Craft Beer is for Lovers
Chapter 1 The American Tradition of Beer This concept discusses some aspects of beer history in America. Beer in the United States is manufactured by more than 3,000 breweries, which range in size from industry giants to brew pubs and microbreweries. The United States produced 196 million barrels of beer in 2012, and consumes roughly 28 US gallons of beer per capita annually. Although beer was a part of colonial life in the United States, the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1919 prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages and forced nearly all American breweries to close. After the repeal of Prohibition, the industry consolidated into a small number of large-scale breweries. Many of the big breweries (such as Anheuser-Busch InBev and Miller) that returned to producing beer after Prohibition still retain their dominance of the market in the 21st century. The most common style of beer produced by the big breweries is the American lager. However, the majority of the new breweries that have opened in the U.S. over the past three decades have been small breweries and brewpubs that commonly produce the following styles: American Pale Ale, American IPA, India Pale Lager, Black IPA, and the American "Double" or "Imperial" IPA. An example of a "Double" IPA is Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA. By the 1970s, consolidation and dominance by the country's major brewers led to the fewest number of breweries in the country's modern history. Despite this, the period also saw the beginnings of the country's current craft beer movement. In 1976, optical engineer and home brewer Jack McAuliffe founded New Albion Brewing Company in Sonoma County, California, becoming the nation's first microbrewery since Prohibition. Influenced by Fritz Maytag's recent turnaround of the Anchor Brewing Company and an earlier military stationing in Scotland, McAuliffe's brewery offered bottleconditioned porter, stout, and pale ale to a public more accustomed to lightlyflavored lagers. Despite only staying in business for seven years, New Albion ignited an interest in craft beer and set a precedent for a generation of craft brewers, including Ken Grossman and the owners of Mendocino Brewing Company, the nation's first brewpub. Today, the U.S. craft beer industry employs over 100,000 individuals brewing 15.6 million barrels of beer per year, generating roughly $14.3 billion in retail sales. Despite growth of the craft and microbrewing industry, however, craft beer still only accounts for 7.8% of total beer sales by volume in the United States, although that number is expected to rise in coming decades.
Chapter 2 The "off-centered" Craft Culture This concept presents the brand culture behind Dogfish Head Beer. Founded by Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head was started in 1995 in a small brewpub which aimed to bring original Beer, original food, and local music to the area of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Starting out as the smallest commercial brewery in America, brewing only 12 gallon batches, the brewery quickly grew in popularity due to their pioneering of experimentation with ingredients, and eventually expanded their brewing operations to a larger production facility in Milton, Delaware. Dogfish Head is not your typical brewery. They produce twenty unique styles of year round and seasonal beers, have ventured into making spirts, expanded their brewpub, and have even renovated an old Motel to convert it into their own Inn (matching the look and feel that comes with the Dogfish brand). Dogfish has become one of the most recognizable brands in the craft brew industry. The Dogfish brand embraces what they call an off-centered lifestyle by having a relaxed atmosphere at their brewery, researching and finding ingredients that are typically not used in brewing beer, selling unique clothing and bar accessories, hosting bocce ball tournaments, and creating a Randall to add even more off the wall ingredients into beer. From Dogfish Website: We are serious about our jobs and our company, don't get us wrong, but we still like to keep the group dynamics a bit crazy and off-centered. Even though we use the term "off-centere"d alot, it really does describe our work philosophy. I mean, seriously, we have a pseudourinating statue in our brewery, we sell a belt buckle that doubles as a bottle opener and have our own bocce courts at our Milton brewery. Sound a bit unconventional to you? Yea, we thought so... ( Our Environment, n.d.).
Chapter 3 A Perfectly Crafted Beer Infusion This concept goes over how to achieve a well-rounded beer infusion. Achieving particular flavor profiles can vary with the type of beer used with each infusion. What kinds of beers should you to use to achieve, or even enhance what you want? Finding recipe ideas and the ingredients used to achieve those results can assist a curious drinker (or brewer) in delivering a unique and custom libation. Providing a recipe for an infusion is not exactly done with measurements, however, is done with the concept of learning and understanding complementary flavors. For example, most beer drinkers know that a Mexican style pilsner/lager pairs well with lime, so infusing that type of beer with lime will produce a crisp, citrusy, refreshing beverage. The Mexican style beer and lime infusion can be taken a step further by adding a chopped up spicy pepper, and maybe even some smoked wood-chips into your Randall 3.0 infusing chamber to create an even more complex flavor profile. That's the beauty of the Randall 3.0: you experiment in drastically changing the flavor profile of any beer by adding random ingredients to try something new and different. And, if that experiment isn't to your liking, you can empty it out and try something else without affecting the original batch of beer. Perhaps you're interested in trying out a fall/winter holiday flavored beer? Try adding some cinnamon sticks, cranberries and cloves into the mix! Achieving a delicious infusion is all about finding fun ingredients that complement each other, as well as understanding how the ingreidents pair with the different types of beer, resulting in changing and (hopefully) enhancing the overall flavor of the beer. For the best results, allow 10-20 minutes for the added ingredients to hydrate with the beer prior to serving; this will ensure you experience the full flavor you are trying to achieve.
Chapter 4 How to Infuse Vanilla and Espresso Beans for a Stoutly Good Time Providing a recipe for an infusion is not exactly done with measurements, however, is done with the concept of learning and understanding complementary flavors. For example, most beer drinkers know that a Mexican style pilsner/lager pairs well with lime, so infusing that type of beer with lime will produce a crisp, citrusy, refreshing beverage. The Mexican style beer and lime infusion can be taken a step further by adding a chopped up spicy pepper, and maybe even some smoked wood-chips to create an even more complex flavor profile. Achieving particular flavor profiles can vary with the type of beer used with each infusion. What kinds of beers should you to use to achieve, or even enhance what you want? Finding recipe ideas and the ingredients used to achieve those results can assist a curious drinker (or server) in delivering a unique and custom libation. To achieve a vanilla and espresso bean flavor in a stout, the concept is quite simple: get some vanilla beans, and whole espresso beans (any type depending on what level of coffee strength you re looking to get) and add them into the infusion chamber of the Randall 3.0. In my opinion, this particular combination goes well with milk stouts because they re creamy from the lactose and are a little on the sweeter side, which balances the strong espresso beans. For a vanilla and espresso bean infused stout do the following: 1. Pick your stout! Select a nice and balanced stout to infuse your ingredients with. Note: If you re lost on what kind of stout you want to use, simply look up "stou"t on Wikipedia for a basic idea of the different types and narrow it down that way. 2. Make sure your Randall 3.0 is clean and sanitized. After ensuring your Randall 3.0 has been cleaned and sanitized, follow the How to Install a Dogfish Randall 3.0 to a Tap instruction guide to attach your Randall 3.0 to the tap line of the selected stout. 3. Add your ingredients. Once you reach Step 2 of the installation guide, that is when you will add in a balanced combination of vanilla and espresso beans into the transparent infusion chamber. Note: If you want more vanilla flavor, add more vanilla beans and less of the espresso beans, or vice versa 4. Continue through the rest of the installation guide. Follow the rest of the steps of the installation guide. Then, you re ready to begin your vanilla and espresso bean infusion!