Beer in the United States

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This article is about beer in the USA. For the documentary film, see American Beer (documentary). For the Fear album, see American Beer (album).
An Imperial Pint of American craft beer

Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the United States, manufactured by more than 1,500 breweries[1] which range in size from industry giants to brew pubs that sell their beer only on premises. Many people in the United States also enjoy the hobby of homebrewing. The United States produces about 230 million hectoliters (about 6 billion gallons) of beer annually and leads the world in beer production with regards to volume.[2] The number of breweries in the United States ranks first in the world.[3] Beer consumption by Americans is about 85 liters per capita annually, which in 2002 ranked 8th in the world.[4]

There were about 1,400 breweries in the United States before Prohibition,[5] and they produced a variety of beer.[6] Prohibition caused nearly all American breweries to close[7] and all were forced to end legal production. After prohibition, the brewing industry was dominated by a smaller collection of breweries. In the late 1970s, American law changed in several ways that were beneficial to small breweries and the "craft-beer revolution" began.[8]

America produces beers in many styles. The most common style of beer in America is pale lager, which is historically related to pilsener. The English styles of pale ale, IPA, brown ale, porter and stout are widely brewed in America. Because of the distinctive flavors of American hops, American Pale Ale and IPA are considered a style of their own,[9] and many recognize American stout and brown ale as their own style as well. American breweries also produce ales inspired by Belgian beers. Steam beer or California common, a lager that ferments at warmer temperatures, is felt to be distinctively American.

History

Beginnings

The brewing traditions of England and the Netherlands (as brought to New York) ensured that colonial drinking would be dominated by beer rather than wine. Until the middle of the 19th century, ales dominated American brewing. This changed when the lager styles, brought by German immigrants, turned out to be more profitable for large-scale manufacturing and shipping.[10] D.G. Yuengling & Son, commonly called Yuengling (pronounced yingling) is the oldest operating brewing company in the United States, having been established in 1829, and is one of the largest breweries by volume in the country. It is the second largest American owned brewery after the Boston Beer Company.[1] Its headquarters is in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.[2] (http://www.yuengling.com/) Czech and Irish immigrants also made their contributions to American beer.

The lager brewed by these companies was originally based on several different styles of central Europe, but the Pilsener style, using mild Czech hops and pale, lightly-roasted 6-row barley, gradually won out.

Steam beer, the first style of beer to originate in the United States, evolved in San Francisco during the 19th century. It largely ceased to exist even before prohibition,[citation needed] but Anchor Brewing Company's flagship beer, Anchor Steam, is intended to be a re-creation of this style (though as a higher-quality beverage than the original).

Prohibition

All legal American brewing came to a halt when Prohibition was imposed, though the temperance movement had already reduced the number of breweries significantly. Only a few breweries, mainly the largest, were able to stay in business by manufacturing near beer, malt syrup, or other non-alcohol grain products, in addition to soft drinks such as colas and root beers. Production and shipping of alcohol was largely confined to illegal operations, which could deliver compact distilled beverages — smuggled rum and domestic moonshine — more efficiently and reliably than bulkier products such as beer.

American Prohibition was repealed by degrees. First, the Volstead Act,[11] defining "intoxicating liquors", was amended in April 1933 by the Cullen-Harrison Act to provide that beer with a strength of up to 3.2% alcohol was not "intoxicating", and thus not prohibited.[12] Soon thereafter, in December of the same year, the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed Prohibition in general, but left the production of alcoholic beverages heavily regulated by federal, state, and local authorities.

Post-Prohibition

See also: American-style lager and Malt liquor

Before the American beer industry could re-establish itself, World War II began. This further inhibited the re-emergence of smaller breweries because much of the grain supply was rationed due to the war. This forced brewers to use lower-cost ingredients that were not rationed. For more than fifty years after the end of Prohibition, the United States beer market was heavily dominated by large commercial breweries, producing beers more noted for their uniformity than for any particular flavor. Beers such as those made by Anheuser-Busch and Coors Brewing Company followed a restricted pilsner style, with large-scale industrial processes and the use of low-cost ingredients like corn or ingredients such as rice that provided starch for alcohol production while contributing minimal flavor to the finished product. The dominance of the so-called "macrobrew" led to an international stereotype of "American beer" as poor in quality and flavor. However, in recent years the major brewers have made attempts at developing premium beers in the European tradition such as Killian's Irish Red.

