Microbrewed Adventures - Charles Papazian [106]
I can’t help adding my own opinion. The character of the Munich Helles style of lager continues to migrate in flavor toward a low-hopped, mild pils. The Hellesbiers I remember from my 1989 German beer journey are slowly and quite sadly losing the richness of malt and special flavor of hops. I know that I can make or find a better Helles in the United States than I can generally find in Munich today. Though I do faithfully seek the small countryside breweries where the spirit of microbrewing and beer passion continues, and tradition and flavor are still being preserved, I am concerned for their future.
I often recall my world travels and the country beers, enjoyed from small casks, made by great men and great women. Are they destined to be inundated by the need to modernize and become competitive in the international marketplace? In the face of the floodwaters, their response is often one of panic and almost always a concession to the rising water to abandon their hopes and swim among the light lager waters rather than create a safe harbor. Might I dare say that they must recognize and take heart in their uniqueness?
I believe, as do many of my colleagues, that here the United States of America we have created an American Beer Ark that is not filled with things American. How odd is this? Wouldn’t the rest of the world assume that if Americans were to create an ark to protect treasures from impending doom, we would of course protect our own American treasures? For with our newfound sense of tradition, we have created something unique in the world of things important, lasting and of immeasurable value for generations to come.
We have created the American Beer Ark to float above the light-lagered oceans of the world, harboring with care and passionate enthusiasm the great beer traditions of the world. Little does the world recognize the care and effort of American beer enthusiasts and microbrewers in taking aboard the ark the world’s well-and lesser-known beer types. With heart and care and without pretension, they seem to be scouring the earth for threatened and lost beers, to revive and explore them here in the United States.
At the risk of seeming a bit too pretentious, I write these thoughts as an American writer, observer and beer enthusiast myself. I share them with you not because they are my own, but because they are those of knowledgeable people who respect the traditions of beer and are not necessarily American.
The American Beer Ark is my own concept, though not without precedent in the world of Slow Food, traditions and cultural treasures. As the waters continue to rise, the question becomes, what will we take on board? Fortunately, arks are only needed until the waters recede. It is my hope that brewers and consumers will take heart in the culture of beer and traditions and that the day will soon arrive where we don’t need an ark.
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19TH-CENTURY LEIPZIGER GOSE
This wild fermented wheat beer spiced with coriander seed represents a German ale tradition that has nearly disappeared. It seems to be a distant cousin to the Belgian lambic tradition. Three options are given to brew and mingle with this unique traditional beer. The recipe can be found in About the Recipes.
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The Pride of a Brewer
SINCE 1978 I have journeyed, meeting and talking with homebrewers, brewmasters and beer enthusiasts throughout the world in quest of understanding not only the brewing world we live in but why it is we pride ourselves as brewers. I recall my origins as a brewer, and to this day there dwells in me a certain undefined pride that I am knowledgeable in the brewers’ craft. I’m sure that it dwells in the soul of every brewer, yet its presence is not easy to define.
The mysterious pride we have as brewers always remains. Beyond the simplicity of beginning to brew is a knowledge that emerges within every brewer. Everywhere in the world, whether we are amateur or professional brewers, we build