Over the last decade, craft beer culture has exploded. There are now more than 1600 breweries operating in the US alone, a number that continues to grow year after year. Beer 101 is a guide to understanding the history of brewing, beer culture, and (my favorite part) the enjoyment of good beer.

Part 1 – History of Beer

As my first post in what will become a five part series about the science and art of beer, it seems appropriate to start with a little history. To consider yourself a scholar of any art, you have to know its roots and, with a history that spans several millenia and nearly every continent on the globe, there’s plenty to know about beer. I don’t pretend to know it all, but I can give you what I consider a ‘bartender’s history,’ basically enough that you should be able to chat up any local beer geek or the guy behind the bar at your favorite brewpub.

Though the numbers vary, most people agree that beer was first brewed sometime between 8,000 and 12,000 years ago. That’s a huge window, but there really isn’t a way to know exactly how long ago man first put yeast to malt and invited a few friends over to dream up the wheel. It suffices to say that beer is old and widespread and comes in all sorts of forms thanks to the cultures that brewed it and the different ways people have enjoyed it over the years.

As we know it today, beer is brewed with four main ingredients: water, yeast, hops, and some sort of grain. That formula holds true just about as far back as we can look, though hops are a fairly recent addition. Hops serve as a bittering agent in beer and so can be substituted with all sorts of crazy herbs. Ever heard of Bog Myrtle? The point is, beer is shaped by culture and geography and always has been. The grains used in beers around the world used to be directly related to what the landscape could sustain. Without modern agrarian technology, people couldn’t just grow barley where they pleased, despite its hardy disposition. Oats and rye thrive up North, while hops remain among the more fickle plants used to brew. If you traveled the world around 500 CE, you’d be hard pressed to find two beers that tasted even remotely alike.

Enough of this wishy-washy fablery, though. Let’s get down to specifics. Some time in the years 800-900 CE the world saw the first use of hops as a bittering agent, though it wouldn’t become widespread until the year 1500. That’s also about the time we started to see serious legislative efforts (Hammurabi’s Code aside) aimed at improving the quality of the world’s favorite libation. In 1516, Wilhelm IV and his Bavarian pals enacted the now infamous Reinheitsgebot, the standard of purity for all beer.

Fast forward a couple hundred years and the industrial revolution gives way to standardized brewing practices, giving brewers the ability to mass produce a consistent product. At the same time, 1842 to be precise, Czech brewers find a way to filter the pale lager they’d been brewing in the town of Pilsen (Plze). Thus, the Pilsner was born and would start making its way around the world. Across the pond, American breweries were sprouting up everywhere.

The boom peaked in 1873 with 4,131 breweries operating in the US. Most were short-lived. Thanks to refrigeration technology in railcars, regional brewers were able to expand rapidly, pushing their way onto the national scene. American drinkers flocked to the big name brands and their big, consistent products. By 1919, the year Prohibition began, there were just over 1500 breweries left. When the law was repealed in 1933 fewer than half that number would reopen their doors, and many of those that did failed shortly after. The American brewing scene grew ever dimmer. World War I suppressed German culture in the states to the point that many German-style beers disappeared. The invention of the beer can in 1934 gave big brewers a firmer grip on the American public and by 1980 there were fewer than 100 operating breweries in the United States.

A young enthusiast named Fritz Maytag had seen his local brewery, Anchor Brewing, struggle to make ends meet. He had purchased a majority of the company in 1965, but it still struggled. He became the sole owner in 1969 and two years later, started bottling Anchor Steam. Over the next three years, Maytag would lead Anchor to produce four additional varieties of beer, including its annual Christmas Ale. No one was calling it ‘micro-brewing’ but it was clear, at least in San Francisco, that a brewing revolution was on its way.

The 80’s and 90’s brought about a new boom in brewery openings. A lot of businessmen saw potential in the industry, opening new brewhouses and quickly thereafter closing them, leaving behind a glut of equipment and space for the enthusiasts that would start some of the craft breweries we know and love today. In 2009, the number of operating American breweries was the highest it had been in 100 years, as high as it had been just before Prohibition.

