Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, new flavours, and varied brewing techniques.
126-429: Gruit (pronounced / ˈ ɡ r aɪ t / ; alternately grut or gruyt ) is a herb mixture used for bittering and flavouring beer , popular before the extensive use of hops . The terms gruit and grut ale may also refer to the beverage produced using gruit. Today, however, gruit is a colloquial term applied to a beer produced with hops, that is seasoned with gruit-like herbs. The word "gruit" stems from an area now in
252-403: A de facto tax on beer. The control of gruit restricted entry to local beer markets — brewers in a diocese were not allowed to sell beer brewed without the local gruit, and imports were similarly restricted. The gruit licensing system also exerted control over brewers within a city, as the holder of a Grutgerechtigkeit could calculate how much beer each brewer could make based on how much gruit
378-559: A "nanobrewery" as, "a scaled-down microbrewery, often run by a solo entrepreneur, that produces beer in small batches." Nanobrewers often work out of garages or small industrial spaces. Small batches are then sold to local bars or directly to customers. The U.S. Department of the Treasury defines nanobreweries as "very small brewery operations" that produce beer for sale. These small operations still must meet state and federal licensing requirements. In 2013, there were more than 200 "nanos" in
504-421: A beer tap at its base. Beer contains the phenolic acids 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid , vanillic acid , caffeic acid , syringic acid , p -coumaric acid , ferulic acid , and sinapic acid . Alkaline hydrolysis experiments show that most of the phenolic acids are present as bound forms and only a small portion can be detected as free compounds. Hops , and beer made with it, contain 8-prenylnaringenin which
630-605: A beer with the consistency of gruel, used by the semi-nomadic Natufians for ritual feasting, at the Raqefet Cave in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa in northern Israel . There is evidence that beer was produced at Göbekli Tepe during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (around 8500 BC to 5500 BC ). The earliest clear chemical evidence of beer produced from barley dates to about 3500–3100 BC , from
756-469: A boom of craft beer breweries. Despite strong tradition of drinking Czech beer there is a growing craft beer scene in the Czech Republic focused on non-traditional beer styles. Notable breweries include Matuška, Clock and Zichovec. What makes Czech craft beer unique is the common use of decoction instead of just infusion even for top fermented beers. In Denmark microbreweries have occurred throughout
882-416: A daily ration of four to five litres of beer, which served as both nutrition and refreshment and was crucial to the pyramids' construction. Some of the earliest Sumerian writings contain references to beer; examples include a prayer to the goddess Ninkasi , known as "The Hymn to Ninkasi", which served as both a prayer and a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people, and
1008-539: A degree that brewers of pale ale add gypsum in a process known as Burtonisation . The starch source provides the fermentable material and determines the strength and flavour of the beer. The most common starch source used in beer is malted grain. Grain is malted by soaking it in water, allowing it to begin germination , and then drying the partially germinated grain in a kiln. Malting produces enzymes that convert starches into fermentable sugars. Different roasting times and temperatures produce different colours of malt from
1134-431: A dense head and a creamy mouthfeel . In the 1980s, Guinness introduced the beer widget , a nitrogen-pressurised ball inside a can which creates a moderately dense, tight head. This approximates the effect of serving from a keg, at least for a British-style beer which does not have a specially large head. Cask-conditioned ales (or cask ales) are unfiltered and unpasteurised beers. These beers are termed " real ale " by
1260-481: A document from that year refers to a hop garden in the area paying a tithe to the monastery. It claims to be the oldest working brewery in the world. Top-fermented beers are most commonly produced with Saccharomyces cerevisiae , a top-fermenting yeast which clumps and rises to the surface, typically between 15 and 25 °C (59 and 77 °F). At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and
1386-468: A knowledgeable woman to teach a certain brewer, and no one else, how to make [gruit]..." Although largely replaced by hops in the 14th and 15th centuries, gruit flavored beer was locally produced in Westphalia until at least the 17th century. In both the area where gruit existed and outside it, the traditional spices were progressively substituted by hops, in a slow transition across Europe occurring between
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#17330930283731512-507: A major source of beer. This is mainly true for the South of Germany, especially the state of Bavaria. Upper Franconia , a district in the Region Franconia in the north of Bavaria, has the highest density of breweries in the world. Upper Franconia has about one million inhabitants and about 200 breweries. Many of them are microbreweries or brewpubs. Ireland has a long history of brewing and in
1638-534: A medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following conditions are present: a person drinks large amounts over a long time period, has difficulty cutting down, acquiring and drinking alcohol takes up a great deal of time, alcohol is strongly desired, usage results in not fulfilling responsibilities, usage results in social problems, usage results in health problems, usage results in risky situations, withdrawal occurs when stopping, and alcohol tolerance has occurred with use. Alcoholism reduces
1764-408: A non-profit UK beer organisation, has set a temperature standard range of 12°–14 °C (53°–57 °F) for cask ales to be served. Beer is consumed out of a variety of vessels, such as a glass, a beer stein , a mug, a pewter tankard , a beer bottle or a can; or at music festivals and some bars and nightclubs, from a plastic cup. The shape of the glass from which beer is consumed can influence
1890-490: A person's life expectancy by around ten years and alcohol use is the third leading cause of early death in the United States. No professional medical association recommends that people who are nondrinkers should start drinking alcoholic beverages. In the United States, a total of 3.3 million deaths per year (5.9% of all deaths) are believed to be due to alcohol. Microbrewery The microbrewery movement began in both
2016-608: A popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalayas . The Andes in South America has Chicha , made from germinated maize (corn); while the indigenous peoples in Brazil have Cauim , a traditional drink made since pre-Columbian times by chewing manioc so that an enzyme ( amylase ) present in human saliva can break down the starch into fermentable sugars; this is similar to Masato in Peru . Beers made from bread , among
