best in Microbrewery Beer be Found?

admin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

As craft beers become more and more popular, many people ask where the best microbrewery beer can be found. One of the best things about microbrews is that if you go across the country and ask 100 different people, you will likely get 100 different answers. You will find that if you answer the above question, the answer that you give may really only apply to yourself.

The individual reasons that we love a craft brew are widely varied and every brew house will offer some concoctions that you love and some that you hate. Yes, the answer to “where is the best microbrew found” is a personal one. Obviously if your one true love is a taste bud curling double IPA, you will most certainly answer the question very differently than someone that relishes a creamy Scotch ale.

Perhaps finding the answer to our question really is easier than we thought. A true microbrew really doesn’t get any more ‘micro’ than a five gallon batch. It could quite possibly be that the best microbrewery is no further away than your kitchen stove. Let’s seeKettle, bucket, airlockcheck! Water, grain, hops, yeastcheck!

Maybe you have found that one special ingredient that, for you, truly separates one brew high above the rest. The satisfaction that comes from knowing that if you want something done right you can do it yourself.

Why is Microbrewery Beer Better Than the Big Labels?

admin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Microbrewery beer is better than large labels because it is brewed in smaller batches and better care is taken to make sure that it has full flavor and defining characteristics. While there are many popular breweries, some of the best are limited edition microbrews where they add flavors like caramel or cloves to fall blends or they make their own custom mix of hops and spices to make a unique flavor.

There are trends in the microbrewing, as with anything else. Some of the most popular flavors right now using more bitter hops than have been used in brewing in the past. Another popular trend is using the flavor of grapes to offset the bitterness of the hops. Both have been popular with numerous breweries over the past few years. Despite following the same trends, each beer still keeps it’s unique flavor and the grapes just add an additional flavor to the bear.

Microbreweries have been gaining in popularity since the 1980′s and there is no end in sight. With the infinite amount of combinations that can be created to come up with a new microbrew, and plenty of people willing to taste them, the microbreweries will continue to tinker with their recipes to come up with new, seasonal blends for people to taste and enjoy.

How Do You Start a Microbrewery?

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Let’s face it. Beer is not rocket science. In spite what the ‘beer snobs’ of the world would have us believe beer (literally) boils down to water, sugar, yeast, and hops. If one wishes to start a microbrewery just make sure that you cover 4 bases mentioned above, and then transform them into your own magic concoction known as beer.

Finding your supplier of grain, hops, and yeast is easy in today’s beer focused world. Similarly simple is finding the necessary equipment, much of which can even be found used in plentiful supply. A grain mill large enough to crush the barley and other grains, a large mash lauter / tun will be needed to extract the sugar from the grain, and a fermentation tank large enough to meet your targeted production are the minimum requirements.

The most challenging part of starting a microbrewery is navigating the red tape of the local governments and insurance agencies. With permits in hand the fun and excitement of brewing for the masses begins! Luckily, because you likely started as a home-brewer, the proper equipment really makes brewing a 500 gallon batch not much more difficult than the 5 gallon batch you are used to.

What to brew? A cold brewed German style pilsner? A robust Scotch ale? A Belgian wheat? A heavily spiced winter white? Why not try them all? After all, you are now the brew-master of your own microbrewery, and you are starting out at a time when the public is very welcoming to the sampling of every style of beer on Earth. Happy brewing!

Great U.S. Brewery Trips

admin — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

If you love beer and you’ve got a soft-spot for brewery tours you’ve got to use your clear.com mobile connection to plan a brewmaster trip! Whether it’s all for the guys or a romantic weekend away, any of these three destinations makes for a perfect beer-lover’s getaway.
Denver, CO – Colorado is home to a lot of breweries both big and small and Denver is the epicenter. We suggest you start at the Anheuser Busch plant and make your way through some of the smaller micro-breweries nearby but don’t forget about the altitude as you drink!
Athens, GA – Bet you didn’t know this cool college town is also home to Terrapin brewery? There are lots of great places to throw back a cold one here and an awesome music scene, too, so head south for new tastes.
Portland, OR – Portland has more breweries per capita than any other city in the country and it’s perfect for beer and nature lovers alike. When you get sick of ale head over to the Pacific Northwest’s award-winning wine region for a change of pace.

