Drink beer, save the Earth

Brewing Trouble: How to Drink Beer and Save the World

By Benjamin Dangl, AlterNet

Posted on April 1, 2008, Printed on April 1, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/80882/

Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World By

Christopher O'Brien, New Society Publishers (November 2006), 275 pages

Beer, like so many other products, is largely in the hands of giant

corporations. Therefore, drinking beer can often enrich the same

systems of power we as activists are fighting against. Fermenting

Revolution: How To Drink Beer and Save the World by Christopher

O'Brien is a book about how the people can take back the brew and join

together in saying, "If I can't drink good beer, it's not my

revolution."

It is satisfying and rebellious in this increasingly corporate world

to make your own beer. In Vermont, homebrewing and microbrewing is a

state-wide past time; a 2005 census shows that there is one

microbrewery for every 32,792 people in the state, which is the

highest number of microbreweries per capita in the country. As many

people know, beer drinkers can be activists in how they choose and

make their own beer. Interested in changing the world through drinking?

Fermenting Revolution can serve as a kind of bible for the beer

activist that's bubbling inside each and every one of us.

In Fermenting Revolution, O'Brien presents a people's history of beer,

allowing the reader to feel connected to beer activists centuries ago.

The author explains the scientific process of brewing in an easy to

understand style, avoiding what he calls "Beer geek-speak." The book

goes into the important role women have historically played in beer

making, and how people can take on corporate globalization by making

and drinking their own beer. It's time to get to the home fires

brewing!

A People's History of Beer

O'Brien starts his book out by taking us through the long and

intoxicating history of beer. It is in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq,

where first emerged the trade of beer and barley. The need to

cultivate crops for this important product may have been the initial

reason for the settlement of the world's first human civilization. In

Babylonia, where beer was safer to drink than the canal water, barley

and beer were used as a form of currency. O'Brien argues that the

foundations of modern society are built on, well, beer. Beer has also

played a central role in the world's major religions. The author

suggests that a down-to-earth Jesus who "made a point of associating

with ordinary folk" would probably have preferred the common beverage

of beer, rather than expensive and elitist wine. "I rather like the

image of Jesus as a long-haired, beer-drinking rebel, welcome to crash

any party so long as he was willing to conjure up a bottomless supply

of beer. Rock on, Rock of Ages!" O'Brien writes that the typical image

of Buddha with a round belly suggests the spiritual figure may have

been a regular consumer of beer. After all, the Buddha "encouraged

abstention from intoxicating drink and drugs" but didn't totally

discourage consumption. And none other than Saint Nicholas (Santa

Claus) is listed by the Catholic Church as a Patron Saint of Brewing.

With stories like this linking beer to religion, O'Brien argues that

"sbeerituality" needs to be put back into our drinking culture in the

US.

One manifestation of beer's role in modern spirituality is the local

bar. The author writes that the bar can act "as a bridge between the

sacred and secular domains." O'Brien says that in bars in Asia, it's

often common to see a nearby altar with alcohol as an offering.

Similarly, worshipping ancestors is often common at bars in the US:

"It's the picture of "Old Joe" hanging behind the bar. "Joe" built the

place in nineteen-hundred-and-something-or-other, and now after his

death, he offers his blessings or his disapproval to what goes on in

his sacred beer-drinking place."

A recurring theme in Fermenting Revolution is the role women have

played in brewing and beer culture throughout history. Some of the

earliest signs of beer show that women were primarily the brewers, and

later the tavern owners, that supplied beer. This meant women

historically played an important role in society through their control

of the beer industry. For example, O'Brien tells us that Viking women

in Norse society at the end of the first millennium were the only ones

allowed to brew beer. According to law, brewing equipment could only

be used by women.

As time went on, however, women around the world were pushed out of

brewing by men who felt threatened by the power wielded by women

brewers. O'Brien calls himself a "femaleist": he believes that beer

brewing has empowered women in the past, and has the potential to do

so now. "More women brewing and drinking beer would help correct some

of our socially constructed gender imbalances." He laments the fact

that today the beer industry is dominated by machismo: "Women of the

world, greedy men have stolen your beer and its time to take it back."

However, one hopeful example O'Brien points to is Ethiopia, where the

homebrewing industry is still strong and is largely controlled by

women.

Another sign of hope is Vermont. According to an article in the VT-

based Seven Days newspaper, women are no strangers to micro-brewing in

the Green Mountain State. Vermont's Trout River, Rock Art and the

Alchemist Breweries all have women as co-owners or presidents. At

Otter Creek Breweries, there is a woman CFO, brewer, packing manager

and labeler.

Another widely discussed topic in Fermenting Revolution is the

influence beer has always had on politics. Some interesting passages

in the book describe early American history when rebels encouraged

boycotts against English beer, using the phrase, "Homebrewed is best."

Shortly after the founding of the nation, it was common for

politicians to reward their constituencies with beer at the polling

stations. Often there was only one polling place per county, so after

traveling such a distance to vote, the citizen wanted to be rewarded

with a drink. Here O'Brien argues that "Given the dismal voter turnout

levels in contemporary American elections, perhaps this strategy might

be readopted? One ballot, one beer."

