April 7, 2016 - 50 Historic Facts about Beer

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 8 DAYS

Do you like Beer?

Hello Folks!

How's everyone doing today?

I'm not so bad myself, thanks for asking ;)

As you know, today is TBT (Throwback Thursday) and as I found out from Elisa's research it is also National Beer Day!

While I am not a beer drinker whatsoever, it does make me wonder if all the beer drinkers out there realize that there is a National Holiday for their favorite drink?!
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Meanwhile Elisa has found tons upon tons of information on Beer - who knew?!
What I'm gonna do is share with you a few fun Beer related festivals from around the world that might even interest a non-beer drinker like myself!

During my travels I have been to some cities/countries that absolutely rave about having the best Beer in the world - and while I certainly can't be the judge on that.
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What I can say is that the competitive nature of the entire thing is all ever so serious amongst these people! For me, I find it all quite amusing!

Here's my list on:
The 5 Top Beer Festivals in the World to please Everyone
​(including the non-beer drinker)

How about going to Belgium?
​In the very beautiful beer-centric city of Bruges they hold the Bruges Beer Festival – which has been dubbed “the Mecca for everything worthwhile in the Belgian beer world”!

What about the beautiful city of Prague? Where they hold the Czech Beer Festival self-proclaimed as the “largest gastronomic event in the Czech Republic”. Just don’t expect a Euro coin to be worth a dime...the festival uses its own currency, the Tolar, which can be purchased with your festival reservation.

Heading to Asia?
Qingdao International Beer Festival is Asia's biggest beer festival and takes place in Qingdao in Shandong province, China at what is now called the Qingdao International Beer City. The festival has been running for 16 years and games, drinking contests and music as well as the usual beer tasting options for visitors.
I'd go just to watch the games!!
​I'm quite certain that they MUST be a real HOOT!!!
​(Have you seen Asian Game shows?!)

And of course the BIGGEST one of them all is in Germany...
Yup you guessed it - Oktoberfest (which happens to actually be in September).
​The world’s largest celebration of beer! This is a sixteen-day beer and bratwurst bonanza attracts six million people annually!!!

But perhaps you aren't looking to travel abroad then you might be more interested in heading to Denver and checking out the 
​Great American Beer Fest – America’s answer to Oktoberfest.
Set in one of the best beer cities in America, this sprawling celebration of suds features a staggering number of brews from every state.

Now, I'm sure that you must've noticed how I chose cities that I personally enjoy visiting (with the exceptions of Qingdao - as I've never been) because again I'm not a beer drinker and I need more than just a hall full of beer!

And on that note, I'll also mention how most Beer isn't even Vegan anyhow being that some breweries use animal products in the filtering process. Ewww!

BUT...for all of those Vegan Beer Drinkers out there, there is even a festival or two for you:

​One being held in Portland, Oregon and the other in Los Angeles, California - I bring you the:
Vegan Beer and Food Festival featuring the best of the region's craft beer, ciders, kombucha, cold brew and craft sodas on draft. They curate the top vegan food carts, trucks, vendors and restaurants. With a Vegan "Pop Up" Marketplace showcasing vendors selling everything from clothing to ceramics to craft goods. And of course, great live music from some of the best talent around.

​And because of all the Vegan Food (you know how much I love FOOD).

So because of pretty much everything aside from the beer, I've been quite eager to attend this festival - but I am usually not around and busy traveling. 
However this year the Los Angeles Festival is being held on June 18th and I will have just got back from our Trip to Europe - so guess what???

I'll be going and reporting LIVE from the Vegan Beer & Food Festival bringing you the full inside SCOOP!

One more note about beers that had the vegan beer drinking world quite excited (yup there is a nitche for just about everything!) 

Guinness, the Irish stout that once famously advertised itself under the slogan “Guinness is good for you,” made an announcement last year to inject 21st-century food culture into its 256-year-old product.

Guinness is going vegan.
Starting at the end of 2016, its beer will no longer contain trace amounts of fish bladder, an integral part of its filtration process. 
​Which is good news for everyone - especially the fish!

Now how about a few more TBT pics for both your and my own enjoyment:

On the streets of Munich, Germany (2009)

Sights of Munich

In Dublin, Ireland (2011)

In Bruges, Belgium (2014)

In Prague, Czech Republic (2015)

Be sure to catch up with us tomorrow when I'll be posting a new and very fun Travel Article all about Sin City!!!

See ya later,
​-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TOUR: 1 DAY

Throwin' it Back on National Beer Day 

Hey there,

Hope you've been having a great week.

I cannot complain in the least about mine so far.  Each day has been more productive than the next!! Yesterday I managed to get lots done at home and I also took Kelsey for a new (much-needed) pair of school shoes.

We spent some mommy-daughter bonding time together and then when we got home, she gave me a mini concert with her recorder, playing Old St. Wenceslas (which brought back memories of when we were in Prague in Wenceslas Square back in 2014!

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - WENCESLAS SQUARE (2014)

But what I really got a kick out of and was completely impressed with, was that she wrote her own song!  She played me the melody, for which she wrote down all the notes!  It was lively and had a great beat.  So talented my little girl!!

Are you curious about how it came to be National Beer Day today?

I thought I would combine a little history about why we celebrate this day because it's Throwback Thursday... 

On March 22, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed into law, the Cullen-Harrision Act. This act, repealed prohibition for beer.

Effective April 7, 1933, people could once again, buy, sell and consume beer.

The night before (April 6th), was called "New Beer's Eve" (pretty cute!) and on that night millions of Americans lined up waiting for the stroke of midnight.

On April 7, 1933, the first National Beer Day, Americans consumed 1.5 million barrels of legal beer and ale.

photo: kardsunlimited.com

How about some world traveling today to find out the history of beer...