Check back next week for part two in our series on beer, Beer 101: A Crash Course in Zythology, when I’ll cover the brewing process as we know it today. In the meantime, be sure to check out our ‘iLoveBeer: Zythology App Tailgating Giveaway‘ for a chance to win tailgating gear like a new grill, an iPod speaker system, or party-to-go cooler.

A-B InBev is straddling the fence in the current beer market. Anheuser-Busch has long been the dominant American brewer in the domestic market, but when it joined the InBev group, the Budweisers were suddenly in the same family with traditionally highbrow beers like Leffe, Stella Artois, and Boddingtons. Even though your average beer geek will start wailing and gnashing his teeth at the mere mention of Anheuser-Busch or any of its products, most of America still drinks domestic, lager-style beer.

In order to help its customers branch out a bit, A-B InBev put together a free iPhone app called iLoveBeer (iTunes Link). The app is supposed to promote zythology, the study and appreciation of beer, by helping consumers find new beers to try, offering meal pairings, and providing detailed descriptions of proper pouring procedure for several of the brands. While none of these features – with the exception of the pouring instructions – are particularly detailed, I think getting these ideas into the hands of American consumers can only help improve the national beer experience. Most beer drinkers still think their decision is simply between Bud or Bud Light and MGD or Miller Lite. iLoveBeer aims to put more options in front of the consumer and to remind people that beer can provide a sophisticated dining experience that would turn up the noses of the wine snobs in our lives. Also, who’s to say that the guy who tries a Michelob Porter won’t love the style and start to branch out and try a Fuller’s London Porter or a Bell’s Expedition Stout.

Though iLoveBeer is simple, I think A-B InBev is doing both a smart thing and a good thing for the consumer market with the app. It raises awareness of the wide selection of InBev beers and encourages beer drinkers to branch out. What so evil about that?

Oktoberfest is one of the great parties that every guy should experience. Huge beers and drunken ladies showing off their cleavage in authentic Bavarian costumes come to mind. Oktoberfest is a two-week festival held each year in Munich during late September and early October. With six million people attending every year, it’s the world largest fair and one of the most famous events in the world

This year, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton jetted out to Munich to join in the fun. Naturally, they put on the appropriate costumes to show off their assets. We collected some great photos from this year’s party, including the two celebs along with some of the local ladies as well

It’s not too late to get out there and join in the fun, so go ahead and grab your own Oktoberfest tickets.

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It sure is nice when companies send samples of new food and drink products to review! Here are a few more we tried recently:

Unwind (TM) Low Calorie Relaxation Beverage–This is the opposite of Red Bull. In fact, it’s the polar opposite of those high caffeine drinks. Unwind contains a natural blend of melatonin, valerian root, rose hips and passion flower, and comes in Goji Grape, Pom Berry and Citrus Orange flavors. I tried them all, but not all at the same time. Let me tell you, this stuff works. I would advise that you drink it in the evening or before bed, because it relaxed me to the point of making me extremely sleepy. Not only that, this stuff, despite being low in calories, is delicious. The citrus is a tad bitter but the grape and berry flavors are awesome. Now I need to find more of it. If you’d like to, check out the Unwind website. Happy relaxing!

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Bitches Brew (album):

RIYL: Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Return to Forever

Bitches Brew (beer):

RIYL: Dogfish Head Raison D’etre, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Tröegs Flying Mouflan

Miles Davis’ creative spirit in the late ’60s and ’70s was particularly restless, and his music gave voice and volume to that restlessness, as he found new fans and embittered jazz purists by adding electric instruments to his palate. In a Silent Way (1969), in particular, saw Davis and his sidemen playing with side-long compositions built from extended sessions that were cut and edited by Davis and producer Teo Macero. It was dense, sometimes difficult, often beautiful music, requiring active engagement on the part of the listener, and also an open mind. Rock writer Lester Bangs might have said it best when he described it as “part of a transcendental new music which flushes categories away and, while using musical devices from all styles and cultures, is defined mainly by its deep emotion and unaffected originality.”