Think Globally, Brew Locally

For centuries, beer was brewed primarily at home in unregulated

settings with home-made recipes. When corporations began making beer

for profit, a lot of the culture and spirit of the craft was lost. Yet

O'Brien believes that corporate "globeerization" can be fought through

"beeroregionalism." While corporate control of production centralizes

beer power in the hands of a few, Beeroregionalism, as defined by

O'Brien, is a return to local production and community. The author

argues that the craft of making beer should be cherished as an

ingredient in community-building, not as an assembly-line method of

making money. The author walked the talk at the 1999 World Trade

Organization protests in Seattle. Though there's a picture of book of

O'Brien dressed up as a turtle with some other friends at a march, he

admits he spent a lot of his time in the famous brewpubs of Seattle

rather than in the streets.

Though O'Brien explains that three companies control over 80 percent

of the beer industry in the US, there are an estimated 250,000

homebrewers in the country, and the numbers are growing. Not only is

homebrewing a fun activity to do with friends and family, but brewers

can choose organic products to use as ingredients and not rely on

corporations for their beer. O'Brien also reminds us that brewing at

home cuts down on fossil fuel consumption in that homebrew doesn't

rely on gas for delivery. In Vermont, we have a variety of organic

products to use in our brewing, as well as a whole host of micro-

breweries to choose from. (For those who want to learn how to

homebrew, pick up a copy of Charlie Papazian's easy to follow book The

New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, published by Harper Resource).

Every reader of Fermenting Revolution is likely to find something that

strikes a personal chord with them. For me, it was a history of the

tin beer can. My grandfather was an avid recycler of beer cans in the

college town he lived in. He was able to save tens of thousands of

dollars from the nickels acquired over decades of digging through

garbage bins and salvaging cans after college parties. O'Brien tells

us that in 1959, Bill Coors, the owner of the beer company which

carried his last name, developed the first seamless aluminum beer can.

His colleagues in the industry laughed at him even when he asked

people to return the cans for a penny a piece - but it worked! O'Brien

writes that using a recycled can utilizes only five percent of the

energy required to produce a new can from scratch: "Recycling one can

saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours."

Fermenting Revolution is not only informative, with pragmatic

suggestions on social change, but it is fun to read. This mind-

expanding book will make you thirsty for justice, and a good organic,

homebrewed beer. Readers interested in self sufficiency and homegrown

products should pick up a copy of Fermenting Revolution and get things

brewing.

Visit Chris O'Brien's Beer Activist Blog for regular updates, news and

links.

Benjamin Dangl is a member of the Burlington, VT Homebrewer's Co-op.

He is the author of The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social

Movements in Bolivia (AK Press, 2007) and edits the VT-based

international news website, TowardFreedom.com. This review was

originally published in Vermont Commons.

WASHINGTON - Seventeen of the nation's 50 largest cities had high

school graduation rates lower than 50 percent, with the lowest

graduation rates reported in Detroit, Indianapolis and Cleveland,

according to a report released Tuesday.

The report, issued by America's Promise Alliance, found that about

half of the students served by public school systems in the nation's

largest cities receive diplomas. Students in suburban and rural public

high schools were more likely to graduate than their counterparts in

urban public high schools, the researchers said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080401/ap_on_re_us/high_school_grad_rates

Many metropolitan areas also showed a considerable gap in the

graduation rates between their inner-city schools and the surrounding

suburbs. Researchers found, for example, that 81.5 percent of the

public school students in Baltimore's suburbs graduate, compared with

34.6 percent in the city schools.

In Ohio, nearly 83 percent of public high school students in suburban

Columbus graduate while 78.1 percent in suburban Cleveland earn their

diplomas, well above their local city schools.

On Apr 1, 4:33 am, "Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names"

<PopUlist...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Brewing Trouble: How to Drink Beer and Save the World

> By Benjamin Dangl, AlterNet

> Posted on April 1, 2008, Printed on April 1, 2008http://www.alternet.org/story/80882/

> Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World By

> Christopher O'Brien, New Society Publishers (November 2006), 275 pages

>

> Beer, like so many other products, is largely in the hands of giant

> corporations. Therefore, drinking beer can often enrich the same

> systems of power we as activists are fighting against. Fermenting

> Revolution: How To Drink Beer and Save the World by Christopher

> O'Brien is a book about how the people can take back the brew and join

> together in saying, "If I can't drink good beer, it's not my

> revolution."

>

> It is satisfying and rebellious in this increasingly corporate world

> to make your own beer. In Vermont, homebrewing and microbrewing is a

> state-wide past time; a 2005 census shows that there is one

> microbrewery for every 32,792 people in the state, which is the

> highest number of microbreweries per capita in the country. As many

> people know, beer drinkers can be activists in how they choose and

> make their own beer. Interested in changing the world through drinking?

> Fermenting Revolution can serve as a kind of bible for the beer

> activist that's bubbling inside each and every one of us.

