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Hops
make the scene
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Ale was considered a blessing
from God and monasteries became large-scale breweries (in the
early days beer was even used in the communion though this was
later banned).
Nearly all European breweries were operated as craft enterprises
by the monasteries. And we have to thank the Bavarian monks for
the first use of hops which stopped it from going off.
This charming little plant, humulus lupus by precise
appellation, bears flowers in coned-shaped clusters (photo on the
left) which, when dried
and ripened, are used to impart
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The Lager Revolution
There's a problem with brewing
beer: in summer the bacteria involved in fermentation can get too
active and spoil the beer. To
get round this, Bavarian monks tried storing the beer in
cool
cellars. At these lower temperatures the yeast sank to the
bottom
and fermented much more slowly. This bottom-fermented beer
was named after the German word for storage: lager.
Malt was transported around but beer had a relatively low value for its
weight and roads were bad and perilous. |
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All this changed
with the industrial revolution. Railways and canals enabled the
cheap transportation of large quantities of beer from one region
to another and eventually across borders.
At this time Pils lager appeared... by accident. Around 1840 Bavarian
brewer Josef Groll was hired by the local authorities in
Pilsen (in the modern Czech Republic) to
take over
their new brewery. Local barley
(see photo above) as low in protein and local
water contained very little calcium; both factors meant that the
beer wasn't dark brown like all other beers around at that time
but pallid and clear.
No one would have noticed this less-thannutritious beverage
if it hadn't been for
another invention: beer glasses. In the mid-Nineteenth Century, Bohemia began to
mass-produce glasses for drinking beer. Before this time beer had been drunk
out of wooden, ceramic and metal tankards.
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From that moment on, a new mass-produced product had
appeared. Pils lagers were not brewed for their taste and aroma
but rather for their pretty golden colour. Countries with no
tradition of brewing all over the world soon began to imitate
the Czech drink. The invention of refrigeration in the 1870s
further distanced this new drink from its origins.
The development of a standard cold Pilsner - inspired lager was in
direct contrast to local production with subtle differences in
variety reflecting local barley, wheat, hops and water
(collectively called the "signature"). After the
Second World War the logic of this situation took over and there
was a huge concentration in the international beer market. Monster
companies like Carlsberg and Heineken
appeared, producing widelyacceptable but
characterless lagers.
Marketing took over as the driving force
behind beer production. The slogans of the giant beer companies
became an essential part of the collective subconscious of English
speaking peoples: "I'm only
here for the beer" (Double Diamond), "Refreshes
the parts other beers
cannot reach"
(Heineken), "Australians
wouldn't give a XXXX for anything else" (Castlemaine XXXX
lager) became part of
popular folklore. Just then beer began
to be drunk by beer-bellied lager louts for its alcohol
content instead of its taste.
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Candid
CAMRA
In 1971 a revolutionary
organisation was founded in England by two journalists. These
subversives wanted to reverse the "rationalisation" of
the beer industry by the forces of capitalism and re-introduce the
dangerous idea of quality into brewing. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) now has 50,000
members in Britain and has generated sister organisations
across the traditional
beer-producing
countries of Europe (grouped
together in the European Beer Consumers Union
-
EBCU).
Interest in real ale has mushroomed over the past thirty years. Even in the United
States small-scale brewing has seen a revival. In 1970 there
were only forty US brewing companies, now there are nearly a thousand.
CAMRA has done an incalculable service to
human civilisation however,
beware:
members of CAMRA are usually
slightly deranged,
obsessed about beer and boring as hell,
therefore avoid them at all costs!
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GLOSSARY
blessing: gift,
present, favour, (literally)
benediction
craft: art, ability
to ban: prohibit
to go off: become putrid,
putrefy
ripened: maturated
to spoil: ruin
to get
round: avoid, prevent, solve indirectly
to store:
keep, preserve, conserve
cool cellar:
underground room which is colder than above ground
yeast: fungus (=
simple organism) which is used for making beer, wine and bread
(levadura)
to sink
(sink-sank-sunk): descend through a liquid
bottom: lowest part,
the "floor" of the fermenting
container
malt: barley
grains which are kiln-dried after having been germinated by soaking in
water
perilous: dangerous, risky
border: frontier, dividing line between countries
to hire: employ
the Czech Republic: the western half of
what was
Czechoslovakia
to take over:
take control of
barley: tall grass-like plant whose grains
are used to make beer and whisky
beverage: drink
signature (literally) specific
way s.o. writes his/her name, autograph (in
this context) distinguishing characteristics
beer-bellied
lager lout: aggressive man who has a fat belly (=
stomach) from drinking too much beer to
mushroom: increase exponentially, grow quickly
nearly: almost, just under
beware!: be careful, take
care!
slightly deranged: a little mad, crazy
boring as hell: very uninteresting
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Sources:
Falstaff's Beer Book - Think in English |
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