Save the World...with BEER!!

[Sibling Chatty]

http://www.alternet.org/stories/43435/

Author describes the loss of "beerodiversity" in the modern marketplace...

The globalization of beer not only destroys the social, spiritual, and health-related benefits of small-scale home beer production. It also undercuts the vital role that home brewing plays in sustainable development throughout the world. For 10,000 years, brewing has been conducted at home, primarily by women, who were entrusted with safeguarding traditions that strengthen social bonds and build community identity. As an important component of diet, beer was distributed by female household heads according to the values of the community, which moderated consumption to socially acceptable levels. As an inherently small-scale and local endeavor, brewing also has had a low impact on environmental resources, relying on renewable energy sources and requiring little or no packaging or shipping.

Good article, covering both the sociological and financial aspects, not to mention the taste and quality concerns of microbrewing.

Come on beer drinkers and homebrewers. Let's hear from you!

[Sibling Lambicus the Toluous]

Puts me to mind of a quote from a beer book of mine:

I asked these Indians: "Do men ever make Chicha?"  My question was met with gales of laughter.  The women howled.  Bent over in hilarity, one replied, "Men can't brew.  Chicha made by men would only make gas in the belly.  You are a funny man!  Beer is women's work."
- Alan Eames

I've been putting it off, but I do need to brew a batch of beer.

[Opsa]

Wow... I'll have to dig out our stout making stuff. I put it away a while ago. It was making us too stout!