Brewing Beer
Food Chain Radio Show #994
Michael Olson, Author & Urban Farming Agriculturalist
Liquid Bread – Brewing Beer
What kind of beer drinker are you?
Guests: Amelia Slayton Loftus, Author Sustainable Homebrewing
Throughout most of human history, beer was our liquid staff of life. It was how we preserved grain, and how we purified water. Beer provided us with energy to pitch camp and build civilization.
Michael Olson Food Chain Radio: Home Brew – What kind of beer drinker are you?
Since beer has been so intimately connected with the building of our civilization, it can provide us with a good look at who we are as a civilization.
Until fairly recently, the beer industry had consolidated into a few large brands that totally dominated the grocers’ shelves. If we wanted to enjoy a beer, we enjoyed one of those brands.
Then beer drinkers rediscovered what beer drinkers have always known. Beer is easy to brew!
Today, beer drinkers can choose from international, national, regional, local, and home brewed beers. And the number of labels from which drinkers can select is growing rapidly. According to the Brewers Association, there are now 4,500 commercial brewers in the United States, and new ones are opening at the rate of 1.5 per day.
All this selection leads us to ask…
What kind of beer drinker are you?
