America is a country amused by million-dollar beer commercials from large corporations. Many small brewers, however, hope to return to the days of widespread traditional local brewing.
Although financially successful, large beer manufacturing industries have slowly conditioned American taste buds to watered-down beer. They tend to use adjuncts - substitute ingredients for the barley malt such as rice - therefore "robbing the beer of many nutrients, and much color and taste," said Laura Gordon, assistant brewer for Northern Virginia's Shenandoah Brewing Co., a small brewery that has been in existence for four years.
Terry Fife, manager of Old Dominion Brewing Company in Loudoun County, also is opposed to using adjuncts because "such practices fly in the face of how beer should be made."
Fife explained that his brewery follows the philosophy that "beer is designed and best if consumed fresh-old-style. This implies it should be local because the limited range assures freshness."
Mark Thompson, brewmaster for Charlottesville's Starr Hill Brewery, spoke at the Engineering School last Friday on the beer brewing process.
Thompson agrees with Fife on the notion of freshness and said he shies away from filtering or pasteurizing processes that large beer corporations employ to increase the shelf life of their products.
Such techniques are "detrimental to the beer," Thompson said, and to use them would "cheat the customer of flavor."
Considering Thompson has received awards at the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup, his practices seem to hold merit. Yet one would think Thompson, a biologist turned brewer, would use a single, consistent flavor and process for his award-winning ales.
But he explains, "I play with beers to avoid static brewing. I never make the same beer twice because I leave that to the Budweiser's of the world. This kills the beauty of beer making and contradicts it being an evolutionary process."
Although craft-brewed beers like those from Starr Hill are slightly more expensive, Thompson contends that local breweries provide better flavor and quality.
After all, inquiring about and promoting awareness of local microbrews would help fulfill Thompson and other local brewers' dreams of having more "hometown beers."
Making the beer
The first step of beer making is steeping, or soaking, the barley grain to allow it to sprout later when it dries.
After sprouting, the barley is dried in kilns. Next, the grain is milled, and the outer husks are removed. The pulverized grain then is mashed.
This stage entails mixing the grain into a vat of slightly acidic water with enzymes at a temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit. This precise environment is required for the grain's starch to be broken down into sugar. Beer brewers then filter the mixture to extract the sugar liquid and boil it for 90 minutes to terminate the enzymatic activity.
They also add hops, a plant akin to cannabis that provides aroma and flavor. Based on each brewer's discretion, they can add hops at different times in the process.
If added at the beginning, the hops secrete a bitter taste into the ale. But if the majority of this ingredient is added within the last 15 minutes of the boil, it cannot break down and therefore can provide more of an aroma.
Next, beer makers whirlpool the mixture to cluster the hops and protein, and allow them to settle out for 30 minutes.
After conditioning - or cooling - yeast is added and the liquid ferments. Conditioning occurs again to make the yeast dormant so the beer makers can collect and reuse it.
The liquid goes through "finishing," which includes clarifying the beer via filtration. Finally, the beer is ready to be packaged in kegs or bottles.
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