MdV:
Merchant du Vin beer e-newsletter – Wednesday June 18, 2008: The American Beer
Scene in 1978 & Organic Beer.
MdV & fine beer in the news
Fine beer &
benchmark imports continue to gain more attention in the media:
Samuel Smith's Old
Brewery Pale Ale is a "Summer Beer Suggestion," right here at RealSimple.com; Zatec
Czech lager was the "overall favourite" at a sushi-and-beer pairing
event held at London's five-star Royal Garden Hotel - the full article
from the May 30, '08, Newcastle Journal is linked right here. We were
also pleased to see the first 100-point beer score ever given by Draft
magazine, for Westmalle Trappist Tripel - the review is in .pdf right here.
A full current news listing is always on our news
page; you can also check local beer tastings,
dinners and festivals on our national
events page and read previous html versions of this
newsletter at our e-news
archive. If you are interested in beer
glassware, clothing and collectables we also have an online
e-store.
Beer
Chat from the Beer Court Jester: The American Beer Scene in 1978; Organic Beer
from Samuel Smith
Last month we gave a little history about
craft-brewing pioneer Samuel Smith's, brewing benchmark beers in
Tadcaster, Yorkshire, since 1758. Samuel
Smith's has now been sold in the US for 30 years.
The US beer scene in 1978: When Samuel Smith's Pale Ale first
came to US shores, there were fewer than 100 American breweries in
business. Beer was almost always a pale colored, light-bodied American
lager offering a clean flavor, good carbonation, and some wonderful advertising
. . . but without any real variety of flavors. There were some
imported lagers; there were a few regional beers of differing styles; there
were some innovative homebrewers enjoying a hobby that became legal that
year. There were even two microbreweries in Northern
California. But in 1978, American beer drinkers chose their beer by brand
marketing identity, not by flavor. . . because the flavors, really, were
more similar than they were different.
Now, most beer writers and travelling beer aficionados agree that America is
the world's leading beer nation. We have great American breweries, as
well as a fine selection of styles from the classic brewing nations. It
has happened gradually, over 30 years, as brewers here became inspired by beers
they tried, by real innovation, and as the wonderful consumer
has insisted on different beer varieties. In 1978, Samuel
Smith's was among the first breweries to show Americans fruity
flavors from ale fermentation; earthy English hop flavor and aroma; honey and
caramel notes from crystal malt. Today, Samuel Smith's is
offering classic porter, creamy oatmeal stout, a wide range of
flavors, the first imported Winter Warmer (Winter Welcome, available every
fall), organic beers, and even an entirely new flavor experience - cider.
Organic Beers: By the 1990s, Samuel Smith's Old Brewery had
already been producing fine beers for 240 years. This perspective may
have helped them see that organic food products - that is, those made without
chemical fertilizers or pesticides - just might have a reduced impact
on the earth's environment.
When chemical fertilizers and pesticides first came into use, people
thought there was no reason to avoid them: they increased yield; they took away
risks of losses; they made food production more efficient. In fact, they
still do - what could be the downside to that?
Well, for most of human history, population has been far less significant
than it is now. The population of the earth has grown exponentially: a
billion in 1800 AD; 1.2 billion in 1850; 1.7 billion in 1900; 2.5 billion in
1950 . . . 6.1 billion in 2000. The capability we have of altering our
planet has changed dramatically, and the unplanned side-effects - chemicals in
the environment, changes to forests and watersheds, reduction of biodiversity,
consumption of fossil fuels, and alteration of the earth's atmosphere - have
just in recent decades begun to actually become noticeable. Organic
agriculture offers another option to people, one that is at least a traditional
& artisanal way to grow things, and may have advantages for the future
of the earth.
Samuel Smith's began to produce Organic Ale and Organic Lager in the mid -
90s, and they were introduced to the US in 1998 - before the USDA's National
Organic Program had even defined the current criteria. The brewery
installed separate grain-handling equipment, including a second roller mill,
and has worked hard to source organic ingredients, including organically grown
hops from New Zealand. (Pinkus Brewery, in Munster, Germany, began to
produce organic beer in 1980 - the world's first organic brewery.) All
malt and all hops in the Samuel Smith organic beers and in the Pinkus Organic
beers are Certified Organic.
But these organic beers are more than
a concept - they're beautifully made, tasty beers. If you
haven't tried them, grab some and confirm this for yourself.
Merchant du Vin, America’s Premier Specialty
Beer Importer Since 1978