Economy

See also: Microbrewery

Changes to American law opened the doors to small scale breweries in 1978.[8] As a result, there was a large growth of manufacture and interest in beer in the 1980s. This interest continues today. Due to the resurgence of the commercial craft brewing industry in the 1980s, the United States now features many beers, offered by over 1400 brewpubs, microbreweries, and regional brewers. However, the majority of beer sales in the United States are still for pale lager produced by national and international brewing companies.

While in volume the macrobrews still dominate, smaller producers brew in a variety of styles influenced by local sources of hops and other ingredients as well as by various European traditions. The success of the commercial craft brewing industry has led the large breweries to invest in smaller breweries such as Widmer Brothers, and to develop more complex beers of their own.

Beer sales in the premium market are increasing, while sales in the standard and economy section are decreasing.[13] The major beer producers merged together to strengthen their position - Anheuser-Busch merged with InBev to form Anheuser–Busch InBev, and Molson Coors merged with Miller Brewing to form MillerCoors.[13] Despite legal challenges the country's three-tiered distribution system remains in place.[13]

Beer and society

Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in America and accounts for about 85% of the volume of alcoholic beverages sold in the United States each year.[14] In 2003, three beer companies represented 82% of all the beer sold in America: Anheuser-Busch (51.9%), Miller (18.7%) and Coors (11.3%).[15] Domestically brewed craft-beer comprises 3.8% of the volume of beer sold in America.[16]

Beer styles

The Brewers Association has a style guideline compiled by Charlie Papazian which is used as reference by American brewers and beer competition organisers.[17] It contains over 100 style descriptions,[18] some of which are felt to be distinctive enough to be listed as North American. These beers are American pale ale; American India pale ale; amber ale; red ale; American brown ale; American stout; Imperial or double India pale ale; and American barleywine.[19]

Other styles felt to be distinctively American are California common beer or "steam beer", a kolsch type beer; ; blonde ale; cream ale; malt liquor and American lager.

The best selling style of beer made in America is pale lager, which is made by most brewers, including Anheuser–Busch InBev and MillerCoors.

Many American beers—including pale ale, IPA (India Pale Ale), stout, porter and brown ale—descend from beers brewed in Great Britain. However, the use of American ingredients changes their flavor. American pale ale and IPA are deep golden to copper in color, have a medium to high level of hops character, and have flavors of malt and, to a lesser degree, caramel. American dark ales include brown ale, porter and stout. They are moderately to very hoppy, brown to black in color and exhibit mild to strong characteristics of roasted malts and barley. Brown ale tends to be on the mild end of this spectrum, while stout is at the very roasted hoppy end of it. Porter lies in between. Beers descended from Britain dominate the craft brew market in the U.S.

American breweries also produce beers in the style of craft Belgian ales including saison, dubbel, tripel, and Belgian strong ale. The lighter of these (saison, golden strong ale and tripel) beers have soft malt flavors and mild to strong "spicy" characteristics that come from yeast or the addition of spices. The darker of these beers (dubbel and dark strong ale) may have flavors of dried fruit that derives from the malts, yeast and sugar used to make them. All of these beers are high in carbonation and low in hop character. These Belgian-inspired beers follow their inspirations in beer light-bodied and drinkable insofar as their high alcohol content permits.

Malt liquor is another style of beer created in America. It is a high alcohol version of American pale lager.

American lager

American lager is pale lager which is made and consumed in North America. Pale lager originated in Europe in the mid-19th century, and moved to America with German immigrants. As a general trend outside of Bavaria and the Czech Republic where the beers may be firmly hopped, pale lager developed as a modestly hopped beer, and sometimes used adjuncts such as rice or maize - and this was also true in America. The Lager is similar but differs by wort from the German Pale (Helles).