>

> In Fermenting Revolution, O'Brien presents a people's history of beer,

> allowing the reader to feel connected to beer activists centuries ago.

> The author explains the scientific process of brewing in an easy to

> understand style, avoiding what he calls "Beer geek-speak." The book

> goes into the important role women have historically played in beer

> making, and how people can take on corporate globalization by making

> and drinking their own beer. It's time to get to the home fires

> brewing!

>

> A People's History of Beer

>

> O'Brien starts his book out by taking us through the long and

> intoxicating history of beer. It is in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq,

> where first emerged the trade of beer and barley. The need to

> cultivate crops for this important product may have been the initial

> reason for the settlement of the world's first human civilization. In

> Babylonia, where beer was safer to drink than the canal water, barley

> and beer were used as a form of currency. O'Brien argues that the

> foundations of modern society are built on, well, beer. Beer has also

> played a central role in the world's major religions. The author

> suggests that a down-to-earth Jesus who "made a point of associating

> with ordinary folk" would probably have preferred the common beverage

> of beer, rather than expensive and elitist wine. "I rather like the

> image of Jesus as a long-haired, beer-drinking rebel, welcome to crash

> any party so long as he was willing to conjure up a bottomless supply

> of beer. Rock on, Rock of Ages!" O'Brien writes that the typical image

> of Buddha with a round belly suggests the spiritual figure may have

> been a regular consumer of beer. After all, the Buddha "encouraged

> abstention from intoxicating drink and drugs" but didn't totally

> discourage consumption. And none other than Saint Nicholas (Santa

> Claus) is listed by the Catholic Church as a Patron Saint of Brewing.

> With stories like this linking beer to religion, O'Brien argues that

> "sbeerituality" needs to be put back into our drinking culture in the

> US.

>

> One manifestation of beer's role in modern spirituality is the local

> bar. The author writes that the bar can act "as a bridge between the

> sacred and secular domains." O'Brien says that in bars in Asia, it's

> often common to see a nearby altar with alcohol as an offering.

> Similarly, worshipping ancestors is often common at bars in the US:

> "It's the picture of "Old Joe" hanging behind the bar. "Joe" built the

> place in nineteen-hundred-and-something-or-other, and now after his

> death, he offers his blessings or his disapproval to what goes on in

> his sacred beer-drinking place."

>

> A recurring theme in Fermenting Revolution is the role women have

> played in brewing and beer culture throughout history. Some of the

> earliest signs of beer show that women were primarily the brewers, and

> later the tavern owners, that supplied beer. This meant women

> historically played an important role in society through their control

> of the beer industry. For example, O'Brien tells us that Viking women

> in Norse society at the end of the first millennium were the only ones

> allowed to brew beer. According to law, brewing equipment could only

> be used by women.

>

> As time went on, however, women around the world were pushed out of

> brewing by men who felt threatened by the power wielded by women

> brewers. O'Brien calls himself a "femaleist": he believes that beer

> brewing has empowered women in the past, and has the potential to do

> so now. "More women brewing and drinking beer would help correct some

> of our socially constructed gender imbalances." He laments the fact

> that today the beer industry is dominated by machismo: "Women of the

> world, greedy men have stolen your beer and its time to take it back."

> However, one hopeful example O'Brien points to is Ethiopia, where the

> homebrewing industry is still strong and is largely controlled by

> women.

>

> Another sign of hope is Vermont. According to an article in the VT-

> based Seven Days newspaper, women are no strangers to micro-brewing in

> the Green Mountain State. Vermont's Trout River, Rock Art and the

> Alchemist Breweries all have women as co-owners or presidents. At

> Otter Creek Breweries, there is a woman CFO, brewer, packing manager

> and labeler.

>

> Another widely discussed topic in Fermenting Revolution is the

> influence beer has always had on politics. Some interesting passages

> in the book describe early American history when rebels encouraged

> boycotts against English beer, using the phrase, "Homebrewed is best."

> Shortly after the founding of the nation, it was common for

> politicians to reward their constituencies with beer at the polling

> stations. Often there was only one polling place per county, so after

> traveling such a distance to vote, the citizen wanted to be rewarded

> with a drink. Here O'Brien argues that "Given the dismal voter turnout

> levels in contemporary American elections, perhaps this strategy might

> be readopted? One ballot, one beer."

>

> Think Globally, Brew Locally

>

> For centuries, beer was brewed primarily at home in unregulated

> settings with home-made recipes. When corporations began making beer

> for profit, a lot of the culture and spirit of the craft was lost. Yet

> O'Brien believes that corporate "globeerization" can be fought through

> "beeroregionalism." While corporate control of production centralizes

> beer power in the hands of a few, Beeroregionalism, as defined by

> O'Brien, is a return to local production and community. The author

> argues that the craft of making beer should be cherished as an

> ingredient in community-building, not as an assembly-line method of

> making money. The author walked the talk at the 1999 World Trade

> Organization protests in Seattle. Though there's a picture of book of

> O'Brien dressed up as a turtle with some other friends at a march, he

> admits he spent a lot of his time in the famous brewpubs of Seattle

> rather than in the streets.

>

> