The earliest beers were brewed as far back as 5,000 years B. C., mainly in Sumeria, Mesopotamia, Europe, China and Egypt. This was during the Neolithic period. At that time, most brewing was done on a domestic scale. In 700 A. D., the monks in Europe began making and selling beer, particularly in Belgium. Now, with beer being brewed on a much larger scale, over 130 billion liters are being manufactured and sold, amounting to roughly 300 billion dollars globally. Tampa/St Petersburg has its own lively trade in breweries, shops, festivals, brewpubs and other beery events.
For a long time, beers brewed in North America were so boring and homogeneous that the only way the drinker could tell one brand from another was by their different advertising campaigns. In the past two decades, however, the brewing industry has undergone a major face lift with the introduction of artisanal craft beers. This trend, visible in Tampa brewing, has been somewhat inspired by what has been taking place in the United Kingdom, where traditional cask ale is the national beverage.
There are two fundamentally different approaches to the brewing of beer. One is cask conditioning, in which the beer continues to ferment in the container from which it is served because of the presence of yeast. The end product is dispensed from nine- or eighteen-gallon casks known as firkins or kildekins, respectively.
Keg beer, on the other hand, is pasteurized. This kills the yeast, so the effervescence the drinker craves has to be artificially induced by the introduction of carbon dioxide under pressure. But, the lack of pasteurization makes the product somewhat vulnerable to bacterial or fungal contamination. It also loses its conditioning at temperatures above 54 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that in order to be financially viable, turnover needs to be high enough to empty a cask within a few days.
In the 1960s, trouble began brewing for the British beer drinker. Having cottoned on to the fact that by killing the yeast (pasteurization) and stuffing the beer artificially with carbon dioxide, they could produce something that at least looked like beer. It was cheap and easy to produce and required a lot less commitment and attention from the cellar staff of a pub. Keg beer was fast phasing cask ale, the British national drink, out of the pub.
This enraged Britain's beer drinkers because it was dumbing down the British national drink. By the 1970s, drinkers were so disgusted with what was on offer, four particularly angry young men met in a pub in Ireland formed what was to become the Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA for short. From four original beer activists, the campaign has grown to a membership of nearly 150,000 and is recognized as the biggest, most successful consumer organization in Europe.
Twenty or thirty years ago, even in Real Ale Britain, beer selection was limited to a few, high-quality but very similar looking and tasting brews. These were the coppery colored bitters with a taste spectrum from 'malty' to 'hoppy'. Thanks in part to the efforts of CAMRA to stimulate the market, these past decades have seen a dramatic increase in the range of colors and tastes and types of beers for the connoisseur to sample. Like so many other great British trends, America has followed suit and has launched a new craft style of brew.
Tampa brewing has a lot to offer in terms of craft beer. In fact, one of the country's oldest brewing companies has maintained a presence here for more than twenty years. Any day of the week, the avid Tampa beer drinker can find a brewery tour, tasting room or other beery event to keep them entertained.
For a long time, beers brewed in North America were so boring and homogeneous that the only way the drinker could tell one brand from another was by their different advertising campaigns. In the past two decades, however, the brewing industry has undergone a major face lift with the introduction of artisanal craft beers. This trend, visible in Tampa brewing, has been somewhat inspired by what has been taking place in the United Kingdom, where traditional cask ale is the national beverage.
There are two fundamentally different approaches to the brewing of beer. One is cask conditioning, in which the beer continues to ferment in the container from which it is served because of the presence of yeast. The end product is dispensed from nine- or eighteen-gallon casks known as firkins or kildekins, respectively.
Keg beer, on the other hand, is pasteurized. This kills the yeast, so the effervescence the drinker craves has to be artificially induced by the introduction of carbon dioxide under pressure. But, the lack of pasteurization makes the product somewhat vulnerable to bacterial or fungal contamination. It also loses its conditioning at temperatures above 54 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that in order to be financially viable, turnover needs to be high enough to empty a cask within a few days.
In the 1960s, trouble began brewing for the British beer drinker. Having cottoned on to the fact that by killing the yeast (pasteurization) and stuffing the beer artificially with carbon dioxide, they could produce something that at least looked like beer. It was cheap and easy to produce and required a lot less commitment and attention from the cellar staff of a pub. Keg beer was fast phasing cask ale, the British national drink, out of the pub.
This enraged Britain's beer drinkers because it was dumbing down the British national drink. By the 1970s, drinkers were so disgusted with what was on offer, four particularly angry young men met in a pub in Ireland formed what was to become the Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA for short. From four original beer activists, the campaign has grown to a membership of nearly 150,000 and is recognized as the biggest, most successful consumer organization in Europe.
Twenty or thirty years ago, even in Real Ale Britain, beer selection was limited to a few, high-quality but very similar looking and tasting brews. These were the coppery colored bitters with a taste spectrum from 'malty' to 'hoppy'. Thanks in part to the efforts of CAMRA to stimulate the market, these past decades have seen a dramatic increase in the range of colors and tastes and types of beers for the connoisseur to sample. Like so many other great British trends, America has followed suit and has launched a new craft style of brew.
Tampa brewing has a lot to offer in terms of craft beer. In fact, one of the country's oldest brewing companies has maintained a presence here for more than twenty years. Any day of the week, the avid Tampa beer drinker can find a brewery tour, tasting room or other beery event to keep them entertained.
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