Worldwide, the best-known American lager is likely Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser, though prominent brands are also made by MillerCoors (South Africa/United States/United Kingdom). Pale lager is the predominant choice among America's largest brewing companies, and is also commonly found in microbreweries throughout the USA.

Pale lager is a pale to golden color with a well attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid 19th century when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing techniques back to the Spaten Brewery in Germany and applied it to existing lagering brewing methods. This approach was picked up by other brewers, most notably Josef Groll who produced Pilsner Urquell. The resulting pale coloured, lean and stable beers were very successful and gradually spread around the globe to become the most common form of beer consumed in the world today, and includes the American beer Budweiser, the world's highest volume selling beer.

The main elements of the lagering method used by Sedlmayr and Groll are still used today, and depend on a slow acting yeast that ferments at a low temperature while being stored. Indeed, the German term '[Lager] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)' literally means 'storage'. As a general trend outside of Bavaria and the Czech Republic where the beers may be firmly hopped, pale lager developed as a modestly hopped beer, and sometimes used adjuncts such as rice or maize - and this was also true in America.[20]

Pale lager was introduced to the United States in the 19th century by German immigrants. These German brewers developed their beers from the American six-row barley which has a higher tannic acid and protein content and had greater husk per weight than the continental European barleys. In addition, the Tettnanger and Saaz hops of Europe were not available. Therefore, the grain mixture was adjusted by adding up to 30% corn to the barley malt mash. However, the beer was brewed to full-fledged European strength and to the practices of a pale lager style. The result was a full-bodied and slightly sweet beverage that can be immediately distinguished from its less flavourful antecedent. The style was commercially destroyed by Prohibition, and when beer production resumed in the USA, it was a lighter, thirst-quenching style with up to 50% corn or rice content that came to dominate the market.

Currently, the only large-scale representative of the pre-Prohibition lager style in the United States is D.G. Yuengling & Son with its Traditional Lager, Genesee Brewing Company with its Genesee Beer and August Schell Brewing Company with its Original; in recent years a number of smaller American breweries have also reintroduced it, such as Victory Brewing Company and Scrimshaw Pilsner North Coast Brewing Company from northern California. (Throwback Lager) and Full Sail Brewing Company (Session Lager). Several Canadian brands, such as Labatt's Blue, remain widely available throughout Canada and in some regions of the United States.

Rice gained popularity in the domestic brewing market during World War II due to grain rationing on the home-front. Most breweries were unable to afford the necessary amounts of barley required for production and so began using rice as a filler. This also had the added benefit of lightening the flavor of beer making it more appealing to the new female workforce. After the war, the process was not changed and as a result the style changed as a whole, losing many of the subtle flavors that had characterized the style.

Some "premium" beers made in this style use only barley malt, with no corn or rice at all, though they are considered more or less the same style. Modern American brewed lagers are sometimes criticized as being bland or watery.[20]

One belief of the use of rice or corn as adjuncts seems to stem from the high protein content of American six-row barley, which can be more difficult to clarify than European two-row, the standard for most European beer styles; the use of the adjunct therefore dilutes the protein haze from the six-row barley as well as lightens the body of the beer. The use of rice in particular has an effect similar to the use of candi sugar in Belgian brewing, allowing the brewer to increase the alcohol content of the beer without changing the flavor or mouthfeel of the beer; the use of corn, on the other hand, gives a detectable flavor of corn that is not always desirable, though sometimes it is specifically sought out (especially in examples meant to emulate pre-Prohibition American beers). It is often the case that such adjuncts are used to reduce the production costs of the beer as well; in addition, hop additions have been decreased in mass-market beers over the years due to a desire to make a product more acceptable to a large number of people.

The primary reasoning for the use of rice in the domestic market is for its ability to reduce the cost of production. Rice in the brewing process destroys the subtle flavors of hops and barley present in most American lagers. Rice gained popularity in the domestic brewing market during World War II due to grain rationing on the home-front. Most breweries were unable to afford the necessary amounts of barley required for production and so began using rice as a filler. This also had the added benefit of lightening the flavor of beer making it more appealing to the new female workforce. After the war, the process was not changed and as a result the style changed as a whole, losing many of the subtle flavors that had characterized the style.

