Economics and similar, for the sleep-deprived
A subtle change has been made to the comments links, so they no longer pop up. Does this in any way help with the problem about comments not appearing on permalinked posts, readers?
Update: seemingly not
Update: Oh yeah!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Craft beer bollocks, part whatever
Oh Americans, will you never learn?
"The oldest persisting food purity law in the world is the German Reinheitsgebot. In April 1516, Duke Wilhelm IV and Duke Ludwig X of Bavaria decreed that the only ingredients to be used in making lager were water, barley, and hops. (It wouldn’t be until the 19th century that Louis Pasteur discovered the crucial role of yeast in fermenting sugars into ethanol).[dd notes - this bit isn't really true. Pasteur discovered the means by which fermentation worked, but it is not like medieval brewers didn't know about yeast.]
While this law ensured the quality, tradition, and purity of beer in Germany, it also stifled experimentation and innovation by prohibiting brewers from testing other ingredients. The Belgian monks, by contrast, were free to develop complex and innovative beer styles during the last few centuries by adding fruits, spices, wild yeast and bacteria, and other cereal grains, like wheat, to their ales. This experimental spirit has been embraced by today’s do-it-yourself home brewers and craft brewers in the United States, which is currently regarded as the most innovative and exciting country for craft beer.
Well, the history is a bit all over the place here (to start with, he's anticipated Bismarck by three hundred years in order to enforce a Bavarian law all over Germany). But the real issue is once more the "we have more and more different varieties of basically identical syrupy hoppy IPA, therefore our beer is best, and you can buy it in bottles in supermarkets" line that American beer bores always try to push on you. If one considers the implications of this, one ends up concluding that Prague isn't much of a beer-drinker's town (only three breweries, mostly producing ordinary pilsner!) and that people who want to drink stout should steer clear of that godawful one-brewery town they call Dublin.
"Oh, but we're interested in the variety of flavours and all the different expressions of blah blah blah". Nah. Do you know what has a variety of flavours and subtle culinary experiences? Food. Try some of that. Hard to get away from the impression with some of these people that the fact that beer gets you drunk is an unfortunate inconvenience.
As a hobby, there's nothing wrong with beer fandom. The Yanks do actually make some quite nice beers from time to time, although they do not tend to be very good at innkeeping. But it's trainspotting, fellers. And as a form of trainspotting, part of the price one pays for the satisfaction of the collector's urge is a healthy slab of ridicule from those outside the hobby.
this item posted by the management 2/28/2012 03:48:00 AM
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