Beer Signs and More

Micro Brews For The Beer Lovers

Are you a beer lover? You may define regular beer drinking as a sign of beer-loving, but there are people who love beer so much that they brew it themselves. Micro brews are fast becoming a favorite hobby or business among beer lovers or beer hobbyists. The American Home brewers Association reported about 1 million micro brewers in the US.

The theory behind micro brews is that the usual beer that is commercially mass-produced and because of this has a very bland taste. Brewing your own beer, however, gives you the option to look for your own preferred taste, something that you have no control over when buying beer from the commercial market.

The beer drinker can create a beer taste and texture that is to his liking. Aside from this, micro brewers have the chance to earn profit from their hobby. Once a brewer is able to brew a distinct taste of beer with commercial appeal, his beer business will definitely take-off.

If you intend to market your own taste of beer, the usual home brewing kits are not enough and you have to shell out a higher capital for a bigger fermenter, quality bottles with re sealant caps, and a wide choice of brewing ingredients of good quality.

A home brewer should try all the variants of his brewing ingredient so he can find the right taste. For example, there are roughly about 100 variants of yeast, the main ingredient in the brewing process. To be a total micro brewer, one must brew 100 times using the different variants.

Current brewing from home produces tastes similar to the light lagers, such as Budweiser beer; the dense and rich taste of Barley-based lagers, and the taste and texture of British ale. It will all depend on the beer recipe used.

In home brewing, what is important is that you find the particular taste you are looking for and remember that before trying out to commercialize your beer brewing, hold a beer-tasting event for your friends. Not only will they appreciate your free beers, but also they will be able to give feedback, which could help you determine whether you can expect a return on your investment with the taste.

Author: Romain Levesque
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

Beer Receptacles Throughout Time

It is commonly known that beer has been with mankind for a long time. The way we drank beer changed as beer expanded, grew, and improved. The earlier vessels mankind used for drinking included stoneware, pottery, wood, and even sewn-together pieces of leather. As time went on, mankind saw small improvements in the quality of their beer glasses. Midieval Europeans that lived during the era of the Bubonic plague saw the creation of beer steins, which had a closed top on the steins to prevent bugs from landing in the brew and making the person ill.

Today, the most important factor to influence modern beer glass making was the creation of glass. As glasses became increasingly popular, drinkers could actually see what they were consuming and wanted a lighter and more appealing color as well as flavor. This led to the filtration of beers; drinkers didn’t want the chunks that were found in the earlier products of the breweries. With this new, improved wave of beer glasses, it seemed like beer steins were on the way out.

The creation of beer glasses thrived and created a variety of glasses for all types of various beers. The most popular in America is the 16-ounce pint glass. It was originally used to cover the top of a Martini shaker, but barkeeps soon discovered that as the beer poured out of the beer tap handles the pint glass was the perfect vessel because it let part of the carbonation to be released and allowed the aroma of the beer to be more pronounced. The pint glass rapidly became popular with barkeeps who had to rinse each glass by itself because it can be put on top of each other and put easily on the shelves.

A drive to get customers to get their brand of beer by earlier breweries led to some extraordinary and groundbreaking moves on the marketing and advertising front. Giving out beer glasses to customers was a way that manufacturers discovered to promote their products even though it was prohibited. This led to the manufacturers creating glasses that were works of artistic merit unto themselves. The first were opulent and costly; they would often have gold or silver embossed on the sides. Eventually, artisans for the breweries began doing detailed carvings on either side of the glasses or steins and even developed a method of firing enamel paint onto the glasses. Even though they were manufactured more recently than other beer collectibles, these enameled glasses remain some of the priciest and unique today. Nowadays eager collectors all around the planet continue to collect these signs and collectables that are sometimes worth thousands. Have you looked up in the top of Granddad’s old dresser lately?

Author: Michael Usry
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Bumper guardian

Women and Beer – A Story of Love and Fear

“Give me a woman who truly loves beer, and I will conquer the world”. This quite warlike sentence, pronounced about a century ago by a quite warlike man: Wilhelm II of Germany, attests beyond any doubt the low affinity of those times between women and a manly drink like beer. But according to historians, things have not always gone this way. From its early beginnings, beer has been produced – and probably also discovered – by women. For ancient Egyptians, beer was a basic food like bread, usually brewed and sold by women. And so at many populations along several centuries: women were the queens of the beer, they invented an great variety of recipes and styles, which now are unfortunately lost.

Beer historian Alan D. Eames dates the decline of beer as household art in late 18th century. Since then the male beer era began, the beer styles were consolidated in the form we know nowadays and women took distance (or were pushed away?) from the beverage they had passionately produced for thousand years. What is the reason of this? Is the men palate so far from women? Probably is not just a matter of taste.

Experiences made on wine tasting suggest that women are better taster than man. This seems to be effective also for beer and other drinks, coffee for example: the best coffee taster in Italy is a woman. We may think that women have refined their senses in the ultra millenarian work of preparing and cooking food. Hence, they are even more prepared than men to catch all the good and the bad hidden into a glass of beer. A quick search on the Internet it is enough to find out that not one, but many women exist that truly love beer. At the HopPress (a beer writers organization hosted by the Ratebeer group) three (out of sixteen) beer expert bloggers are women. One of these, Carla Companion, has written a detailed article on how to introduce to beer your “Relevant Other”. Womeninbeer and Womenenjoyingbeer are two sites grouping women beer enthusiast.

In spite of this, international statistics say that women account only between 13 and 25 percent of beer consumption. The situation is drastically different for wine: in this case women overcome men in USA wine market, since they cover at least 60 percent of market consumption and this percentage is not sensibly different worldwide. In UK facts are also more dramatic: only 13 percent of women say to prefer beer over other drinks (40 percent in whole Europe). A survey conducted by the BitterSweet Partneship (an initiative of Molson Core Brewing Company to develop the women beer market) revealed that at least a couple of deep apprehensions keep women far from beer: complain that beer make put on weight and the image of a manly, inelegant drink. On the other hand, wine can benefit of an appealing image: most men would find attractive the image of a woman drinking a cup of deep red wine, but how many of them would think the same of a woman with a beer mug in the hands and foam on the lips?

After decades of advertising targeted on male market, brewing companies begin to understand the potential of women market and the hard work they have to do to develop it. Typical ads with sexy girls serving beer to rough males or working on a shiny car engine do not encourage women to move towards beer. BitterSweet is an example of how things are changing in UK. But it is not only a question of image. Women who drink wine, say they do because they like the flavor, not because it is fashionable. After more than two centuries of men domination in beer brewing industry, beer has probably sadly lost its female side. And now beer breweries are frantically trying to recover, launching on the markets new brands specifically designed for women. Harry’s Beer, a pale ale with orange essence, is a good example of these. Only, it does not come from a big brewery: in fact it is been created by a 20 old student at Newcastle University: Harriet Easton, and this is also, maybe, a sign of the times. Difficult to say if designing specific beer styles for women it is the right direction. But surely, taking into account the smoother female taste can only be benefic and help to enrich even more the variegated world of beer styles.

Author: Massimo Viola
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Gadget reviews

Beer Containers Across History

It is commonly known that beer has been with mankind for a long time. The way we drank beer developed as beer expanded, grew, and improved. The earlier receptacles man used for drinking included stoneware, pottery, wood, and even sewn-together bits of leather. The quality of the beer glass saw little improvements as time passed on. During the bubonic plague beer steins were essential because of their closed top to prevent flies from landing in the beer and making them ill.

Nowadays, the most important factor to affect modern beer glass production was the creation of glass. As customers started to be able to see what they were consuming from the beer glass they started to demand a beer with improved taste and a better hue. Customers didn’t want chunks in their drinks anymore so breweries began to filter their products. With this new, more aesthetically pleasing wave of beer glasses, it appeared beer steins were on the way out.

A variety of beer glasses were developed and manufactured for the various types of beers. The most popular in America is the 16-ounce pint glass. It was originally developed to cover the top of a Martini shaker, but bartenders soon discovered that as the brew flowed out of the beer tap handles the pint glass was the perfect receptacle because it let part of the carbonation to be released and allowed the smell of the beer to be more obvious. It is also favored for its storage capabilities; pint glasses may be stacked on top of each other and stored easily on shelves, rapidly making them popular with the bartenders who ended up having to clean out each individual glass.

