Civilizations all over the world, China, Egypt, Sumeria, Europe and Mesopotamia, have been brewing beer since neolithic times, long before Moses. In those days, most brews were on a domestic quantity scale. Later, by 700 A. D., Belgian monks began brewing and selling their own style of ale. Today, the brewing of beer takes place on an industrial scale. Tampa brewing has put itself on the beer map with its own style of breweries, festivals and brew pubs and restaurants.
For a long time, beers brewed in North America were so boring and homogeneous that the only way the drinker could tell one brand from another was by their different advertising campaigns. In the past two decades, however, the brewing industry has undergone a major face lift with the introduction of artisanal craft beers. This trend, visible in Tampa brewing, has been somewhat inspired by what has been taking place in the United Kingdom, where traditional cask ale is the national beverage.
Cask-conditioned ale differs from its mass-produced keg counterpart because it is a living, working product. The yeast continues to ferment the beer in the container from which it is directly served. In the UK, this is either a nine-gallon firkin or an 18-gallon cask called a kildekin.
Keg beer, on the other hand, is pasteurized. This kills the yeast, so the effervescence the drinker craves has to be artificially induced by the introduction of carbon dioxide under pressure. But, the lack of pasteurization makes the product somewhat vulnerable to bacterial or fungal contamination. It also loses its conditioning at temperatures above 54 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that in order to be financially viable, turnover needs to be high enough to empty a cask within a few days.
In the 1960s, trouble began brewing for the British beer drinker. Having cottoned on to the fact that by killing the yeast (pasteurization) and stuffing the beer artificially with carbon dioxide, they could produce something that at least looked like beer. It was cheap and easy to produce and required a lot less commitment and attention from the cellar staff of a pub. Keg beer was fast phasing cask ale, the British national drink, out of the pub.
This enraged Britain's beer drinkers because it was dumbing down the British national drink. By the 1970s, drinkers were so disgusted with what was on offer, four particularly angry young men met in a pub in Ireland formed what was to become the Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA for short. From four original beer activists, the campaign has grown to a membership of nearly 150,000 and is recognized as the biggest, most successful consumer organization in Europe.
Forty years after the founding of CAMRA, beer is rapidly becoming the saving grace of the endangered British pub. The market in cask beer has grown from strength to strength, with new breweries springing up in London practically every month. Like many other wonderful imports from the British, the wave of fine brewing has flowed across the Atlantic to spawn a growing craft ale industry in America.
Tampa brewing is a fine example of the growth of craft beer. One of the oldest breweries in the country is stationed here. There are plenty of tours and tasting rooms to keep the discerning beer-lover happy any day of the week.
For a long time, beers brewed in North America were so boring and homogeneous that the only way the drinker could tell one brand from another was by their different advertising campaigns. In the past two decades, however, the brewing industry has undergone a major face lift with the introduction of artisanal craft beers. This trend, visible in Tampa brewing, has been somewhat inspired by what has been taking place in the United Kingdom, where traditional cask ale is the national beverage.
Cask-conditioned ale differs from its mass-produced keg counterpart because it is a living, working product. The yeast continues to ferment the beer in the container from which it is directly served. In the UK, this is either a nine-gallon firkin or an 18-gallon cask called a kildekin.
Keg beer, on the other hand, is pasteurized. This kills the yeast, so the effervescence the drinker craves has to be artificially induced by the introduction of carbon dioxide under pressure. But, the lack of pasteurization makes the product somewhat vulnerable to bacterial or fungal contamination. It also loses its conditioning at temperatures above 54 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that in order to be financially viable, turnover needs to be high enough to empty a cask within a few days.
In the 1960s, trouble began brewing for the British beer drinker. Having cottoned on to the fact that by killing the yeast (pasteurization) and stuffing the beer artificially with carbon dioxide, they could produce something that at least looked like beer. It was cheap and easy to produce and required a lot less commitment and attention from the cellar staff of a pub. Keg beer was fast phasing cask ale, the British national drink, out of the pub.
This enraged Britain's beer drinkers because it was dumbing down the British national drink. By the 1970s, drinkers were so disgusted with what was on offer, four particularly angry young men met in a pub in Ireland formed what was to become the Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA for short. From four original beer activists, the campaign has grown to a membership of nearly 150,000 and is recognized as the biggest, most successful consumer organization in Europe.
Forty years after the founding of CAMRA, beer is rapidly becoming the saving grace of the endangered British pub. The market in cask beer has grown from strength to strength, with new breweries springing up in London practically every month. Like many other wonderful imports from the British, the wave of fine brewing has flowed across the Atlantic to spawn a growing craft ale industry in America.
Tampa brewing is a fine example of the growth of craft beer. One of the oldest breweries in the country is stationed here. There are plenty of tours and tasting rooms to keep the discerning beer-lover happy any day of the week.
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