by Tyler Huntington
BEER – this word evokes memories of places I’ve been, good times shared with friends (and strangers who became friends) and meals I’ve enjoyed. I can clearly remember the smells and sounds of the first brewpub I ever visited. The rich smell of the malted barley being transformed into wort (sugar water) boiling away in the mash tun, the bubbling water in buckets sitting below the long steel pipes of fermenters, the hazy steam rising from the mouths of hoses spewing boiling water and the crisp taste of a fresh beer straight from the tank. I was hooked, and that made me a member of a large and fast-growing community of craft beer lovers.
Through this column, my friends and I hope to share with you our love of beer, our personal adventures around the world in pursuit of beer, the culture and history of brewing in America and recipes that include, or pair well with, beer.
I have been fortunate enough to spend much of the last 20 years involved in the resurgence of the great American brewing tradition. The current craft beer boom is a revival of an American tradition that spreads back to the early Native Americans, who brewed beer from corn. As a nation of beer-drinking immigrants, we became a nation of diverse brewing history. Germans settled and brewed their clean lagers, English and Irish immigrants brewed their frothy ales – America was a thriving brewing nation. Pre-prohibition, there were more than 1,700 small breweries across America! After prohibition, only about 50 breweries remained, and those struggled to survive. In the late 1970s, brewing began its 30-year march to where it is today, with around 1,800 breweries in America.
Much like chefs’ experiments with cooking traditions in our country, American brewers can’t confine themselves to traditional styles, and are creating brews that are uniquely American and ever evolving. This has led to some of today’s popular styles, like extremely hoppy double India pale ales (IPAs), black IPAs, American-style wheat beers and American pale ales, just to name a few. Many brewers across America are experimenting with making beers from nontraditional and indigenous ingredients, like Durham’s own Fullsteam Brewery, which has made beers from sweet potatoes, basil, persimmons and pears. At the same time, some brewers are going full circle and reviving traditional styles and techniques like wild fermentation and sour beers. The American beer revival has hit our state, and craft brewing is now flourishing in North Carolina. Locally, we have 11 active breweries/brewpubs, with others in the works, so there is no better time to learn about and experience craft beer while supporting local small businesses.
Hopefully, this column will provide some useful guidance as you navigate through the many styles and flavors of beers out there. Carrboro is fortunate to have multiple locally owned shops with knowledgeable staffs that carry hundreds of different beers – so get out there and try something new!
SUMMER BEER
available in bottles, cans and growlers:
Full Circle Kolsch, New Holland Brewing
Bullpen Pale Ale, Carolina Brewery
Inedit lager/wheat, Damm Brewery
Organic Cattail Wheat, Highland Brewing Co.