THE REPICURIAN BLOG:

Velocity Restaurant Services Group is combining our Love of all things Food with Restaurant Tenant Representation…CHEERS!

 

Part 1 of 3 blog journey, exploring God’s second best gift to mankind:  BEER

BEER, one of America’s favorite beverages, should have its’ own food group!  Created with care and served ice cold, it’s the elixir of choice when serious conversation is a foot.  In colonial Pennsylvania, when our county’s founding was in question, it was the taverns that hosted the meetings where the ideas were wrought and it was beer that greased the skids toward independence.

History was not made over a Bud Light, a MGD or a Coors Banquet.  We are talking today about Craft Beer, pure and simple.  Handcrafted concoctions of barley, hops and grains, many with names that would horrify the most pretentious of wine connoisseurs.   Welcome to the craft beer revolution, which grew by 15% in 2011 and for the first time eclipsed 5% of total domestic production.  250 new micro-breweries opened in 2011, for a national total of 1,940, which has clearly translated into good news for the growth of the restaurant industry.

The following is a short, abbreviated history of the drink our Canadian friend’s call the “wobbly-pop”.  In 1932, a German archeologist returned from his first archeological dig in what is today modern Iran, and happened to run chemical tests on ancient pottery jars he judged to be nearly 7,000 years old.  He was astounded to find what is to this day believed to be the earliest traces of beer recorded by man.  To be fair, almost any grain containing certain sugars can undergo spontaneous fermentation due to yeasts present in the atmosphere and become what could be mistaken for beer.  However, these tests revealed what was certainly the first known biological process of fermentation; hence the earliest brew master had left his mark…an empty jar.

From a four-thousand year old Mesopotamian clay tablet, we find the oldest surviving beer recipe, detailing the production process of transforming barley into beer.  This is an extraordinary recipe considering that in the mid-1700s Irish brewer Arthur Guinness is actually recognized for creating the first true “beer” on the planet.

Here in the United States (even after the repeal of prohibition in 1933), government restricted home beer brewing while permitting home wine making.  However, in 1978 the Carter Administration, effectively opened the market to craft beer by signing into law (H.R. 1337) an act that allowed people to brew up to 200 gallons of beer per year at home.  The home brew community grew out of this decision and formed an entire industry was that sought to re-create the beer styles of the Old World.

What consequently transpired are the hundreds of choices of craft beer we now have in our grocery aisles.  Additionally, gastro pubs are offering, comfort food paired with a wide selection micro-brew from across the country, while microbreweries have open restaurants to show off their own brewed products.

Next time we will delve into micro-breweries and gastro pubs of the American landscape.

EDITORS NOTE:  The views and opinions offered in this article are not necessarily the views of Velocity Retail Group!