For Bitches Brew (1970), Davis expanded his band, as well as his vision. A given track might have featured, in addition to his trumpet, two or three electric pianos, saxophone, bass clarinet, one or two electric basses, two drum kits, one or two additional percussion pieces, and electric guitar. It was a tempest coming out of the speakers, with intricate compositions to match that gave the maelstrom a form and power virtually unheard of in jazz at the time.

The mastery of Davis and band on Bitches Brew has never been clearer than on Sony’s new Legacy Edition, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the record’s original release. Though the bonus tracks are questionable additions (we’re not sure why sub-three-minute “single mixes” of four of these cuts were needed in the first place), the pristine sonics of the remastered discs bring all manner of nuance into full relief.

“Pharaoh’s Dance,” which opens the record, has an insistent yet understated groove, which enables Davis to steer and pianists Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul (who composed the song) to throw sparks at will. Davis himself sounds particularly fierce on “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down,” foreshadowing some of the dark themes and sounds he would build in later “fusion period” live albums like Agharta and Dark Magus.

Those records would go deep into the funk of the early ’70s; here, Davis’ vision is more in line with the wide open textures of late-’60s rock. You can hear it in the rhythms of “Spanish Key,” which are as simultaneously unfettered and locked-in as were the Grateful Dead’s two-headed percussion hydra at the time. Guitarist John McLaughlin is all blues in “Spanish Key,” but given to shorter lyrical bursts in Bitches Brew‘s title song, in which the instruments bounce around and into one another in a fabulous blanket of echo. In some ways, you can hear elements of ’70s fusion, noise rock, and even prog take root in these fertile moments of brilliance. There was certainly enough here to take as inspiration for a long time to come.

The music of Miles Davis, Bitches Brew in particular, served as inspiration to Sam Calagione, founder and president of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, a Delaware-based creator of fine “off-centered ales” with a seriously devoted following (this writer included). To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Bitches Brew the album, Dogfish has created a limited edition Bitches Brew beer – a marvelous combination of three parts imperial stout and one part honey beer.

May we suggest drinking your 750 ml bottle of Bitches Brew beer while watching the DVD included in the Bitches Brew Legacy Edition set, an hour-plus program taped in Copenhagen in 1969. Open the beer and take a whiff – you’ll notice the deep bouquet, almost like a wine that’s aged in mahogany. Put on the DVD and watch the band – all acoustic, except Chick Corea’s electric piano – launch into the cosmic groove of “Directions.”

Pour some beer into a wineglass or brandy snifter – no pint glasses; this stuff is meant to be savored, slowly, in small portions. Notice the opaque brown in the glass, the tan head; take another sniff as air hits this elixir and the woodiness of its scent comes to life. Take a sip and revel in that malty first hit, that lingering bitterness. Give it a moment to sink in.

Watch the band bounce off one another, particularly Corea and drummer Jack DeJohnette, weaving in and out of one another’s path, pausing only to listen to a note, a snare hit, something to push the conversation into its next phase. Hear saxophonist Wayne Shorter expound at great length on a theme, echoing a phrase from Davis’ own horn, or pulling a fragment from his leader and expanding it. Marvel at how muscular the band sounds, how tight – it’s not as expansive as the massive Bitches Brew ensembles, but just as strong in its own right.

Take another sip, this time leaving the beer in your mouth a few seconds before swallowing. Notice the sweetness of the honey beer gently touching your palate before the bitter wave washes back again as you swallow. Notice the chocolate and coffee tones in that wave as you think to yourself how seeing the music being made onscreen makes it all the more inspiring – a young, cool Shorter in the final stages of his apprenticeship with Davis (soon to launch Weather Report); a young, hippie regalia-bedecked Corea, coaxing just the right notes from his piano; a powerful Dave Holland, fingers flying over his upright bass’ strings, keeping up nicely with the propulsive forces around him.

