lifestyles
Malted barley and wheat are cracked in a roller mill behind this wall, producing grist.
- Hot water and grist are mixed to produce mash. Wort, which is a sweet, clear liquid, is filtered out of the mash and put in the kettle.
The wort is brought to a boll. Some hops are added early for a mild bitterness. Other hops are put in later for aroma. Afterwards, the hot wort is cooled to fermentation temperature through a heat exchanger.
Yeast and cold wort are added to one of these tanks, and fermentation begins. The yeast and wort are mixed, creating a beverage with alcohol and carbon dioxide. After fermentation, aging gives beer its final, smooth taste.
Filtration removes the yeast, clarifying the beer. After filtration, the beer is stored in serving tanks that are inside a walk-in cooler. It stays there until it is served.
Source: Free State Brewery
Micah Laaker/KANSAN
microbreweries Brewing beer and big business.
You can find them in towns and cities across the nation. They have taken an old idea and made it into a booming fad. And they serve everything from food to berry-flavored beers. With about 350 hometown breweries pouring their own style of home brew, beer may never be the same.
By Casey Barnes Kansan staff writer
If you had told Henry King two years ago that he would be drinking a pumpkin-flavored beer this Thanksgiving, he would have laughed.
But it's the microbrewers — making everything from chocolate—to fruit-flavored beers — who are having the last laugh.
What started on the West coast in the 1970s as real ale with no additives or chemicals has mushroomed into a big business. Since the 1980s, California, Oregon and Washington have opened about 125 microbreweries.
King, executive director of the Brewers' Association of America, said brewing companies were creating options to what he called "the bland beers."
Today there are close to 350 microbreweries across the nation, and King anticipates at least 750 of them in the United States and Canada by the year 2000.
"Microbreweries are bringing the romance and sophistication to beer that has been lacking." King said. "There is an upscale, educated group of people that is attracted to something different and is willing to pay substantial amounts of money for it."
And the money that is dished out to drink these beers is making the business of microbreweries a big investment.
"It is not just brewers who are making these beers," King said. "They are lawyers, doctors, scientists and artists."
Microbreweries produce a fraction of the beer that major breweries like Coors and Anheuser-Busch do, but they sell their spirits for almost double the price.
They are entrepreneurs making millions of dollars on relatively small amounts of beer.
King said 100,000 barrels of craft brewing would make more than a million dollars a year after taxes.
It's a profit that even the major breweries are noticing.
"It has been building for 10 years, and it is here to stay." King said. "The biggest indication of this is that Anheuser-Busch is investing. They wouldn't put their money into something that is just a fad."
Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors are all investigating and investing in microbreweries of their own, King said.
But the sudden popularity of micro breweries has some people wondering if they are only a phase in the beer industry.
Chuck Magerl, brewer at Free State Brewing Company, 636 Massachusetts St. said that while microbreweries might be a fad, he hoped that they would still be successful once the popularity had passed.
Magerl was the proprietor of Free State when it opened in February 1989. He said he had always been interested in quality foods
and drinks and was intrigued with the history of brewing in Kansas.
"Over 100 years ago, there used to be more than 100 breweries," Magerl said. "Prohibition turned the law against the business, and prior to the 80s, there weren't many breweries around."
Mageri said the popularity of microbreweries tied in with the increasing American interest in experiencing a variety of cuisine and beers from around the world.
While there are not any franchises of microbreweries now, Magerl said there would be someday.
"When the industry comes to that, people will not just respond out of curiosity but will be able to respond to quality," he said.
KU students may already be responding to the quality of microbreweries.
Bull Winkles Bar, 1344 Tennessee St, began to sell Boulevard Pale Ale. Boulevard Wheat and Leinenkugel's Red last spring because customers were asking for them, said Tucker Trotter, bar manager.
Bull Winkles sells more of the Boulevard beer than Coors Light or Miller Light but sells more Bud Light and Budweiser than any other beer, Trotted said. He said microbreweries were a fad for some people, but others were truly avid fans.
"Some people drink it because it is a fad, but every once and a while you'll find someone who really appreciates the taste of it." Trotter said.
Cody Callihan, Joplin, Mo., Junior, said he drank microbreweries' beers when they were available.
it is a much better beer with a stronger but better taste."
stronger but better ta-
Callihan said. "I usually
go downtown just to
drink those beers."
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Cultural Calendar
EXHIBITIONS AND LECTURES
Exhibition—Land and Its Uses: Photographs from the Collection, Sept. 3-Dec. 31 at the Spencer Museum of Art.
Tour du Jour—Mary Dusenbury on From Kashmir to Kutch: Textiles of Northwest India, 12:15 p.m. tomorrow at the Spencer Museum of Art. Exhibition—Sculptural Concerns: Contemporary America Metalworking, Nov. 5-Dec. 18 at the Spencer Museum of Art.
Master Classes - Claude Frank, plano, 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Lied Center. Open to the public. Exhibition - paintings by Kansas City artist Jane Pronko, ends tomorrow at The Lawrence Arts Center, 200 W. Ninth St.
Exhibition—NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, Dec. 1-11 at Spencer Museum of Art.
PERFORMANCES Student Recital - Kristy Lundy, soprano, 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Swarthout Recital Hall.
Swarthout Recital Hall.
Inge Theatre Series presents "O Pioneersl," 8 p.m. tomorrow, Friday,
Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and
Wednesday in Swarthout Recital Hall.
Tickets $6 public, $3 students, $5 other students and senior citizens.
Holiday Concert—University Dance Company, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and
8 p.m.Saturday in Crafton-Preyer Theatre. Tickets $6 public, $3 students and senior citizens.
Concert—Topeka Symphony Youth Orchestra, 3 p.m. Sunday in White Concert Hall at Washburn University.
Holiday Vespers—KU choirs and University Symphony Orchestra, 3:30
and 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Lied Center. Tickets $6 public, $3 students and senior citizens.
Student Recital—KU Conducting Students with Concert Wind Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Swarthout Recital Hall.
The Topeka Symphony presents "Holiday Toys and Trimmings," 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Topeka Performing Arts Center.