2142-442: A seal less prone to leaking over time than bottles. Cans were initially viewed as a technological breakthrough for maintaining the quality of a beer, then became commonly associated with less expensive, mass-produced beers, even though the quality of storage in cans is much like bottles. Plastic ( PET ) bottles are used by some breweries. The temperature of a beer has an influence on a drinker's experience; warmer temperatures reveal
2268-531: A secondary carbohydrate source, such as maize (corn), rice, wheat, or sugar, often termed an adjunct , especially when used alongside malted barley. Less widely used starch sources include millet , sorghum , and cassava root in Africa; potato in Brazil; and agave in Mexico. Water is the main ingredient, accounting for 93% of beer's weight. The level of dissolved bicarbonate influences beer's finished taste. Due to
2394-472: A single group of nondrinkers, which hides the health benefits of lifelong abstention from ethanol. The long-term health effects of continuous, moderate or heavy alcohol consumption include the risk of developing alcoholism and alcoholic liver disease . Alcoholism , also known as "alcohol use disorder", is a broad term for any drinking of alcohol that results in problems. It was previously divided into two types: alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence . In
2520-455: A small brewery as a brewery with a production of less than 5,000 hectoliters (132,086 US gallons) beer p.a. Small breweries pay a reduced beer tax . The total market share of the small breweries is less than 1%. 638 of them have a production even less than 1,000 hl (26,417.2 US gal.) p.a. and can be considered as microbreweries in a narrow sense. The figures apply to commercial breweries only and do not include hobby brewing. About one third of
2646-404: A source of bitterness, flavour, and aroma. The longer the hops are boiled, the more bitterness they contribute, but the less hop flavour and aroma remain. The wort is cooled and the yeast is added. The wort is then fermented, often for a week or longer. The yeast settles, leaving the beer clear. During fermentation, most of the carbon dioxide is allowed to escape through a trap . The carbonation
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#17330930283732772-545: A special coating on the inside of a can to prevent a metallic taste from affecting the beer. The first can of beer was sold on January 24, 1935, when the American Can Company partnered with New Jersey –based Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company , delivering two thousand cans of Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale to people in Richmond, Virginia . By the end of the year, 37 breweries were canning their beer. In
2898-411: A store or a bar, rather than buying pre-bottled beer, can reduce the environmental impact of beer consumption. Most beers are cleared of yeast by filtering when packaged in bottles and cans. However, bottle conditioned beers retain some yeast—either by being unfiltered, or by being filtered and then reseeded with fresh yeast. Many beers are sold in cans, though there is considerable variation in
3024-533: A strong, sweet drink rather like mead or cider . Whatever the case, the meaning of bēor expanded to cover the meaning of ale . When hopped ale from Europe was imported into Britain in the late Middle Ages, it was described as 'beer' to differentiate it from the British unhopped ale, later acquiring a broader meaning. Beer is one of the world's oldest prepared alcoholic drinks. The earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation consists of 13,000 year-old residues of
3150-457: A taste that is superior to canned beer has been called "just kind of dated," as most aluminum cans are lined with a polymer coating that protects the beer from the problematic metal. However, since drinking directly from a can may still result in a metallic taste, most craft brewers recommend pouring beer into a glass prior to consumption. In June 2014, the BA estimated 3% of craft beer in the United States
3276-448: A year (about 880,000 pints) pay just half of ordinary beer duty rates. Craft beer has adopted a marketing strategy that differs from those of the large, mass-market breweries, offering products that compete on the basis of quality and diversity instead of low price and advertising. Their influence has been much greater than their market share , which amounts to only 2% in the UK, indicated by
3402-507: A year. A brewpub is a type of microbrewery that incorporates a pub or other drinking establishment . The highest density of breweries in the world, most of them microbreweries, exists in Franconia , Germany, especially in the district of Upper Franconia , which has about 200 breweries. The Benedictine Weihenstephan brewery in Bavaria , Germany, can trace its roots to the year 768, as
3528-423: Is a potent phytoestrogen . Hop also contains myrcene , humulene , xanthohumol , isoxanthohumol , myrcenol , linalool , tannins, and resin . The alcohol 2M2B is a component of hops brewing. Barley, in the form of malt, brings the condensed tannins prodelphinidins B3 , B9 and C2 into beer. Tryptophol , tyrosol , and phenylethanol are aromatic higher alcohols ( congeners ) produced by yeast during
3654-496: Is a preservative. Yeast is the microorganism responsible for fermenting beer. It metabolises the sugars, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide , and thereby turns wort into beer. In addition, yeast influences the character and flavour. The dominant types of beer yeast are top-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae and bottom-fermenting Saccharomyces pastorianus . Brettanomyces ferments lambics , and Torulaspora delbrueckii ferments Bavarian weissbier . Before
3780-558: Is a professional brewery that sells 25 percent or more of its beer on-site and does not operate significant food services. The beer is brewed primarily for sale in the taproom, and is often dispensed directly from the brewery's storage tanks. In the European Union , brewpubs in some countries are favoured by a system of progressive beer duty , which originated in Bavaria . In the United Kingdom brewpubs brewing up to 5,000 hectolitres
3906-621: Is also popular, ranging from classic farmhouse ales to experimental styles infused with local ingredients like lavender or foie gras. Today, there are hundreds of craft breweries across France. Many draw inspiration from traditional European styles like Belgian saisons and German pilsners, while others experiment with unique ingredients like chestnuts or wildflowers. Some microbreweries, such as those in Germany, have been brewing traditionally for hundreds of years. In Germany, there were 901 small breweries in 2010. The Federal Statistical Office defines
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4032-403: Is brewed with a large proportion of wheat although it often also contains a significant proportion of malted barley . Wheat beers are usually top-fermented . Stout is a dark beer made using roasted barley, and typically brewed with slow fermenting yeast. There are a number of variations including dry stout (such as Guinness ), sweet stout, and Imperial (or Russian) stout. Stout was originally
