Ron Johnson - Beer Alchemy: DIY Beer Brewing Mastery @ Home

Yep, here comes the boring part, you might think. But knowing all about the fascinating history of home brewing will help you appreciate the value of brewing your own beer at home all the more. Dont worryI wont bore you with the gory details of every nitty gritty, but heres a brief overview of how home brewing came to be.

The early days of home brewing in America saw its first home brewing communities when the English and the Dutch settlers established them around 1650.

Settlers found that the climate and terrain were suited to beer brewing well, due to the conduciveness to growing malt and hops, which are two of the most important and main ingredients of brewing your own beer.

However, during the time of the Civil War, bottling became quite expensive and so wooden kegs were used to store and serve beer. Even George Washington and Thomas Jefferson brewed their own beerwould you believe that?

(Courtesy of www.blacksheepbrewery.com)

By 1810, a hundred and forty of Americas commercial breweries produced over 180,000 barrels of beer. In the decades that followed after the Civil War, beer eventually became a mass produced, and mass consumed commodity.

The increasing globalization and unrestricted immigration had foreign countries like Ireland and Britain influencing beer drinking in the United States, as well as the fact that the industrialized and urbanized areas started giving higher wages to workers who could then afford beer even more. Eventually, technological and scientific advancements developed different styles of brewing beer and fostered enhanced beer production.

Methods like artificial refrigeration and pasteurization developed better transportation and improved shelf lives. Americans learned to brew lager beer, the British-style ale thats brewed with top fermenting yeasts and was joined by German-style lager beers. Lagers have longer maturation periods, are much more sensitive to temperature, and use a bottom fermenting yeast.

Over 66 million barrels were produced in 1914. However, the years between 1920 to 1933 were considered the Dark Years. After 1920, most breweries had to grapple with the difficult decision of what to do with their brewing equipment and expensive plants. Some bore substantial losses during the Prohibition, while others opted to expand into further related products and modifications.

What resulted was a concoction that was almost like beer but not quitea malt beverage that had below one-half of one percent alcohol. Thus, the infamous Budweiser was born. Other breweries had the opportunity to be granted special licenses to brew alcohol greater than one-half of one percent, all for medicinal purposes.

Some even went so far as to produce malt syrup that was supposed to be used for baking cookies and pastries, and because the federal government left them alone, the breweries could use the malt syrup for homemade beer.

Industry Production and per Capita Consumption, 1865-1915