This isn’t a long article but it’s definitely the kind of thing I’m thrilled to see: a short profile of someone creating a history of Polk County, Oregon’s involvement in American brewing.
The quote at the end is the cherry on top though, because it emphasizes how something like beer relates to living and why that’s important.
Here’s a really neat post, talking about how they’re using gene sequencing to find out where yeasts that make beer originated geographically.
Using ale yeast makes sense-beer is a centuries old food, and humans would have an interest in utilizing it, much in the same way that we kept avocados around. So being able to trace it can help fill in bits and pieces of our ancient history-which I think is cool.
This is a neat story about archaeologists being called in to excavate one of the oldest breweries in the Northwest! Nice to know I’m part of a fine tradition.
I’ve known for a long time that initially, women were the ones who brewed beer: a family staple, brewing often fell to them.
Some, as you might expect, got good enough at it that they started selling it at markets.
And I’d always figured that, with the industrial revolution, men just muscled their way into the field and pushed women out.
Buuuuut…no, No of course it’s a little worse than that.
They found what is possibly the oldest brewery.
I mean. Either you find that sort of thing interesting or you don’t but if you don’t…I’m not sure what else I can tell you, while you’re here.
So, they found a beer cave in Missouri. I guess the notion of men hiding out in caves to drink beer and avoid life goes back farther than I’d thought.
Then again, if we’ve got scientists recreating medieval ale from the walls, maybe scientists can learn something from how beer was made in the 1800’s, too.
OK, this is really cool: they’re reviving a beer made from one of the first ever Black owned breweries in the US. Such a great way to honor history and bring it into the present.
This article on the 20 most influential beers of all time caught my attention because it really delves into the history of beer and craft brewing. That puts it head and shoulders above most lists of this type, so check it out.
Pretty cool interview with Charlie Papazan who is credited with re-starting the American homebrew (and by extension, craft brewing) scene.
A pint for Dionysus 