4158-453: Is brewing. It converts the grain into a sugary liquid called wort and then ferments this into beer in a using yeast . The first step, mixing malted barley with hot water in a mash tun , is " mashing ". The starches are converted to sugars, and the sweet wort is drained off. The grains are washed to extract as much fermentable liquid from the grains as possible. The sweet wort is put into a kettle, or "copper", and boiled. Hops are added as
4284-417: Is determined by the malt. The most common colour is a pale amber produced from using pale malts. Pale lager and pale ale are terms used for beers made from malt dried and roasted with the fuel coke . Coke was first used for roasting malt in 1642, but it was not until around 1703 that the term pale ale was used. In terms of sales volume, most of today's beer is based on the pale lager brewed in 1842 in
4410-757: Is flourishing with many of the nation's regions and cities having their own breweries, such as Gotlands Bryggeri , Jämtlands Bryggeri , Helsingborgs Bryggeri and Wermlands Brygghus . Stefan Persson , the CEO of Swedish clothing chain H&;M , has his own microbrewery on his estate in England. The term "microbrewery" originated in the UK in the late 1970s to describe the new generation of small breweries that focused on producing traditional cask ale independently of major brewers or pub chains. In 1972, Martin Sykes established Selby Brewery as
4536-456: Is intended to raise awareness of and pay homage to the historical traditions of brewing with botanicals. Beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley , although wheat , maize (corn), rice , and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the grain to sugars , which dissolve in water to form wort . Fermentation of
4662-516: Is not a meal in itself. A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis found that moderate ethanol consumption brought no mortality benefit compared with lifetime abstention from ethanol consumption. Some studies have concluded that drinking small quantities of alcohol (less than one drink in women and two in men, per day) is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease , stroke , diabetes mellitus , and early death. Some of these studies combined former ethanol drinkers and lifelong abstainers into
4788-454: Is often increased either by transferring the beer to a pressure vessel and introducing pressurised carbon dioxide or by transferring it before the fermentation is finished so that carbon dioxide pressure builds up inside the container. The basic ingredients of beer are water; a starch source, usually malted barley ; a brewer's yeast to produce the fermentation; and a flavouring such as hops . A mixture of starch sources may be used, with
4914-425: Is often replaced with forced carbonation. Beer is distributed in bottles and cans, and is commonly available on draught in pubs and bars. The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries . The strength of modern beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (ABV). Some of
5040-485: Is often sought out specifically for its lack of hops). The 1990s microbrewery movement in North America and Europe renewed interest in unhopped beers, and several have tried reviving ales brewed with gruits, or plants that once were used in it. Commercial examples include: Since 2013, craft brewers with an interest in making gruit flavored ales have banded together to mark 1 February as International Gruit Day. The day
5166-594: Is one example of numerous microbreweries that have been recently established, with a localization strategy leading to the use of traditional Chinese ingredients and spices in the Beijing brand's beer production process. China's largest brewpub is located in Suzhou and is managed by the Taiwanese brewing company Le Ble D'or (金色三麥), while craft beer consumers are both ex-pats and native Chinese. India's first microbrewery, Doolally,
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5292-458: Is partially frozen and the ice is repeatedly removed, until the desired strength is reached, a process that may class the product as spirits rather than beer. The German brewery Schorschbräu's Schorschbock , a 31% ABV eisbock, and Hair of the Dog 's Dave , a 29% abv barley wine made in 1994, used the same fractional freezing method. A 60% ABV blend of beer with whiskey was jokingly claimed as
5418-471: Is regarded as the oldest brewpub in the UK. In the UK during the 20th century, most of the traditional pubs which brewed their own beer in the brewhouse round the back of the pub, were bought out by larger breweries and ceased brewing on the premises. By the mid-1970s, only four remained: All Nations (Madeley, Shropshire), The Old Swan (Netherton, West Midlands), the Three Tuns (Bishop's Castle, Shropshire) and
5544-522: Is sold in cans, 60% is sold in bottles, and kegs represent the remainder of the market. Between 2015 and 2020, the proportion of craft beer packaged in cans in the UK increased nearly tenfold to 4.9 percent. Goose Island first produced its Bourbon County Stout in 1992, but it was not regularly available until 2005. Other breweries began following Goose Island's lead, typically aging rich imperial stouts such as Founders KBS and The Bruery 's Black Tuesday. In 2018, Food and Drink wrote: "A process that
5670-424: Is the sole commercial use of hops . The flower of the hop vine acts as a flavouring and preservative agent in nearly all beer made today. The flowers themselves are often called "hops". The first historical mention of the use of hops in beer dates from 822 AD in monastery rules written by Adalard of Corbie , though widespread cultivation of hops for use in beer began in the thirteenth century. Before then, beer
5796-710: Is usually around 4% to 6%, measured as alcohol by volume (ABV). The perceived bitterness is measured by the International Bitterness Units scale (IBU), defined in co-operation between the American Society of Brewing Chemists and the European Brewery Convention . The international scale was a development of the European Bitterness Units scale, often abbreviated as EBU, and the bitterness values should be identical. Beer colour
5922-462: Is usually reserved for breweries established since the 1970s but may be used for older breweries with a similar focus. A United States trade group, the Brewers Association , interested in brand transparency, offers a definition of craft breweries as "small, independent and traditional". The craft brewing process takes time and can be considered an art by the brewmasters. In the United Kingdom,
6048-466: The CAMRA organisation. When a cask arrives in a pub, it is placed horizontally on a " stillage " frame, designed to hold it steady and at the right angle, and then allowed to cool to cellar temperature (typically between 11–13 °C or 52–55 °F), before being tapped and vented—a tap is driven through a rubber bung at the bottom of one end, and a hard spile is used to open a hole in the uppermost side of
6174-528: The Industrial Revolution was made and sold on a domestic scale, although by the 7th century AD, beer was also being produced and sold by European monasteries . During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal to industrial manufacture , while domestic production ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century. In 1912, brown bottles began to be used by
