Beer, Foodies, and Demography
/People, that’s an astounding number. 44%? I nearly fell out of my breakfast chair when I first read it.
Read MoreMaybe It Really IS About Price . . . .
/So here’s a thought: Maybe people stick with the “basic” beer because it's what they can afford.
Read MoreWhere Craft Beer Ends, Big Beer Begins?
/So here’s one of the BA’s primary messages — beer is good for the economy — being dished up by the “other” beer trade group. The BI is coopting the craft beer gospel, right?
Read MoreUtopias of Beowulf
/In my hotel room was a bucket of what I believe is known as swag (again, swag is not me): three bottles of beer, including a big-boy, corked bottle of American Kriek. (Which, no, I didn't taste and sure couldn't take back on the plane. Imagine the tears flowing from my eyes.)
Read MoreA Possible Beer History Topic
/I'm always thinking about research ideas. (And would LOVE to turn off that part of my brain.)
This one surfaced the other day: The "sociability" factor of the late-19th-century American brewing industry.
As many of you know, that industry was built almost entirely by German immigrants, who brought with them a beer culture that, based on socializing, families, and conviviality, was the diametric opposite of the alcohol culture that existed then in the United States.
But the brewers themselves enjoyed, as near as I can tell, a microcosm of that culture among themselves: Their gatherings were as much about socializing and "community building" as they were about discussing issues related to alcohol and beer.
I say as near as I can tell because --- I can't read German. And many of the original American brewing industry journals were in German.
In any case, based on my perusal of the industry magazines/journals printed in English, brewers then were less interested in competition (although there was plenty of that) than they were in using those printed outlets to foster "community" among brewers who were scattered around the country (at a time transportation and communications bore no resemblance to the easy-peasy communications now).
Someone who can read German should take a look at that. How much did that beer community resemble --- or not --- today's supposedly tight-knit brewing industry/community?
Have at it.
Beware the Dangers of [Profit-Driven] Dumbassery
/Because that's how we Americans roll these days. We freak out because there are "genes" in our tomatoes and "chemicals" in our beer.
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