In Mesopotamia (Ancient Iraq), early evidence of beer is a 3900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, which contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread.

According to Prof. Linda Raley, Texas Tech University, who has put together A Concise Timetable of Beer History, beer has an old and important place in many cultures around the globe.

Her article is wonderful and I've re-posted 50 historical facts about beer from it for your reading pleasure!

Much more than our usual 16 for '16!!

  50 Historic Facts About Beer

1. 4300 BC, Babylonian clay tablets detail recipes for beer.

2. Beer was a vital part of civilization and the Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Hebrew, Chinese, and Inca cultures.

3. Different grains were used in different cultures:
a) Africa used millet, maize and cassava.
b) North America used persimmon although agave was used in Mexico.
c) South America used corn although sweet potatoes were used in Brazil.
d) Japan used rice to make sake.
e) China used wheat to make samshu.
f) Other Asian cultures used sorghum.
g) Russians used rye to make quass or kvass.
h) Egyptians used barley and may have cultivated it strictly for brewing as it made poor bread.

4. 1600 BC Egyptian texts contain 100 medical prescriptions calling for beer.

5. ​55 BC Roman legions introduce beer to Northern Europe.

6. 23 BC Chinese brewed beer called "kiu"

7. 500-1000 AD the first half of the Middle Ages, brewing begins to be practiced in Europe, shifting from family tradition to centralized production in monasteries and convents (hospitality for traveling pilgrims).

8. During Medieval times beer was used for tithing, trading, payment and taxing.

9. 1000 AD hops begins to be used in the brewing process.

10. 1200 AD beer making is firmly established as a commercial enterprise in Germany, Austria, and England.
 
11. 1295 King Wenceslas grants Pilsen Bohemia brewing rights (formerly Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia & Czech Republic).
 
12. 1489 Germany's first brewing guild, Brauerei Beck, was established.

13. 1490's Columbus found Indians making beer from corn and black birch sap.
 
14. 1516 Bavarian brewing guilds push for the Reinheitsgeobot purity laws make it illegal to use any ingredients but water, barley, and hops in the brewing of beer (they didn't know yeast existed).

15. 1553 Beck's Brewery founded & still brewing today.

16. Late 1500's Queen Elizabeth I of England drank strong ale for breakfast.

17. 1587 the first beer brewed in New World at Sir Walter Raleigh's colony in Virginia--but the colonists sent requests to England for better beer.

18. 1602 Dr. Alexander Nowell discovers that ale can be stored longer in cork sealed, glass bottles.

19. 1612 the first commercial brewery opened in New Amsterdam (NYC, Manhattan) after colonists advertised in London newspapers for experienced brewers.

20. 1620 Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock because the beer supplies were running low.
 
21. 1680 William Penn (founder of Pennsylvania) operated commercial brewery.

22. 1757 Washington wrote his personal recipe "To Make Small Beer."

23. 1786 Molson brewery is founded in what is today Canada.

24. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had their own private brewhouses.

25. Samuel Adams operated commercial brewery.

26. Soldiers in the revolutionary army received rations of a quart of beer a day.
 
27. Beer and bread were the mainstays of the ordinary person's diet for centuries.

28. Before the 1800's most beer was really "Ale."

29. 1810 Munich establishes Oktoberfest as an official celebration.

30. 1830's Bavarians Gabriel Sedlmayr of Munich and Anton Dreher of Vienna developed the lager method of beer production.

31. 1842 the first golden lager is produced in Pilsen, Bohemia.

32. In the mid-19th Century (1850's) German immigrant brewers introduced cold maturation lagers to the US (Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors, Stroh, Schlitz, and Pabst roots begin here).

33. The modern era of brewing in the US began in the late 1800's with commercial refrigeration (1860), automatic bottling, pasteurization (1876), and railroad distribution.

34. 1870's Adolphus Busch pioneers the use of double-walled railcars, a network of icehouses to make Budweiser the first national brand.

35. 1876 Pasteur unraveled the secrets of yeast in the fermentation process, and he also developed pasteurization to stabilize beers 22 years before the process was applied to milk.

36. 1880 there are approximately 2,300 breweries in the US.

37. 1890s Pabst is the first US brewer to sell over 1 million barrels in a year.

38. 1909 Teddy Roosevelt brought over 500 gal. of beer on safari in Africa.
 
39. 1933 Prohibition ends for beer (April 7).

40. 1935 only 160 breweries survive Prohibition.

41. 1935 the beer can is introduced (American Can Co. & Kreuger Brewing).

42. 1938 Elise Miller John heads Miller Brewing for 8 years as the first and only woman ever to run a major brewing company.

43. 1966 Budweiser is the first brand to sell 10 million barrels in a year.

44. 1976 New Albion is the first in the rebirth of brewpubs and microbreweries in the US opening in California.

45. 1988 Asahi Super Dry (Japan) introduces new beer category (soon to follow is Michelob Dry).

46. 1991 the US produces 20% of the world beer volume (world's largest).
 
47. 1993 US retail beer sales exceed $45 Billion.

48. First half of the 1900's beer was associated with men, blue-collar workers, college students, and mainstream sports enthusiasts.

49. Late 1900's beer had a different image and cultural function, with growth in popularity among a more diverse share of the population.

50. Total amount of dollars in beer revenue made each year in U.S. is approximately $196 billion.

​CLICK HERE for Professor Linda Raley's full article.

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Well, we are almost at the end of the week.  Tomorrow, my plan is to go on my previously-cancelled Bronx Walking Tour of The Grand Concourse.  I hear the weather is not supposed to be great, but I have a rain jacket and an umbrella. So the tour will go on!

(c) bronxhistorictours.com

Off to start my day - hope it's a good one!!

-E
xoxo