6300-739: The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin , in the United States. This innovation has since been accepted worldwide as it prevents light rays from degrading the quality and stability of beer. The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers, ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries . As of 2006, more than 133 billion litres (35 billion US gallons) of beer are sold per year, producing global revenues of US$ 294.5 billion. In 2010, China's beer consumption hit 450 billion litres (120 billion US gallons), or nearly twice that of
6426-497: The mineral properties of each region 's water, specific areas were originally the sole producers of certain types of beer, each identifiable by regional characteristics. Dublin 's hard water is well-suited to making stout , such as Guinness , while the Plzeň Region 's soft water is ideal for brewing Pilsner , such as Pilsner Urquell . The waters of Burton in England contain gypsum , which benefits making pale ale to such
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#17330930283736552-710: The shelf life of beer. Spruce tips as a local food ingredient have a practical aspect as well; it is a plentiful resource in northern latitudes such as Finland and Alaska, while in Alaska hops must be imported from the lower 48 United States. Gruit is a combination of herbs, commonly including: Gruit recipes varied somewhat; each gruit producer included different herbs to produce unique flavors and effects. Other adjunct herbs include marsh rosemary , laurel berries , laserwort , juniper berries , ginger , caraway seed, aniseed , nutmeg , cinnamon , mint , resin , and occasionally hops in variable proportions (although gruit today
6678-526: The " Firkin " pubs, started, running to over one hundred at the chain's peak; however, the chain was sold and eventually its pubs ceased brewing their own beer. Some British brewpubs specialize in ale, while others brew continental lagers and wheat beers . The Ministry of Ales, Burnley; The Masons Arms in Headington, Oxford; The Brunswick Inn, Derby (in 2010, half of the beers sold by the establishment were brewed on-site); The Watermill pub, Ings Cumbria; and
6804-555: The 11th century (in the South and East of the Holy Roman Empire ) and late 16th century (Great Britain). In 16th-century Britain, a distinction was made between " ale " (which was unhopped), and the "beer" brought in by Dutch merchants, that was hopped. In more recent centuries, however, the words "beer" and "ale" have been synonymous, as is still largely the case in British English, although recently there has been an increase in
6930-617: The 21st century, larger breweries have repeatedly absorbed smaller breweries. In 2002, South African Breweries bought the North American Miller Brewing Company to found SABMiller , becoming the second-largest brewery after North American Anheuser-Busch . In 2004, the Belgian Interbrew was the third-largest brewery by volume, and the Brazilian AmBev was the fifth-largest. They merged into InBev , becoming
7056-778: The Assured Independent British Craft Brewer initiative is run by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), who ensure that any breweries using the Independent Craft Brewer logo are relatively small, independent and brewing quality beer. The term "farm brewery" or "farmhouse brewery" has been around for centuries. Several beer styles are considered "farmhouse," originally stemming from farmers brewing low ABV beer as an incentive for field workers. Farm breweries were not large scale; they had smaller, more unique, methods of brewing and fermenting in comparison to
7182-532: The Blue Anchor pub (Helston, Cornwall). The trend toward larger brewing companies started to change during the 1970s, when the popularity of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)'s campaign for traditional brewing methods, and the success of Michael Jackson's World Guide to Beer encouraged brewers in the UK, such as Peter Austin , to form their own small breweries or brewpubs. In 1979, a chain of UK brewpubs, known as
7308-668: The Brewers Guild in London of 1342 and the Edinburgh Society of Brewers in 1598; as brewing became more organized and reliable many inns and taverns ceased brewing for themselves and bought beer from these early commercial breweries. However, there were some brewpubs which continued to brew their own beer, such as the Blue Anchor in Helston , Cornwall , which was established in 1400 and
7434-527: The CO 2 emissions from a 6-pack of micro-brew beer is about 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds). The loss of natural habitat potential from the 6-pack of micro-brew beer is estimated to be 2.5 square metres (26 square feet). Downstream emissions from distribution, retail, storage and disposal of waste can be over 45% of a bottled micro-brew beer's CO 2 emissions. Where legal, the use of a refillable jug, reusable bottle or other reusable containers to transport draught beer from
7560-573: The Netherlands, Belgium, and northwestern Germany. The word refers to the herb mixture originally used to enhance the flavour of beers before the general use of hops. The earliest reference to gruit dates from the late 10th century. During the 11th century, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV awarded monopoly privileges of the production and sale of gruit ( Grutgerechtigkeit , or "grut licence") to different local authorities, and as such imposed
7686-543: The Old Cannon Brewery, Bury St Edmunds are some examples of small independent brewpubs in the UK. The city of Bristol was identified by The Guardian in May 2014 as an area where the microbrewery industry had flourished. Ten brewpubs, such as Zerodegrees, The Tobacco Factory, Copper Jacks Crafthouse and The Urban Standard, were identified as thriving Bristol craft beer establishments. The East End of London has also been
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#17330930283737812-512: The Scandinavian languages, the usual word for beer was the word whose Modern English form is ale . The modern word beer comes into present-day English from Old English bēor , itself from Common Germanic , it is found throughout the West Germanic and North Germanic dialects (modern Dutch and German bier , Old Norse bjórr ). The earlier etymology of the word is debated:
7938-656: The United Kingdom, the Felinfoel Brewery sold the first canned beer in Europe in January 1936. In 1962, a brewing company in Pittsburg introduced the first self-opening can, which later became a pull ring tab, eliminating the need for a separate opening device. The use of cans by craft brewers doubled between 2012 and 2014, with over 500 companies in the United States using cans to package their beverages. Previously associated with
8064-419: The United States and United Kingdom in the 1970s, although traditional artisanal brewing existed in Europe for centuries and subsequently spread to other countries. As the movement grew, and some breweries expanded their production and distribution, the more encompassing concept of craft brewing emerged. A brewpub is a pub that brews its own beer for sale on the premises. Although the term "microbrewery"
