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America's Beer History The terrific American Heritage article on the history of beer in American includes a sidebar on the rise of the micro-brews:
"Some beer drinkers, tired of a steady diet of near-tasteless lagers and one or two imports with only slightly more emphatic flavor, were discovering an alternative...
In this, the commercial craft brewers were building on, and cashing in on, a trend that had begun in the West in the late seventies: a new generation of flavorful American ales, carefully brewed in small batches with all malt and no additives, by a group of dedicated amateurs, many of whom had started as home-brew hobbyists. Inspiration may have come from Fritz Maytag, of the washing-machine-and-blue-cheese family, who took over San Francisco's old and ailing Anchor Steam and in 1975 created the first of the new breed, Liberty Ale, in commemoration of the bicentennial of Paul Revere's ride. Huge in flavor, intensely aromatic, and bursting with the delectable bitterness of hops, it bore the same relation to subtle, understated European beers as California wine did to French.
In a second sidebar, beer writer Michael Jackson identifies ten great American micro-brews. Seven are regional brews I'll have to try and track down, but three are classics in every decent beer distributor: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Anchor Steam, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Not a bad shopping list.
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
2:15 PM
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