Note that there is something special about seeing Davis play, watching him at arguably the height of his creative power, making powerful new music, in complete control of his band, while being led by his muse. Take another sip. Drink it all in. (Sony Legacy 2010)

Miles Davis’ MySpace page
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s Web Site

Click to purchase Bitches Brew at Amazon.

We hope you have a happy and safe holiday today on America’s birthday. Enjoy the beer, the fireworks, your cookout and your time with family and friends, and enjoy this great shot of Stacy as well.

Here’s some more American flag bikinis.

Summer is here, so there are tons of events where a portable chair comes in handy, from little league baseball games, to fireworks displays and family cookouts, along with fishing and camping outings. Also, football season is right around the corner so portable chairs definitely come in handy when you’re tailgating.

So as you’re contemplating gifts for Father’s Day, this Sherpa Chair offers a great option. The Sherpa Chair folds completely and it takes up little space. The chair has shoulder straps that allow it to be carried just like a backpack, with both hands free to carry other items, so your dad can easily hand this off to the kids or grand kids for them to carry as well! It also sports a spacious pouch for carrying extra gear or some cold beers.

With these features you can carry the Sherpa Chair anywhere with ultimate convenience. It is ideal for a lawn chair, camping chair, fishing chair, hunting chair or even a sporting chair.

Check back for our full Father’s Day Gift Guide for more suggestions.

We are introducing a new Happy Hour feature on the blog that will go up every Friday. We’ll start with a post about a recent beer review or cigar review from the site, followed by a drink recipe in the next post. There’s nothing like a drink to kick off the weekend!

Then we’ll follow that up with a song video to kick off the weekend every Friday at 5:00 PM EST. Check back soon to see our pick for the first song.

As for the beer, we’re in the middle of Spring, so this review from Mike Barkacs is a good choice to kick things off.

The Belgians do not have a monopoly on great wheat beers, even though it may seem like it when you look at the store shelves. Ayinger Brau-Weisse from the Bavarian region of Germany is one of the best wheats you’ll ever have. To me, nothing says spring like a good wheat beer, after slogging through a long, cold winter, drinking those dark and heavy beers to keep warm, or drunk enough to not care. As soon as the snow starts to melt, it’s time to celebrate with something that tastes more like warm sunlight rather than a warm fireplace.

Brau-Weisse is the perfect beer for that. Springtime in a glass. The cloudy, pale straw colored beer is topped with a dense white head that will fade to solid lacing. Like any respectable wheat beer, it is unfiltered and hazy with yeast. Be careful with the pour if that bothers you, but this is a beer that gets even better with the extra sediment. The aroma is of bananas, but more like some sort of banana flavored candy. And cloves. All the cloves promise that this isn’t going to be some sticky, sweet tasting mess.

So grab a cold one and kick off a good weekend!

One of the best parties of the year, Cinco de Mayo, is only two days away. Get in the mood by checking out this great pictorial of Cristy Mendivil, a Mexican model we shot earlier this year for our Girl Next Door section. After a couple of shots of tequila and some bottles of Mexican beer, hopefully all the girls you meet look half as good as Cristy.

Also, start rounding up your friends and making plans by checking out our Cinco de Mayo e-card creator!

The new “Double Down” sandwich from KFC is getting quite a bit of buzz, so we had to try it out. You’re certainly not thinking about your waistline when eating it, so it better deliver on taste! In that area we were very impressed – it’s juicy, greasy and delicious! We’re guessing it will become a late-night favorite for the beer-drinking crowd (which includes most Bullz-Eye readers).

The “sandwich” boasts 540 calories, 32 grams of fat and 1,380 milligrams of sodium! It’s really not much of a sandwich as it doesn’t have any bread. Instead you have 2 slabs of fried (or grilled) chicken with bacon, cheese and more in between. Fortune calls it the “Colonel Punishment” while acknowledging it has created a media sensation. Jimmy Fallon recently featured it on his show.

It’s only available for a limited time, but we’re guessing this one will become a regular item. We can’t remember the last time a so called sandwich had so many people either offended or excited to dig in or stay away!