8190-458: The United States, but only 5 per cent sold were premium beers, compared with 50 per cent in France and Germany. Beer is the most widely consumed of all alcoholic drinks. A widely publicised study in 2018 suggested that sudden decreases in barley production due to extreme drought and heat could in the future cause substantial volatility in the availability and price of beer. The process of making beer
8316-529: The United States. With lower startup costs than a craft brewery, nanobreweries have become popular among home brewers looking to expand and practice their beer brewing skills. "Craft brewing" is a more encompassing term for developments in the industry succeeding the microbrewing movement of the late 20th century. The definition is not entirely consistent but typically applies to relatively small, independently owned commercial breweries that employ traditional brewing methods and emphasize flavor and quality. The term
8442-531: The alcohol content of their beers. Samuel Adams reached 20% ABVwith Millennium , and then surpassed that amount to 25.6% ABV with Utopias . The strongest beer brewed in Britain was Baz's Super Brew by Parish Brewery, a 23% ABVbeer. In September 2011, the Scottish brewery BrewDog produced Ghost Deer, which, at 28%, they claim to be the world's strongest beer produced by fermentation alone. The product claimed to be
8568-554: The ancient advice ("Fill your belly. Day and night make merry") to Gilgamesh , recorded in the Epic of Gilgamesh by the alewife Siduri , may, at least in part, have referred to the consumption of beer. The Ebla tablets , discovered in 1974 in Ebla , Syria , show that beer was produced in the city in 2500 BC. A fermented drink using rice and fruit was made in China around 7000 BC. Unlike sake , mould
8694-422: The beer appear bright and clean, rather than the cloudy appearance of ethnic and older styles such as wheat beers . Clarifying agents include isinglass , from the swimbladders of fish; Irish moss , a seaweed; kappa carrageenan , from the seaweed Kappaphycus cottonii ; Polyclar (artificial); and gelatin . Beer marked "suitable for vegans" is clarified either with seaweed or with artificial agents. In
8820-400: The beers to continue to ferment, and to clear any sediment. Lager yeast is a cool bottom-fermenting yeast ( Saccharomyces pastorianus ). Lager typically undergoes primary fermentation at 7–12 °C (45–54 °F), and then a long secondary fermentation at 0–4 °C (32–39 °F) (the lagering phase). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions inhibit
8946-412: The brewing process. as secondary products of alcoholic fermentation Beers vary in their nutritional content. The ingredients used to make beer, including the yeast , provide a rich source of nutrients; therefore beer may contain nutrients including magnesium , selenium , potassium , phosphorus , biotin , chromium and B vitamins . Beer is sometimes referred to as "liquid bread ", though beer
9072-623: The cask. The act of stillaging and then venting a beer in this manner typically disturbs all the sediment, so it must be left for a suitable period of hours to days to "drop" (clear) again, as well as to fully condition the beer . At this point the beer is ready to sell, either being pulled through a beer line with a hand pump, or simply being "gravity-fed" directly into the glass. Draught beer's environmental impact can be 68% lower than bottled beer due to packaging differences. A life cycle study of one beer brand, including grain production, brewing, bottling, distribution and waste management, shows that
9198-696: The city of Plzeň in the present-day Czech Republic . The modern pale lager is light in colour due to use of coke for kilning, which gives off heat with little smoke. Dark beers are usually brewed from a pale malt or lager malt base with a small proportion of darker malt added to achieve the desired shade. Other colourants—such as caramel—are also widely used to darken beers. Very dark beers, such as stout , use dark or patent malts that have been roasted longer. Some have roasted unmalted barley. Beer ranges from less than 3% alcohol by volume (abv) to around 14% abv, though this strength can be increased to around 20% by re-pitching with champagne yeast, and to 55% ABVby
9324-449: The container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide ". It is applied to both bottle conditioned and cask conditioned beers. As for the types of top-fermented beers, pale ale predominantly uses pale malt. It is one of the world's major beer styles and includes India pale ale (IPA). Mild ale has a predominantly malty palate. It is usually dark, with an abv of 3% to 3.6%. Wheat beer
9450-501: The country in increasing numbers. Small microbreweries often relate to restaurants and pubs, but local microbrewed craft beers are also sold in stores. Estonia has a tradition of home-brewed farm beers which are often flavoured with juniper. Craft beer came late to Estonia, but that began to change in 2012 when Mikkeller brewed a custom beer for the Estonian market, called Baltic Frontier. Then one local brewer in particular, Põhjala , led
9576-517: The craft beer market has grown with brewers such as Redpoint Brewing Company gaining increasing market exposure through local bars and restaurants. This market trend has been accompanied by craft beer festivals where expat and Taiwanese brewers showcase their beer. Following the introduction of American microbrews in 2012, the popularity of craft beer bars in Thailand—primarily Bangkok—increased fairly rapidly and in January 2014,
9702-426: The development of artificial refrigeration and by the 1870s, was spread in those countries that concentrated on brewing pale lager. Chilling beer makes it more refreshing, though below 15.5 °C (60 °F) the chilling starts to reduce taste awareness and reduces it significantly below 10 °C (50 °F). Beer served unchilled—either cool or at room temperature—reveal more of their flavours. Cask Marque ,
9828-428: The development of large commercial breweries in the UK, beer would have been brewed on the premises from which it was sold. Alewives would put out a sign—a hop pole or ale-wand—to show when their beer was ready. The medieval authorities were more interested in ensuring adequate quality and strength of the beer than discouraging drinking. Gradually men became involved in brewing and organized themselves into guilds such as
9954-653: The earliest forms of the drink, are Sahti in Finland, Kvass in Russia and Ukraine , and Bouza in Sudan. 4000 years ago fermented bread was used in Mesopotamia. Food waste activists got inspired by these ancient recipes and use leftover bread to replace a third of the malted barley that would otherwise be used for brewing their craft ale. Beer is measured and assessed by colour, by strength and by bitterness. The strength of modern beer
10080-551: The earliest writings mention the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating it, while "The Hymn to Ninkasi ", a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, contains a recipe for it. Beer forms part of the culture of many nations and is associated with social traditions such as beer festivals , as well as activities like pub crawling , pub quizzes , and pub games . In early forms of English and in
