Listened to this interesting radio interview on Vermont Public Radio today while driving down to NYC and it got me thinking about local beer. The author of
The Taste of Place, Amy Trubek, discussed the importance of how locally produced foods can create a unique signature taste the really reflects the area in which it is produced. She mentions how unlike the locavore movement (which has a political or moral motivation) the
cuisine du terroir movement (which translates to something like "food with a sense of place") focuses on creating flavors that capture the spirit of a specific location.
I couldn't help but wonder if there exists a brewery or at least a homebrewer producing beer entirely from local (perhaps self-cultivated) ingredients and what impact if any this has had on its "uniqueness". I also wondered, how local must local be? Hops may be grown in one's own back yard... but if they're Kent Goldings growing in Kentucky then really, how local are we talking?
I'm no farmer, but the thought of being able to create a really unique beer through procuring/producing unique ingredients really peaked my interest. I kind of get the feeling that as many varieties of malt, yeast, hops, additional flavorings and possible combinations of these that there are, we're still using very similar ingredients to produce our beer. Does it even make a difference that so many of us are all buying from L.D. Carlsons or Muntons?
Would be interesting to hear from a brewer who really does it up local style.
In any case it was a pretty interesting show (but not really at all about beer), check out the podcast here if you like...
http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/79961/
Beer du Terroir?
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