Who does not like an ice cold lager on a bright day or after a tough days work? Many people do but what is it that makes lager so great? Well, we could spend many years talking about the virtues of lager and making an attempt to specify them all, but instead why not target the conception of lager and learn its slaking history! Lager is potentially the oldest and most well-liked alcoholic drink in the world today. Records of lager can be traced back to 5000 BC in the traditional papers of the Egyptians and Mesopotamians. It’s basic mixture of carbs and water made it an easy drink to make and changed into a staple, together with bread, in the diet of medieval times. It was infrequently a thick and floral mixture with frequently lethal flavorings that was a long way from what we now drink today.
In the middle ages, brewing lager shifted from housewives and became more a tool of the workman. Bars , Monasteries and Friars particularly, started brewing lager for the masses. Hops were added to prompt some sourness to the sweet brew making it more identifiable to your palate today. In 1516 the brewing guilds of Bavaria pushed for lager pureness laws making it illegal to brew lager with anything except barley, hops and water. (This naturally predated yeast) it was right after this in 1553 that Beck’s brewing of Belgium started manufacturing lager commercially for the masses. Many breweries started the method of mass production but with differing results, regional tastes and taste. Many distinguished men of the day brewed lager, occasionally hiring brew master’s from the old world to come and work their craft.
Lager brewing had not changed much until 1876, when Louis Pasteur was able to isolate a single yeast cell in a controlled lab environment therefore changing lager brewing for ever and ever. The true secret to fermentation was found and was now repeatable.
Since that point beer has been manufactured by many massive corporation companies around the planet but still keeps its workman roots with regional craft breweries and small micro breweries manufacturing superb product with a great regional feel and flavor. With the advent of the metal keg in 1964, it was now feasible for utterly hygienic and sterilized product to be shipped worldwide therefore waking the term Import or Domestic on Tap and giving us the modern brew we like and enjoy today.