10206-489: The early 1990s was commonly referred to as Ji Bīru (地ビール), or "local beer." In the late 2000s, more established microbreweries in Japan chose to emphasize the term Craft Beer (クラフトビア) to mark a break with the short-lived Ji Bīru boom and to emphasize the traditional brewing skills and reverence for ingredients that characterize their products. In Sri Lanka, over-strict laws made it almost impossible for any craft beer to be brewed. On
10332-490: The first new independent brewing company in 50 years. "I foresaw the revival in real ale, and got in early", he said. Another early example was the Litchborough Brewery founded by Bill Urquhart in 1974. Alongside commercial brewing, training courses and apprenticeships were offered by Litchborough, with many of the UK movement's early pioneers passing through its courses prior to setting up their own breweries. Before
10458-619: The fourth global location of Danish microbrewery Mikkeller was launched in Bangkok. The brand partnered with an already established beer distribution company and seeks to capitalize on the higher earning capacity of Thai people in the second decade of the 21st century, as well as tourists. At the opening, one of the owners explained: "... and we thought it was about time to elevate the level of craft beer available in Thailand and, hopefully, expand throughout Southeast Asia." A total of 30 beers are served at
10584-707: The freeze-distilling process. The alcohol content of beer varies by local practice or beer style. The pale lagers that most consumers are familiar with fall in the range of 4–6%, with a typical ABVof 5%. The customary strength of British ales is quite low, with many session beers being around 4% abv. In Belgium, some beers, such as table beer are of such low alcohol content (1%–4%) that they are served instead of soft drinks in some schools. The weakest beers are described as 'alcohol-free' , typically containing 0.05% ABV; this compares to low alcohol beers which may contain 1.2% ABV or less, and conventional beers which average 4.4% ABV. The strength of beers has climbed during
10710-436: The ingredients (such as grains , hops , or fruit ) used in the beer must be grown on the given licensed farm brewery. Brewpub is an abbreviated term combining the ideas of a brewery and a pub or public-house. A brewpub can be a pub or restaurant that brews beer on the premises. In the United States a brewpub is defined as selling 25 percent or more of its beer on-site and operating significant food services. A taproom brewery
10836-401: The introduction by large commercial breweries of new brands for the craft beer market. However, when the strategy failed, the corporate breweries invested in microbreweries or, in many cases, acquired them outright. The American Can Company developed the first beer can in 1933 after years of researching how to create a can that would hold a pressurized carbonated beverage. They also created
10962-405: The larger breweries of the time. This had different effects on the overall product, creating unconventional beer flavors. The term "farm brewery" has more recently found its way into several local and state laws in order to give farm breweries certain, often agriculturally related, privileges not normally found under standard brewery laws. These privileges usually come at a price: some portion of
11088-418: The largest brewery. In 2007, SABMiller surpassed InBev and Anheuser-Busch when it acquired Royal Grolsch , the brewer of Dutch brand Grolsch. In 2008, when InBev (the second-largest) bought Anheuser-Busch (the third-largest), the new Anheuser-Busch InBev company became again the largest brewer in the world. As of 2020 , according to the market research firm Technavio, AB InBev was the largest brewing company in
11214-521: The later years of the 20th century. Vetter 33, a 10.5% ABV (33 degrees Plato , hence Vetter "33") doppelbock , was listed in the 1994 Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest beer at that time, though Samichlaus , by the Swiss brewer Hürlimann, had also been listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest at 14% |BV. Since then, some brewers have used champagne yeasts to increase
11340-408: The major brewing corporations, cans are now favored by craft brewers for numerous reasons: cans are impervious to oxygen, beer-degrading light does not affect canned beer, canned beer is more portable since less room is required for storage or transportation, canned beer cools more quickly, and cans have a greater surface area for wraparound designs and decorations. The perception that bottles lead to
11466-730: The natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a "cleaner"-tasting beer. With improved modern yeast strains, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically no more than 2 weeks. Some traditional lagers are still stored for several months. Lambic , a beer of Belgium , is naturally fermented using wild yeasts, rather than cultivated. Many of these are not strains of brewer's yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) and may have significant differences in aroma and sourness. Yeast varieties such as Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus are common in lambics. In addition, other organisms such as Lactobacillus bacteria produce acids which contribute to
11592-488: The number of microbreweries in Norway has expanded rapidly and sharply in the recent decades. Interest and expertise among Norwegians about craft brewed beer has risen sharply in a short time, and the old brewery traditions of this country are revived and the traditional brewing yeast kveik rediscovered. However, most craft beers are brewed by imported recipes. Local microbreweries are scattered across Norway, from Lindesnes in
11718-531: The past two decades, there has been a resurgence in craft breweries. Although the Irish market remains dominated by three multinational brewing concerns (Diageo, Heineken and C&C), there have been four so-called waves of growth in the Irish craft beer market. The number of microbreweries in Ireland had risen from 15 in 2012 to over 72 by 2017. Macro breweries have pursued a policy of forcing craft taps out of pubs, through
11844-407: The perception of the beer and can define and accent the character of the style. Breweries offer branded glassware intended only for their own beers as a marketing promotion, as this increases sales of their product. The pouring process has an influence on a beer's presentation. The rate of flow from the tap or other serving vessel, tilt of the glass, and position of the pour (in the centre or down
11970-441: The proportion between different countries. In Sweden in 2001, 63.9% of beer was sold in cans. People either drink from the can or pour the beer into a glass. A technology developed by Crown Holdings for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is the 'full aperture' can, so named because the entire lid is removed during the opening process, turning the can into a drinking cup. Cans protect the beer from light (thereby preventing spoilage) and have
