Bernita McGill
December 2, 2013
Research Paper
Eric Johnson
Beer & America Beer has been around in the USA for ages. Beer was an early part of colonial life in the United States of America. During the early 20th century prohibition caused almost all of the American breweries to close. On January 16, 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was enacted into law, creating the Prohibition era, wherein the production, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages were made illegal. Production and shipping of alcohol was largely confined to illegal operations that could deliver compact distilled beverages smuggled rum and domestic moonshine. Only a few breweries, mainly the largest, were able to stay in business by manufacturing near beer, malt syrup, or other non-alcohol grain products, in addition to soft drinks such as colas and root beers. Once that was lifted, most breweries then opened rather small breweries. Native Americans brewed beer in the US prior to the European arrival back in 1587. They made beer out of maize, birch sap and water. The first commercial brewery to open in the US was the Dutch West India Company of Lower Manhattan in 1632. They were founded in 1602. This company was a chartered company. They were known as the WIC of Dutch merchant. Steam Beer was the first style of beer in the US. It was formed in the earth 19 century in San Francisco. Yuengling is one of the oldest operating brewing companies in the United States. They were established in 1829. Yuengling is also one of the largest breweries by volume in the country. Their headquarters reside in Pottsville, Pennsylvania it is currently the largest American-owned brewery. Phillip Best built a Milwaukee brewery in the 1840s. It began shipping its beer to Chicago and St. Louis the following decade, first by ferry and eventually by rail. In St. Louis, a prosperous German soap maker, Eberhard Anheuser, purchased a struggling brewery in 1860. His daughter married a brewery supplier, Adolphus Busch, who took over the company after his father-in-law's death, and renamed it Anheuser-Busch.
The most popular beer in the US is called the American Lager. American Lager is mass produced, inexpensive and also aimed at the broadest possible demographic. It originated in Europe in the mid-19th century and moved to America with German immigrants. The most popular Lager is Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser. Anheuser-Busch Companies operates 13 breweries in the US. They also operate at 10 theme parks across the US. It is based in St. Louis, Missouri. Miller Coors is 2nd largest beer company in the United States. They offer beers such as Miller Lite, Miller High Life, Miller Genuine Draft, Coors, Coors Light, Molson Canadian, Crispin Hard Cider Company, and Blue Moon. They are the only competition to Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser.
When America entered the war in 1941 until it ended in 1945, the overall production of beer increased by over 40% no matter the small number of active breweries. During the war companies such as Anheuser-Busch began to dominate the American market for over fifty years. They produced beers more noted for their uniformity than for any particular flavor. These beers made by Anheuser- Busch followed a restricted pilsner style, with large-scale industrial processes and the use of low-cost ingredients like corn or ingredients such as rice that provided starch for alcohol production while contributing minimal flavor to the finished product.
There are many different types of beers such as steam beer, amber ale, blonde ale and cream ale. Amber Ale is a term for pale ales brewed with a proportion of crystal malt to produce an amber colour generally ranging from light copper to light brown. They add just a small amount of crystal or other coloured malt to the basic pale ale base to produce a slightly darker colour. Blonde Ale tends to be clear, crisp, and dry, with low-to-medium bitterness and aroma from hops, and some