An attempt to get consumers to purchase their kind of beer by breweries led to some unique and groundbreaking moves on the marketing and promotional front. Handing out glasses to customers was a way that breweries found to promote their products even though it was prohibited. This led to the breweries creating glasses that were works of artistic merit unto themselves. Gold or silver embossing on both sides of the glass was not uncommon for these first flashy and pricey glasses. Eventually, artists for the breweries started doing detailed etchings on either side of the glasses or steins and even created a way of firing enamel paint onto the glasses. These enameled glasses remain some of the most rare beer collectibles, even though they were manufactured later than the others. Nowadays eager collectors all around the planet continue to collect these signs and collectables that are often worth thousands. Have you been up in the top of Grandpappy’s dresser in a while?

Author: Michael Usry
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty on LCD/Plasma TV

Legalities of Home Brewing Beer in the United States

Have you considered brewing your own beer at home but it just seems to be too complicated? Well, brewing beer is not a complicated process and does not take a great deal of specialized equipment. If any of you have taken a brewery tour, you might not agree with that but remember that what you saw was built to brew beer in the millions of gallons. At a more reasonable level, home brewing, the process is pretty much the same but the equipment needed is not.

Home brewing has been legal in the United States since 1979 when President Carter signed into law a measure repealing the last Federal restrictions on the home brewing of small amounts of beer. These restrictions had been in place since Prohibition and were not lifted along with the restrictions on home wine-making due to a clerical error omitting the words “and/or beer” from the original bill! You just have to love those government bureaucrats.

Today, the fifty individual states are free to restrict, or even prohibit, the brewing of beer, mead, hard cider, wine and assorted other alcoholic beverages at home. One single example of this is a section of the Alabama code that states “in all counties of the state it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation o have in his or its possession any still or apparatus to be used for the manufacture of any alcoholic beverage of any kind or any alcoholic beverage of any kind illegally manufactured or transported with in the state or imported into the state from any other place without authority of the alcoholic control board of the state…”. While that is very restrictive, as many Alabamans know, there are several home brew stores operating within the state so the appetite for enforcement seems to be pretty low.

Most other states permit beer brewing at home and allow 100 gallons of beer per person (over the age of 21) per household up to a maximum of 200 gallons per year. No w I am sure you will agree that 200 gallons is a lot of beer! Lets put that number in a way we can more easily understand. 200 gallons of beer is the rough equivalent of 355 six packs or 177 twelve packs. If you are spending your hard earned cash on this much beer, you are definitely a candidate for home brewing! Just keep in mind that the government does not allow you to sell any of your home brewed beer because they tax alcohol and your sales would eat into their revenue. So keep it legal and make it for your own consumption.

Just like everything else individuals home brew beer for a variety of reasons. Obviously, if you are a real fan of beer, brewing beer yourself can save a whole lot of money (see the paragraph just above). Home brewing also gives you, as the brew master, the ability to change recipes to suit your own taste. If you are not able to find a beer on the commercial market that suits your taste, brew your own! Similarly if you love beer and are also conscious of the number of calories, you may want to brew a very low-ethanol beer that still has taste. Home brewing is a low cost satisfying hobby that offers competitions where you can test your favorite recipe against other home beer brewers. You may sometimes hear this referred to as “Craft Brewing”.

Author: Jesse L Moore
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable Pressure Cooker

Beer Trivia for the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl and its accompanying camaraderie are just around the corner. It is the perfect time to wow your buddies with Super Bowl trivia, especially that concerning odd pieces of information on that great American beverage, beer.

The first Super Bowl football championship was played in 1967, pitting the Green Bay Packers against the Kansas City Chiefs. The sports-history breaking game took place on January 15, 1967, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, following the merger of the NFL with the fledgling AFL. The AFL, under new Commissioner Al Davis, was well on its way to bringing the NFL to its knees by signing more and more top NFL players away from the NFL, along with top college talent, but AFL team owners, who dreamt more of being part of the NFL establishment than dominating professional football with their own league, accepted the NFL’s merger terms, to combine into a single league, with the Super Bowl game to decide the league’s championship.