12096-875: The range of flavours in a beer but cooler temperatures are more refreshing. Most drinkers prefer pale lager to be served chilled, a low- or medium-strength pale ale to be served cool, while a strong barley wine or imperial stout to be served at room temperature. Beer writer Michael Jackson proposed a five-level scale for serving temperatures: well chilled (7 °C or 45 °F) for "light" beers (pale lagers); chilled (8 °C or 46 °F) for Berliner Weisse and other wheat beers; lightly chilled (9 °C or 48 °F) for all dark lagers, altbier and German wheat beers; cellar temperature (13 °C or 55 °F) for regular British ale , stout and most Belgian specialities ; and room temperature (15.5 °C or 60 °F) for strong dark ales (especially trappist beer ) and barley wine . Drinking chilled beer began with
12222-573: The remote East Coast, however, "Arugam Bay Surfer's Beer" managed to maintain a small, but popular brewpub. Established in 1977, the Siam View Hotel escaped regulations due to the long civil war and its remoteness. For two years running, the Daily Telegraph "Best of British" awarded the Siam View Hotel the "Best Pub in Sri Lanka" medal. In Taiwan, where a single beer company dominates the market,
12348-480: The result is often a beer with slightly "fruity" compounds resembling apple, pear, pineapple, banana , plum, or prune, among others. After the introduction of hops into England from Flanders in the 15th century, "ale" came to mean an unhopped fermented brew, while "beer" meant a brew with an infusion of hops. The term ' real ale ' was coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1973 for "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in
12474-435: The role of yeast in fermentation was understood, fermentation involved wild or airborne yeasts. A few styles, such as lambics , rely on this method today, but most modern fermentation adds pure yeast cultures . Some brewers add clarifying agents or finings to beer, which typically precipitate (collect as a solid) out along with protein solids, and are found only in trace amounts in the finished product. This process makes
12600-708: The same grain. Darker malts produce darker beers. Nearly all beers use barley malt for most of the starch, as its fibrous hull remains attached to the grain during threshing. After malting, barley is milled, which finally removes the hull, breaking it into large pieces. These pieces remain with the grain during the mash and act as a filter bed during lautering , when sweet wort is separated from insoluble grain material. Other grains, including wheat, rice, oats , and rye , and less frequently, corn and sorghum may be used. Some brewers have produced gluten-free beer , made with sorghum, for those who cannot consume gluten -containing grains like wheat, barley, and rye. Flavouring beer
12726-406: The share of craft beer in sales was only 1.5%. In Spain in 2011, the newspaper El País reported a "revolution is occurring in craft beer" ( cervezas artesanales ) and more recently that by 2013 the trend had extended to the autonomous communities of Catalonia , Valencia , Basque Country , Navarre and Madrid . In Sweden, microbreweries have existed since around 1995. Today, the market
12852-416: The side) into the glass all influence the result, such as the size and longevity of the head, lacing (the pattern left by the head as it moves down the glass as the beer is drunk), and the release of carbonation . A beer tower or portable beer tap is sometimes used in bars and restaurants to allow a group of customers to serve themselves. The device consists of a tall container with a cooling mechanism and
12978-647: The site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran . Beer is recorded in the written history of ancient Egypt , and archaeologists speculate that beer was instrumental in the formation of civilizations. Approximately 5000 years ago, workers in the city of Uruk (modern day Iraq) were paid by their employers with volumes of beer. During the building of the Great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt , each worker got
13104-404: The small breweries have a tradition going back up to 500 years, most of them in Franconia . About two thirds were founded in the last 25 years. The vast majority of small breweries operate in combination with a brewpub. Whereas in other countries, microbreweries and brewpubs have risen in reaction to the mass production and marketing of beer, in Germany, the traditional brewpub or Brauhaus remains
13230-560: The sourness. Around the world, many traditional and ancient starch-based drinks are classed as beer. In Africa, there are ethnic beers made from sorghum or millet , such as Oshikundu in Namibia and Tella in Ethiopia. Kyrgyzstan also has a beer made from millet; it is a low alcohol, somewhat porridge-like drink called "Bozo". Bhutan , Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim also use millet in Chhaang ,
13356-503: The strongest beer by a Dutch brewery in July 2010. Draught (also spelled "draft") beer from a pressurised keg using a lever-style dispenser and a spout is the most common method of dispensing in bars around the world. A metal keg is pressurised with carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) gas which drives the beer to the dispensing tap or faucet. Some beers may be served with a nitrogen/carbon dioxide mixture. Nitrogen produces fine bubbles, resulting in
13482-411: The strongest beer made is Schorschbräu's 2011 Schorschbock 57 with 57,5% ABV. It was preceded by The End of History , a 55% Belgian ale , made by BrewDog in 2010. The same company had previously made Sink The Bismarck! , a 41% ABV IPA , and Tactical Nuclear Penguin , a 32% ABV Imperial stout . Each of these beers are made using the eisbock method of fractional freezing , in which a strong ale
13608-513: The strongest variety of porter , a dark brown beer popular with the street and river porters of eighteenth century London. Lager is cool-fermented beer. Pale lagers are the most commonly drunk beers in the world. Many are of the " pilsner " type. The name "lager" comes from the German "lagern" for "to store", as brewers in Bavaria stored beer in cool cellars during the warm summer months, allowing
13734-491: The sweetness of the malt; the bitterness of beers is measured on the International Bitterness Units scale . Hops further contribute floral, citrus, and herbal aromas and flavours. They have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms, and aids in " head retention", the length of time that a foamy head created by carbonation will last. The acidity of hops
13860-669: The three main theories are that the word originates in Proto-Germanic * beuzą (putatively from Proto-Indo-European * bʰeusóm ), meaning ' brewer's yeast , beer dregs'; that it is related to the word barley , or that it was somehow borrowed from Latin bibere 'to drink'. Christine Fell , in Leeds Studies in English (1975), suggests that the Old English/Norse word bēor did not originally denote ale or beer, but
13986-465: The use of incentives such as free or discounted kegs offered to publicans to replace craft brewery taps with their own. In recent years, many microbreweries have opened in Italy, due to increasing beer popularity among young people. According to Coldiretti, microbreweries have grown in ten years by 1900%. There are more than 900 microbreweries active in Italy. After Oslo Microbrewery was established in 1989,
