Some Suds

This is a picture of picking hops in the bad old days. How uncomfortable does this look? But from the past we derive the future and that's what this post is about.

This past week at Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta there was a competition for students. The focus was on using beers of Flying Dog Brewery in original recipes. The winners will be posted on their web site. We were lucky enough to have Eric Warner, one of the premier craftbrewers in the US, as a judge in the contest.

It was great to see the enthusiasm, creativity and interest from future chefs in creating some really good dishes using beer as a key ingredient. Some were more successful than others, which is to be expected. The better offerings displayed a finished flavor that fully incorporated the beer in the overall recipe. The better recipes allowed the taste of the individual beer to come through as well as being integrated in the dish.

Eric is a great speaker and loved judging and meeting the students and a million thanks to him. Despite a busy schedule he took time to speak to my Beverage class the next day. Throughout his visit there was enormous interest in the competition and in the students to learn more about good beer.

This was, I think, indicative of how good beer will progress in the years ahead. Craft beers are where wine was in the 1980s as far as market share and public interest. The sleeping giant of American consumers is waking and an awful lot of that interest will be increasingly focused on craft beers. Recent sales show that while industrial beers sales are flat at best, craft beers are increasing at rates of around 30-45% per year.

I see this as part of a general trend that is also reflected in the swelling of interest in slow food, naturally raised beef, pork and lamb and poultry as opposed to the horrors of factory farming, and a passion for people to feel a connectedness to their food.

There is a deep seated need in people to be a part of their environment, part of the land, and this most basic need is evidenced through our food. It is no accident that people are starting push back against frankenfoods, hormone and anti-biotic laced meat, chemical fertilizers and pesticides that do so much damage to the natural world.

Craft brewing is part of this and the beers produced help give people a real sense of being connected to their food. It is reassuring to know that somewhere there is a real person supervising the brewing; and taking a personal interest in his or her products. All is not faceless and spiritless mega-corporations. Ever notice how many beers are increasingly going organic? Same idea.

So support your local craft brewer and brew pub. These folks represent a return to one the most personal aspects of society. They deserve everyone's support. In five years, people will be talking about beers the way they now talk about wines. Be a part of this wholly positive movement.

Prossit!