Greg Smith, Beer in America: The Early Years1587-1840, Essay Example

History shows that the earliest beer was possibly brewed from the grain of corn as early as 1587. In 1620 the Pilgrims brought with them some of the best knowledge of brewing beverages and potions that they most loved to drink. History showed the Pilgrims refined the brewing mechanisms that led to the development of brewing of beer. It has been claimed that the year of 1623 was the year of the first formal brewery of the Dutch West India Company in Manhattan, New York. Samuel Adams and George Washington were of two well known men in history known to have brewed beer with high flavour and great quality. “In 1789 James Madison made a proposal to the House of Representatives to put a low tax on the brewing industry in order to promote the beer industry” (Hellstrom, 1942, 1).

After this establishment into the legislature William Penn make brewing a great introduction through bringing a brewery into existence in Bristol, Pennsylvania near his home residence. In 1699 a law was passed governing licensing of breweries in taverns and giving the police and government power to regulate such breweries inside of taverns for any disorderly conduct associated with such implementation. The town of Reading, Pennsylvania grew quite rapidly with the brewery industry and the brewery industry soon spread across the State of Pennsylvania. After the Revolutionary war the German influence was quite prevalent and there was much brewery influence in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There was a great expansion of immigration in the area of particular German influence which promoted the distillation and brewery images in the areas. By 1840 lager beer had become one of the favourites in the area.

Legend historically shows that taxes were levied against some of the most prevalent beer drinkers in the history of American colonial history during the times of George III and Americans even got together shunning British ale. Some of the ringleaders of the Boston Tea Party even considered dumping large amounts of ale into the harbour but after heads were cooled this idea was suspended. Local military men were lured to local taverns for military planning during times of war. This helped them to gain confidence to fight the British. General Washington ensured his men had an ample supply of beer and one of the First Acts of Congress granted soldiers a ration of beer. “Washington even gave his farewell address over beers at Fraunces Tavern.” (“Red, White and Brew”). Even during and after the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia discussions were continued in local taverns. Barley and hops were one of the main drinks of our ancestors during these debated discussions. Beer was considered the cocktail of moderation and is still considered the beverage of social acceptance throughout the streets of Great Britain today. Despite early attempts to prohibit the consumption of beer in the 1830’s the consumption of beer continued.

The thesis of , Beer in America: The Early Years-1587-1840 is to show how the history of the brewing of beer in America has been influenced by the German immigration to America and further how this brewing and German influence has influenced the modern brewing of American and other international beers across the world. Who controls the beer is essential to the brewing capitalism of the world. The German beers have a stouter, cleaner and lighter taste that those of American heritage. As compared to the British malts the German beers come classic with lightness on the hops and depict that of a more balanced beer. Though goes without saying the German beers are with higher volume of alcohol content than the American and British beers. The German yeast brings out the natural flavours in the beer. This tradition has influenced the history of German contributions to the making of brewing. The Germans truly love to drink beer and contribute to a fine beer and brew making with that respect.

German immigrants created the Pabst, Schlitz and Miller beer brewing industry in latter years in America. California and Texas have the largest population of German immigrant beer brewing influence. German immigrants also influenced breweries in the country of Mexico after the Mexican War of Independence. During the 1840’s many German immigrants came to the State of Texas and began to take the first steps toward building breweries to make German beer in several Texas counties and cities. The City Brewer of San Antonio, Texas became the first headquarters in 1885 to distribute beer outside of the main area of Texas. This plant and the Dallas Brewing company were both influenced by German immigrants under the traditional German Purity Law of 1516. These were combination beers of barley and malt and are still strong combination beer recipes after 150 years and still in existence today. “Several of the breweries during these times did not survive the beer prohibition but these two companies did by selling other products temporarily.” (Bristol, 2009).

“The book was very informative giving historical influences of the German immigration on the production of beer breweries and why the author thought it was important for the German influence to be of positive nature to the common day American, German and British beer brewing industry.” (Smith, G.,  98).  The book lacked knowledge of why there should be other factors to contribute to the lacking of outside sources contributing to pre-suggested times of history. Though the book did not suggest any pre-determined ideas because it was poised on pre-determined eras of historical importance and it should have simply discussed prior century influence slightly to have the reader acclimated with the brewery history before the times. The book focused on American breweries during the 1500-1800 years which were considered the main years of focus for brewery influence. That was a positive notion but there should have been more focus on British and German breweries since both were discussed in detail as influences on American breweries during these historical times.

The topic is interesting because it puts focus on something that is relevant to social dilemma of an every social pattern that most Americans and British people do which is social drinking. People have a natural curiosity as to how beer is brewed and where the origin of that brewing occurred and by what influence. It is very interesting to know that the German immigrants had great influence on what shaped today’s modern beer brewing. Some of the evidence presented is historically important but some of the sources presented are only qualitatively presented and there is not much quantitative data suggested in the book. Quantitative data would make some of the arguments presented much stronger. However this appears to be a history book and there is usually much presentation of quantitative data to that respect. It is my opinion that if a reader is merely looking for a brief history of the brewing of beer with American influence only this would be an adequate book to read. If the reader is seeking a definitive reading on other influences of beer brewing the reader might want to consider other readings in addition to this reading. This reading is elementary in my opinion and only covers the basics of a certain era which is very influential but this era is only of the American brewing industry which is only the beginning of a world that was certainly influenced internationally.

References

Hellstrom, H. (1942) The Brewing Industry in Reading Until 1880 Retrieved November 22, 2009 from, http://www.berkshistory.org/articles/beer1.html

Red, White and Brew (2009) Red, White and Brew Retrieved November 23, 2009 from, http://www.beerfestivals.org/reviews/reviews/early_years.html

Bristol, B. (2009) Beer in Texas-The History of Texas Breweries and Their German Influences Retrieved November 23, 2009 from, http://ezinearticles.com/?Beer-in-Texas—The-History-of-Texas-Breweries-and-Their-German-Influences&id=2628254

Smith, G. (1998) Beer in America: The Early Years Retrieved November 23, 2009 from, http://www.amazon.com/Beer-America-Years-1587-1840-Settling-Nation/dp/0937381659