14112-542: The use where "ale" means beer other than lager beer . The main factor for the replacement of spices by hops is that hops were cheaper (especially in the gruit area, where the price of beer flavouring spices was artificially kept high) and were better at rendering the beer more stable. This preservative effect is thought to have had a large impact on the early movement to switch over, although other plants commonly used in gruit mixes, for example sage , rosemary , or bog myrtle , also have antiseptic properties likely to extend
14238-670: The venue, including two microbrews exclusive to Thailand. Vietnam is the largest producer of craft beer in Southeast Asia, with microbreweries producing 31,000 hectolitres in 2018. With a beer culture that emerged during French colonisation and further influenced by Vietnamese students returning from overseas studies, as of 2018 , there were 31 microbreweries in Vietnam. Established microbreweries include Heart of Darkness Craft Brewery , BiaCraft, Platinum Beers, Fuzzy Logic and Pasteur Street Brewing Company,Rooster Beers. There has been
14364-488: The very south, and to the northernmost microbrewery in the world, Svalbard Bryggeri at Svalbard . Craft brewing gained popularity in Russia in the mid-2010s. Local craft brews typically sell for between 200 and 300 roubles ($ 3–4) a pint. At least two dozen craft bars have opened in Moscow since the summer of 2014, serving Russian and foreign microbrews. As of 2021 there are about 250 independent craft breweries in Russia, but
14490-480: The way for other Estonian microbrewers such as Lehe, Koeru and Õllenaut. By 2017 there were nearly 30 microbreweries on the Estonian market, in a country with a population of only 1.2 million. Since 2015 Põhjala Brewery has organised an annual craft beer festival called "Tallinn Craft Beer Weekend". The legislation in Finland allows craft breweries to sell their products directly to consumers. France may be more commonly associated with wine, but its craft beer scene
14616-503: The world's largest beer consumer as of July 2013, is home to a growing craft beer market, with brands such as Slowboat Brewery, Jing-A Brewery, and Boxing Cat Brewery. By July 2013, the number of brewpubs in Shanghai , China had doubled since 2010. General beer consumption reached 50 million L (13 million US gal) in early 2013 and an increasing interest in craft beers developed accordingly. The Great Leap Brewing Company
14742-468: The world, with Heineken second, CR Snow third, Carlsberg fourth, and Molson Coors fifth. A microbrewery , or craft brewery , produces a limited amount of beer. The maximum amount of beer a brewery can produce and still be classed as a 'microbrewery' varies by region and by authority; in the US, it is 15,000 US beer barrels (1.8 megalitres; 390 thousand imperial gallons; 460 thousand US gallons)
14868-495: The wort by yeast produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, the most widely consumed, and the third most popular drink after water and tea . Most modern beer is brewed with hops , which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent . Other flavouring agents, such as gruit , herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation
14994-550: Was different from every brewer. What they did not contain was hops , as that was a later addition, first mentioned in Europe around 822 by a Carolingian Abbot and again in 1067 by abbess Hildegard of Bingen . In 1516, William IV, Duke of Bavaria adopted the Reinheitsgebot (purity law), perhaps the oldest food-quality regulation still in use in the 21st century, according to which the only allowed ingredients of beer are water, hops , and barley- malt . Beer produced before
15120-553: Was flavoured with other plants such as grains of paradise or alehoof . Combinations of aromatic herbs, berries, and even wormwood were combined into aflavouring mixture known as gruit . Some beers today, such as Fraoch' by the Scottish Heather Ales company use plants other than hops for flavouring. and Cervoise Lancelot by the French Brasserie-Lancelot company, Hops contribute a bitterness that balances
15246-430: Was mainly brewed on a domestic scale. The product that the early Europeans drank might not be recognised as beer by most people today. Alongside the basic starch source, the early European beers may have contained fruits, honey, numerous types of plants, spices, and other substances such as narcotic herbs. This mixture was called gruit, where if some were improperly heated could cause hallucinations. The mixture of gruit
15372-583: Was not used to saccharify the rice (amylolytic fermentation); the rice was probably prepared for fermentation by chewing or malting . During the Vedic period in Ancient India , there are records of the consumption of the beer-like sura . Xenophon noted that during his travels, beer was being produced in Armenia . Beer was spread through Europe by Germanic and Celtic tribes as far back as 3000 BC, and it
15498-773: Was once niche has become not just mainstream, but ubiquitous." Barrel-aged sour beers are a newer trend, inspired by the Belgian tradition of lambics and Flanders red ale . The market for non-alcoholic beer and wine in North America is predicted to quadruple from a base of about $ 20 million in 2018. Brooklyn Brewery are among the early craft breweries prepared to release a non-alcoholic craft beer, with their "Special Effects." Examples in Europe include Mikkeller 's "Drink'in The Sun" and Nirvana's gluten-free "Kosmic Stout". Cambodia's first microbrewery, Kingdom Breweries , opened in 2009 and brews dark, pilsener, and lager beers. China,
15624-550: Was opened in Pune in 2009. In 2019, Bangalore had over 60 microbreweries. An early boom in small regional microbreweries followed Japan's 1994 revision of tax laws allowing the establishment of smaller breweries producing 60,000 litres (13,000 imp gal; 16,000 US gal) per year. Before this change, breweries could not get a license without producing at least 2,000,000 litres (440,000 imp gal; 530,000 US gal) per year. Beer produced by microbreweries in
15750-572: Was originally used in relation to the size of breweries, it gradually came to reflect an alternative attitude and approach to brewing flexibility, adaptability, experimentation and customer service. The term and trend spread from the UK to the US in the 1980s, and was eventually used as a designation for breweries that produce fewer than 15,000 U.S. beer barrels (1,800,000 liters; 460,000 U.S. gallons) annually. In 1995, there were 205 microbreweries nationwide. In 2000, that number more than doubled to 420 microbreweries. The website The Food Section defines
15876-476: Was sold to them. Outside the area where the gruit monopoly applied, other countries and regions produced ales containing spices, but they were not called gruit. For instance, some traditional types of unhopped beer such as sahti in Finland , which is spiced with juniper sprigs, have survived the advent of hops. Specific gruit recipes were often guarded secrets. In 1420, the town council of Cologne "...directed
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