Ancient Egyptian pyramid builders were partial to beer, which they usually drank through a straw. The beer’s flavor was much like that of Chardonnay.

Unlike the beer of other countries, American beer is made mostly of rice. Rice gives beer a lighter taste and its use was promoted to appeal to women buyers.

In 1642, Hoboken, New Jersey was home to America’s first brewery.

We’ve all heard of the phrase “rule of thumb.” Legend has it that it evolved from the practice of brewers, in the days before the invention of thermometers, would poke a thumb or finger into the beer mixture in an attempt to find the most suitable temperature for adding yeast. If the mixture was too cold, the yeast wouldn’t grow but if it was too hot, the yeast would die.

England is the home of the word “toddlers.” The drinking water was so contaminated that it was prohibited to be used for that purpose. Beer was used as a substitute beverage because it was inexpensive, abundant, and during the brewing process the water was boiled. Toddlers were being weaned off mother’s milk and the logical substitution was beer. Unfortunately, the children were not acclimated to the side effects of beer. This, paired with their large motor muscles being unaccustomed to supporting their bodies, really demonstrated how to toddle across the room.

Low in vitamins? Beer is loaded with the B-complex vitamins.

It is thought the first beer came into existence from moist grains sitting around for an extended time.

To remove the head of foam from the top of your beer, stick your fingers in it. If you put salted peanuts in a glass of beer, the nuts will dance around.

A person who collects beer mats practices tegestology while a collector of beer bottles is a labeorphilist.

From the 14th to 18th centuries, European and American universities provided beer to their students from their own in-house breweries. In 1674, not only did Harvard have its own brewery but also had five beer halls which were burned down by rioting divinity students.

In the 13th century, it was common practice to use beer to baptize children.

It is suspected that Attila the Hun died of suffocation induced by a bloody nose after passing out from too much alcohol at his bachelor party.

Author: Terry Kaufman
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty tariff

Beer Vessels Across History

It is commonly known that beer has been with mankind for a long while. The way we consumed beer changed as beer expanded, grew, and improved. The earliest vessels man used for drinking beer included earthenware, pottery, carved out wood, and even sewn-together pieces of leather. The quality of the beer glass saw small advancements as time passed on. During the bubonic plague beer steins were popular because of their enclosed top to prevent bugs from landing in the beer and getting them ill.

The development of glass might have been the most important part of the way beer glasses are made today. As beer glasses became increasingly popular, customers could really see what they were consuming and wanted a lighter and better color and flavor. This led to the filtration of beers; people no longer wanted the coarse chunks that were found in the earlier beers of the breweries. With this new, more aesthetically pleasing era of beer glasses, it seemed like beer steins were on the way out.

The development of beer glasses continued and produced a number of glasses for all types of different beers. The 16-ounce pint glass is the most popular glass in the U.S.. It was soon discovered that the design let a part of the carbonation to be freed and let the smell be more pronounced. It is also favored for its storage capabilities; pint glasses can be placed on top of each other and stored upright on shelves, quickly making them popular with the bartenders who ended up having to wash out each individual glass.

An attempt to get customers to buy their kind of beer by earlier breweries led to some exceptional and groundbreaking moves on the marketing and advertising front. Giving away glasses to people was one way that breweries discovered to promote their products even with it illegal. This led to the breweries developing beer glasses that were works of art unto themselves. Gold or silver embossing on either side of the glass was not uncommon for these first ornate and pricey glasses. Gradually, artists for the breweries began doing intricate etchings on either side of the beer glasses or steins and even created a method of firing enamel paint onto the glasses. Even though they were manufactured more recently than many other collectibles, these painted glasses remain some of the most valuable and rare today. Nowadays, some of the beer memorabilia and signs are worth thousands of dollars and sought out worldwide by eager collectors. Have you looked up in the top of Grandpa’s dresser in a while?