Some "premium" beers made in this style use only barley malt, with no corn or rice at all, though they are considered more or less the same style.

The American pilsner or "classic American pilsner" is a direct forerunner of the American lager, but is brewed in a distinct fashion. The technique was developed in the 19th century by German immigrants in response to the barley that was available to them in the United States. American six-row barley had a higher tannic acid and protein content and had greater husk per weight than the continental European barleys. In addition, the Tettnanger and Saaz hops of Europe were not available. Therefore, the grain mixture was adjusted by adding up to 30% corn to the barley malt mash. However, the beer was brewed to full-fledged European strength and to the practices of a pale lager style. The result was a full-bodied and slightly sweet beverage that can be immediately distinguished from its less flavourful antecedent. The style was commercially destroyed by Prohibition, and when beer production resumed in the USA, it was a lighter, thirst-quenching style with up to 50% corn or rice content that came to dominate the market.

Currently, the only large-scale representative of the pre-Prohibition lager style in the United States is D.G. Yuengling & Son with its Traditional Lager, Genesee Brewing Company with its Genesee Beer and August Schell Brewing Company with its Original; in recent years a number of smaller American breweries have also reintroduced it, such as Victory Brewing Company and Scrimshaw Pilsner North Coast Brewing Company from northern California. (Throwback Lager) and Full Sail Brewing Company (Session Lager). Several Canadian brands, such as Molson Canadian and Labatt Blue, remain widely available throughout Canada and in some regions of the United States.

Other beer styles popular in America

  • Malt liquor -- a high-alcohol variant of the American lager.
  • Ice beer -- A beer that has been partially freeze-distilled to concentrate flavor and alcohol. The technique is based on that used to make Eisbock, but the two styles share no stylistic similarities (apart from both being lagers) otherwise.
  • Light beer -- A beer made with reduced alcohol and/or carbohydrate content. Though the term is not limited to American-style beers, many of the best known light beers are in fact American lagers.
  • Dry beer -- A Japanese style based on American lager; the yeast is encouraged to consume more fermentables, resulting in a crisper finish and an unusually subtle hop flavor.
  • Steam beer
  • Cream ale
  • Pale ale

See also

References

  1. ^ As of August 17, 2009 - Brewers Association
  2. ^ "World beer production, in hectoliters courtesy of S.S. Steiner - tabulated by country for 1999-2002". Modern Brewery Age. 2002.
  3. ^ http://stats.brewersofeurope.org/stats_pages/employees.asp
  4. ^ http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/foo_bee_con-food-beer-consumption
  5. ^ http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/raley_timetable.shtml
  6. ^ Foster, Terry. Pale Ale Brewers Publications: 1999
  7. ^ Foster
  8. ^ a b http://www.beertown.org/craftbrewing/history.html
  9. ^ Foster, Terry. Pale Ale Brewers Publications: 1999.
  10. ^ http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/schaefer_anderson.shtml
  11. ^ The Volstead Act of 1920 defined beverages containing 0.5% or more alcohol as "intoxicating", and thus prohibited.
  12. ^ Cullen-Harrison Act.
  13. ^ a b c "Alcoholic Drinks in the US". www.euromonitor.com. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  14. ^ [1] Because beer is lower in alcohol than wine and spirits, beer represents a smaller portion of the total percentage of alcohol sold in the United States.
  15. ^ http://www.beersoaksamerica.org/consumption.htm
  16. ^ http://www.beertown.org/craftbrewing/statistics.html
  17. ^ 2010 Beer Style Guidelines brewersassociation.org
  18. ^ "CraftBeer.com". www.craftbeer.com. Retrieved 2010-06-02. {{cite web}}: Text "Overview" ignored (help)
  19. ^ "CraftBeer.com". www.craftbeer.com. Retrieved 2010-06-02. {{cite web}}: Text "American Ales" ignored (help)
  20. ^ a b http://www.imbibemagazine.com/Old-Style-American-Lagers

External links

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