Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson died in London on August 30. There are tributes and stories aplenty (my own Jackson story revolves around how and why I never met him -- a funny enough tale that I think he'd have appreciated). The best tributes are at Carolyn Smagalski's site and at the All About Beer site, where publisher Daniel Bradford and editor Julie Johnson Bradford have posted loving sentiments and Michael's last column for the magazine. My sympathies to Carolyn and to everyone else who loved and cherished him.

Steve Harrison

Bowing my head as I send prayers and sympathy to the family and friends of Steve Harrison.

New book

A new book is coming out this fall that ought to make a lot of people happy (or at least the ones who are unhappy about the book I wrote): Amy Mittelman's Brewing Battles: The United States Beer Industry from the Colonial Period to the 21st Century. As part of my research for my beer book, I read Mittelman's dissertation, a fine piece of work about the relationship between the liquor industry and the federal government in the late nineteenth century. I'm guessing this new book will hold up to her earlier standard.

The "Myth" of Beer and Adjuncts

Someone who heard the interview on Basic Brewing Radio's podcast wrote and asked me a very good question. See his comment at this blog entry. [The podcasts are both at Basic Brewing in the site's radio archives for 2006. Here's the gist of the comment/question from Gabe:

First, James Spencer talks about the "great American myth" that brewing companies (like Anheuser-Busch and Pabst) pushed smaller competitors out of the market, used cheaper additives in their beer like corn and rice, and helped facilitate the demise of more flavorful beers leading the U.S. into a dark age of bland beer from the middle of the 20th century until recently. I was one who generally believed that assumption to be true as well. Your book, however, disputes that myth and explains the history of American beer in a completely different way. My question then is why do you think this myth exists? How did it start? Were there marketing change during WWII causing the general public to believe that major breweries had changed their product in a detrimental way? What are your thoughts?"

Great questions -- and if only I knew all the answers. But let me give this a shot. First, for WHY I think this myth exists (or at least part of why I think), see the piece I wrote for Powells.com. It's here. Scroll down to the entry titled "Beer As Myth. Myths R Us." So that's my take on why the myth has such power.

As to Gabe's other questions: I think the brewers may have inadvertently fueled this myth AFTER the fact. Here's what I mean: back in the 1950s and 1960s, it's just a fact that MOST beer drinkers wanted a light-bodied, pale yellow beer. So a brewery's advertising often played up the lightness, the paleness, the smoothness of the beer. Americans wanted a smooth, light beer (and smooth, light cigarettes and smooth, light liquor!)

When craft brewing came along, some of the fans of "new" beer remembered all those old ads. Remembered the "smooth" and "light" beers of their youth. That plus the younger fans who grew up with craft beer and heard horror stories about "old" beer -- well, a myth was born! So there you have it: my version of "the beer myth."

Here's to homebrewing

James Spencer is the brains behind Basic Brewing Radio. You can visit his site here. He dishes up a weekly podcast and a twice-monthly video cast, both of which focus primarily on homebrewing.

But today he interviewed me. Most people who talk to me about Ambitious Brew focus, no surprise, on the history of commercial brewing. But James, again no surprise, wanted to talk about homebrewing’s history. I’m glad he did, because it’s so easy to overlook the role of homebrewing in the creation of today’s craft brewing industry.

The first generation of microbrewers (in the late 1970s and early 1980s) came out of homebrewing. Not all of them succeeded, but they helped shape the microbrewing revolution. Indeed, I’m not sure if microbrewing would have happened had there not first been a homebrewing revolution of sorts in the 1960s and 1970s.

I discovered the significance of homebrewing when I researched the last two chapters of Ambitious Brew and interviewed people like Byron Burch, Charlie Papazian, and Michael Lewis -- and of course microbrewers like Jack McAuliffe and Ken Grossman, both of whom came to commercial brewing via homebrew. Even today, homebrewers make up the heart of the enthusiastic audience for craft brewers. And craft brewers readily acknowledge the importance of homebrewing. Some of them sponsor homebrewing competitions. Others regularly meet with homebrewers to share their expertise and experience. They participate in judging homebrewing competitions. In short, homebrewing is a vital and historically significant component of American brewing history.

So here’s to you, homebrewers. Raise your carboys high!

This week, you can find me . . . . .

. . . .at Powells.com, where I'm the guest blogger. I know, I know: given how much I hate blogging, it's more than a bit ironic. But I LOVE Powells and simply couldn't say no. Go here to find the blog pieces, starting today, Monday November 13, and running through Friday the 17th. If you've never visited Powells online or in person, you're missing something. The main store in downtown Portland, Oregon, occupies an entire city block and three (or four?) stories. Fabulous. Book heaven. The website is also marvelous! Lots of good "content," and their customer service is superb.