Author: Michael Usry
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets

Beer Gifts For A Beer Lover

At the risk of sounding stereotypical there is one thing that most men enjoy and can’t get enough, beer. Now this isn’t to suggest that the majority of males have a problem with alcohol, just that we all enjoy a nice cold brew once and a while. It might be a Belgian white, an Irish stout, or a good German ales there is something for all beer lovers. With the increased popularity in microbreweries and different types of beer, something else has grown in popularity, beer gifts. More or less anything related to beer, mugs, steins, trinkets, and of course beer itself.

A wonderful place to pick up some more trinket like beer gifts is your local Spencer’s Gift’s. You should have one in your local mall, stop in next time you notice it. They have a vast array of beer related gifts to tickle any beer lovers fancy. From mugs, to novelty gifts it’s a great place to find items for a beer lovers office, or den. Now most beer lovers will agree the best beer gift you can give someone who loves beer is beer itself. There are so many microbreweries opening these days, it’s pretty impossible that anyone has tried them all. Visit a specialty store in your area and see what specialty beers you can find for that beer lover in your life.

It’s strange to say but beer is becoming almost on par with wine for variety. You can get beer in almost any flavor, and from every part of the world. While it will never be as elegant as wine, beer lovers can talk for hours about how their favorite draft is made, and always enjoy trying something new.

If you really want to find original beer gifts for that special someone take the time to search on the Internet. It’s probably one of the best places to find original beer gifts, and at a fantastic price. For antique and original mugs, and glasses why not check out ebay. You might even find old advertisements and signs from a favorite beer brand. For more conventional beer gifts there are lots of retailers online that sell mugs, key chains, and the life. Again you’ll never go wrong with a fine selection of ales themselves for, but these are all great ideas to get that perfect man or women who can’t get enough beer for that special occasion.

Author: Ian Henman
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty tariff

The Health Benefits of Beer Drinking

I would like to start this post just by saying that I know that there are many horrors of alcohol abuse and that there are many reasons why drinking alcohol may lead to an early exit but at the same time I just bottled my fourth batch of home made beer, Barons Beer actually, and thought that it would be fun to come up with a great big list of why beer is good for you.

Cancer preventer – A compound found only in hops, which are used to make beer, have been discovered to prevent cancer. Of course we all know that hops are an ingredient in beer and therefore Xanthohumol has high hopes of making beer a new anti cancer drug. Xanthohumol flavinoids have been tested and its use is hoped to be a preventative treatment against prostate and colon cancer and even may be a form of hormone therapy for women.

Getting your vitamins – A friend of mine used to say there is a pork chop in every glass of beer but recent studies show that there is vitamin B6 in beer increases the level of vitamin B6 in a beer drinker’s blood which has been shown to decrease the level of homocysteine which increase the chances of heart disease.

Reducing chance of heart disease – alcohol drinkers had higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, often called the “good” cholesterol, which is a protective form of blood fat. The alcohol drinkers also had lower levels of fibrinogen, a protein that promotes blood clots, as well as elevated levels of other molecules (platelets) that prevent the clotting and stickiness of blood cells.

Reduction in Kidney stones – A Finnish-U.S. study of beer-drinking, middle-aged men was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 1999. The report stated that an increase in beer consumption may reduce the risk of developing kidney stones. Results showed that there was a 40 percent lower risk of kidney stones in beer drinkers, but the researchers were stumped as to whether the results were due to water, alcohol or hops.

Defying the bad of X-Rays – Beer helps reduce chromosomal damage from radiation exposure thanks to beta-pseudouridine. According to a study by the Japanese researchers from the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, and the Tokyo University of Science Blood samples were taken from test subjects before and after they had drunk about 630ml of beer. Apparently, when the samples were exposed to X-rays and other types of radiation, after the subjects had drank the beer their samples showed at least 30% fewer aberrations in the blood cells.

Memory Booster – A Swedish team has shown that mice fed with moderate amounts of alcohol grew new nerve cells in the brain. The full implications of the Karolinska Institute research – which appears in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology – are unclear, but Stefan Brene told the BBC: “We believe that the increased production of new nerve cells during moderate alcohol consumption can be important for the development of alcohol addiction and other long-term effects of alcohol on the brain.”

