MONDAY BEER LINKS, MUSING 05.19.14
Can German Beer Get Any Better? Craft Brewing Spreads to the World’s Mecca of Beer. The grain of salt: This is written by somebody who would like to sign you up for a beer tour in Bavaria this fall. That aside, a much more balanced look at Old World meets New World than the “Oh, woe is moribund German brewing, but perhaps American-style beers will ride to the rescue” stories that pop up periodically. [Via Huffington Post]
Hops across cultures — Latino craft beer makers and Aficionados are transforming the industry. The Latino brewers are on board. Will the Latino consumers follow? [Via Latino Fox News]
Sierra Nevada across the states. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the concept of “replacement level beer” and will likely keep dropping in a link to these guys once every few months until I sort it out. Or give up. [Via BeerGraphs]
How India pale ale conquered the world The Economists reminds us that not everybody looks at the world through the same beer goggles we do. Beeronomics checks in with his experience, that “it is almost completely nonexistent in Brazil for example.” I’m dispatching this from Brazil. My observation is “yes, but . . .” Homebrewers rather obviously have embraced hops and IPAs can be found relatively easily in the southeast, if you know where to look. More in a few days.
[Via The Economist]
Good article by Tom Conrad. He doesn’t make the mistake of thinking that American-inspired craft brewing can supplant the great traditions of German brewing, but rather that it can supplement it. Baltic Porter? The Germans had it generations before any American brewer thought of brewing one. Triple bock? The Germans invented bock and strong bock. Black IPA? Well, maybe that’s a twist on Germany’s traditions, but the north had a very variegated top-fermentation history. I’d wager the black mumme beers of olden times could stand up to any Cascadian dark, and then some.
Nice to read someone who gets it right and doesn’t assume that in the land of great beer, an APA is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Gary