How is Beer Mass Produced In America?

admin — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

There are three distinct types of beer produced in America. The first type of beer is the homebrew made in the kitchen to the taste and desires of the homeowner. The second type of beer produced in America is currently known as a microbrew. The third type of beer being produced in America is mass produced and is referred to as a macrobrew.
How does a person make a distinction between a micro and a macro produced beer? The easiest way to distinguish between the two types of production falls under the category of Economics 101: supply and demand. A high demand for a specific micro-brew creates a greater need for supplying that product over a larger area.
Increased product exposure over a greater distance implies that at some point the demand for the product will exceed microbrewery production supplies. When a microbrewery relocates to a larger production facility to keep up with supply and demand, opens a second production facility or subcontracts out to another brewery for production time the line has been crossed and it is now a mass produced product. It does not mean the beer will be bad it just means the beer has mass appeal.

How Did Beer Become Popular in America?

admin — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The popularity of beer in America is a combination of availability, affordability, and advertising. Dutch and English settlers brought the first European-style ales to the continent. Lager beers, introduced later by German immigrants, soon supplanted ales in popularity, largely due to their longer shelf life.

The introduction of Prohibition in 1919 brought a halt to beer production in the United States and as a result many small regional brewers were forced out of business. Larger brewers who could convert their breweries to the production of soft drinks or malt syrups were able to survive. The Volstead Act of 1933 enabled brewers to sell beer that was 3.2 percent alcohol by volume. 1.5 million gallons of 3.2 beer were sold in the first 24 hours alone.

World War II and its accompanying grain shortages almost crippled the beer industry yet again, until the government decided that the health benefits of beer were important for servicemen. Breweries introduced advertising campaigns touting the benefits of beer as a small indulgence that makes life worth living, a tradition that continues to this day.

Light beers were first introduced in the 1970′s and quickly became popular. Light beers are currently the best-selling beers in America.

Different Microbreweries in the United States

admin — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

I have to admit, some of the best microbrews I have ever experienced have been bathtub brews. While these may never become microbreweries to the masses, the spirit contained inside all microbrew bottles is one in the same. They always deliver an effervescent smile. These barley and hops saviors in a bottle have become incredibly popular over the past 20 years. Thank you to all respective powers that be. Interestingly, most states now have microbrew festivals. Some of the locations may be a bit surprising, but then so is the delight of sampling a new microbrew.

Oh, these people take their love affair with microbrew seriously. In Madison, Wisconsin, they have the annual Great Taste of the Midwest. In York County, PA, they celebrate with the York County Heritage Trust’s Microbrew Fest. Not to be left out is the Dog & Grog Montana Microbrew Festival in Virginia City, Montana, and the Oregon Homebrew Festival in, well Oregon. Okay, in Albany, Oregon. Hundreds more exist throughout the microbrewing US, and each should be carefully inspected by us all. This is not a request, but rather a commandment to all microbrew loving constituents. They should really create a microbrew festival passport like they do with national parks and vineyards!

When Did Beer First Become a Mass Produced Beverage?

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Beer has been consumed in mass quantities since prehistoric times, so the question as to when beer first became a mass-produced product becomes a matter of definition of terms.

The earliest evidence of writing comes from Sumer, in modern day Iraq, from about 4000 BC, and some of the earliest examples of writing that have been found are recipes for beer. The Babylonians produced beer in large quantities and many varieties, and there is even evidence that workers were paid their daily wage in beer.

The earliest evidence for the mass production of beer in the Western World dates from about 1300 AD, when monasteries and public houses selling beer for mass consumption sprang up across Europe. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the steam engine and readily available instruments like the thermometer and the hydrometer, beer production on a truly mass scale finally got going.

In America, beer production on a truly American Scale got going in the 1870s when brewers on the east coast and in the Midwest began to exploit the newfound refrigeration technology that allowed them to keep beer cold, and preserved from spoilage, while shipping large quantities long distances in refrigerated boxcars.Take a look here to learn more: Comparison of the Super Low-Calorie Beers