Slow the Aging Process – In a study published in the March issue of International Immunopharmacology, scientists at Austria’s Innsbruck Medical University found that hops, a key ingredient in beer, affect the production of neopterin, a telltale sign of inflammation, and levels of the amino acid tryptophan (low levels are associated with more inflammation.)

Keeps you Awake – Although there is no caffeine in Beer, beer was found to reduce neopterin production and suppress degradation of tryptophan, according to a study. (Tryptophan is also commonly cited as the reason people feel tired after gorging on Thanksgiving turkey.) “This suppression might be connected with the calming effect of beer,” the researchers note, “since its normalizing effect on the tryptophan balance improves the availability of the ‘happiness hormone’ serotonin.” And who wouldn’t want happiness to be more available?

OK and now a few more from me.

Relaxation – This is a good one for almost anyone that has sat on a patio on a spring or summer afternoon. The relaxation and relief of stress is famous for those having a beer even if the conversation always seems to turn to those office politics that get everyone riled up.

Reduces inhibitions - As we all know there are times we wish that we had gotten up and said something, either to those at work or a pretty girl at a bar and for this the alcohol in beer is a very good lubricant to the mind and mouth and will help in those situations where shyness gets the better of us.

Excuse for bad behavior – although there is no link to bad behavior and beer, many people have been known to say or do bad and ridiculous things and in the case where someone had consumed to much beer before this…well there is a good excuse just waiting to be used.

So the next time someone looks down their nose at you for the stories that you tell about the night before and the beer that you drank. Come back here and point out that you were just doing the healthy thing and having a couple of beers.

Author: Bill Nadraszky
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rate

Beer – More Things You Can Learn

In a previous article we started a discussion of some of the things you can learn about beer. We covered some of the basics. But beer goes way beyond basics. Maybe that’s why over 100,000 people each month do Internet search engine lookups on beer. Ready for some more things you can learn about beer? Great! Let’s begin!

Everybody talks about ABV or alcohol by volume. Every beer drinker should know his ABV or he’s going to be in a lot of trouble if he wants to keep from getting too sloshed out of his mind. ABV simply means what portion of the total amount of liquid in the bottle of beer is alcohol. Why is this important? Very simple. The more alcohol by volume, the more actual alcohol that you’re drinking. That’s why you can drink three bottles of one beer with an alcohol by volume of say 9% and feel nothing, while at the same time drink only two bottles of a beer with an alcohol by volume of 20% and get rip roaring drunk. It’s not the number of bottles of beer. It’s how much alcohol is in each one.

What about freshness? Did you know that beer can go stale? Sure can. Well, no need to worry because you can also learn how to tell the freshness of your beer and how to keep your beer fresh. These tips include things like buying your beer right from the cooler to begin with, checking the freshness or package date, checking for dust (sure sign of stale beer), not buying beer that’s stored in direct light and not buying beer that is on sale. Sale beer is stale beer.

You can even learn proper etiquette on tipping for a bottle or glass of beer when at a bar. After all, you tip your waitress when you order food, so why not tip your bartender when ordering a beer. You should always keep some spare change in your pocket for doing this. Even if your bottle of beer is only a couple of bucks, throw the bartender two bits. You’ll feel much better for it.

What about home brewing? Well, believe it or not, if you look hard enough, you can actually find articles on how to brew your own beer, from picking the ingredients to how to mix them to the type of equipment you’ll need. There’s a lot to learn about brewing your own beer. Just make sure you check with the local laws to ensure that you’re not in violation of any town ordinances.

And if all that isn’t enough, there is always the history of beer itself. You can learn when the first beer was made, when the first major manufacturer of beer came to be and who it was. You can even learn about the history of every company that ever sold beer on this planet. It’s enough reading to keep you busy for years. Oh and in case you’re wondering, the first beer brewed in the United States was brewed by the colonists in Virginia in 1587.

See, there’s a lot you can learn about beer besides how to burp after a good swig of it.

Author: Michael Russell
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Mobile device news