UC Davis, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences

Home brewers get a passing, yet honorable, mention in the book. Have they shaped the beer industry or has the beer industry shaped them?

They've certainly come a long way. When I was research manager for Bass we knew that the secret was in the yeastliquid over powder, the right kind, quality, and so on. So we developed a home brew kit with great yeastand the beer was so good. The mistake we made was we gave it to all the senior management. So one of them gave it to their 16-year-old son to try and make and it was over from there. "You can't give them the chance to make great beer," they said. It's perfectly possible to make excellent beer at home. Not long ago I talked to the national homebrewers association in Oakland [Calif.] and they're really thirsty for more knowledge. They're so thirsty for beer and information. A number of people brewed before it was strictly legal to do so now they are leaders of the craft brewing community.

Homebrewing encourages people to be interested in beerand realize just how difficult it is to make good beer. If homebrewing teaches anyone anything it is that it is hard to make a good, consistent brew.

Do you homebrew?

I don't. It's too much like a day job. Baseball players don't go home and play baseball.

Is brewing more of a science, art or something in between?

It's definitely hard science and technologythere's no question about that. Brewing is one of the original, the longest standing use of biotechnology. It's only by understanding the science that you can make sure that you brew a product well.

So, it's clearly science and technology, but it's a passion as well. Think of the love and the joy of contemplating new painting. That's part of it. A skilled brewer's art is to apply the science and technology in crafting the brew.

Is a high-tech brew a better brew?

Technology helps. It's helps with consistency, especially. Above the technology, though, is the skill of the brewer; the ability to make their equipment sing and dance. At [UC] Davis, there's a brewery that was put in here in 1958 and it's a piece of junk. But some of the students can make it sing and dance. It's the skill, the aptitude of the brewer. A bad brewer will make crap beer no matter what they have.

The documentary Beer Wars paints the picture of a struggling craft brewing industry fighting an industry that is too big to defeat thanks to product placement (grocery stores), distribution and marketing. They're worried about Anheuser-Busch. You're worried about neo-prohibitionists. Which is the bigger enemy?

I personally think neo-prohibitionists are the bigger enemy. What i preach in the book is moderation and the middle ground. On the one hand, we have the growth of some very big brewing companies. Part of me is sad about that because I like the diversity.

On the other hand, you realize that there are a number of people out there that are pretty anti-alcohol for no reason. And I resent the extremes brewers are going to. There's a brewery in Scotland that is making beers with 55 percent alcohol and dressing them in animal skins. On the other extreme, you have some pretty powerful global corporations. Having said that, the craft sector is growing. Folks like Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Boston Beer, to name just a few.

Those are all American brewers you listed.

Yes, they are.

So is beer becoming American?

I think the world can learn a lot from the American brewing industry. I could just as easily have cited many companies in England. But the whole shape of the British brewing industry was pretty much screwed up by [Margaret] Thatcher [and]. It's depressing to look at the way things have gone. People are selling beer there at ludicrously low prices in grocery stores for home consumption. There once was wholesome environment where there were local pubs and the community spirit.

What advice do you have for aspiring brewmasters?

You have to have a passion for brewing. And then you have to decide what type of company you want to go into. Remember, if you want to make a healthy living as a brewer, you have to think big. Small brewing companies will give you have a wonderful life where you get to live your passion. But if you go large, you have tremendous opportunity to have a great lifstyle. Many of my students think the world ends at the Nevada border, but brewers are needed everywhere and not always in the prettiest places. No matter whether you are brewing on a small scale or a large scale you need devotion, aptitude and a desire for hard work.

But the number one requirement is for you to be passionate. Brewing is great, but the best brewers are the ones who understand and care why things happen.

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