Ken Burns "Prohibition"

[Jacob_Marley]

I'm really enjoying the segment tonight on Ken Burn's "Prohibition" on PBS. This episode is about the speakeasys and the bootleggers and the effects on life back then.
Few alive today experienced first-hand the seriousness of brewing and vinting and distilling, and the politics and battles and poverty and fortunes it lead to.
Makes me even more proud to carry on the tradition.




(Didn't see a better place to post this comment, as "general chit chat" seems more non-brewing/vinting.)

 

[bob1852]

Yep, plenty of threads on hbt about this show. Haven't watched it yet, but plan to do so

 

[Jacob_Marley]

My point was that I'm proud to carry on such a historic and storied tradition.

I had searched, and found a grand total 3 threads in the past 30 days, and in all 3 of those "plenty of" threads you allude to, there isn't a single post specifically about how the historical aspect of brewing and vinting was significant to us having been attracted to the craft.

If I'd found it mentioned I would not have started this thread.

All of my grandparents were from the old country with brewers on one side (mom's side) and vinters on the other (dad's side).

I am curious how many on the forum are motivated by the history and tradition ... for me, it's a big part of it.

 

[Zixxer10R]

I'm motivated by beer. The history and tradition just make it fun.

 

[ABrewingApe]

I like the history and tradition of it, and Prohibition is a fascinating time--there's lots of remnants of it still scattered around. Including my own state's bizarre liquor distribution system and (recently updated, thank god) restrictions on distilleries. Prohibition also turned a lot of prime hop fields that used to be within walking distance of me into prime warehouse land, and they're not going to be growing anything there again. Bad craziness, the lot of it. But interesting!

I'm motivated more by the Reinheitsgebot-era type of regulation, though: the transition from freestyle home ales to standardized large breweries. I don't particularly want to stick it to The Man, but I'm curious to see what beer what like before there was one.

 

[Jacob_Marley]

I'm motivated more by the Reinheitsgebot-era type of regulation, though: the transition from freestyle home ales to standardized large breweries. I don't particularly want to stick it to The Man, but I'm curious to see what beer what like before there was one.

Reinheitsgebot ... "ve must preserve ze purity ..." (my Uncle Albert comes to mind) lol.

The need to standardize and organize is a very German thing. It seems there was a lot more of an acceptance of, shall we say, casual variation, in the tradition of the British Isles and other places. (folks, correct me if otherwise.)

The really early stuff is fascinating ... gruit for example ... though the use of gruit was common all over europe at one time, in Reinheitsgebot zer is only hops.

 

[arg]

Was of the impression that the Reinheitsgebot arose out of a desire to eliminate questionable ingredients and to create a brew fit for the royalty that all Germans would drink. That meant that beers should only be brewed with barley, rather than cheaper malts.

Germans are funny from what I learned in my 5 years of classes in schools, so who knows what the excuse actually is for such a dirty word.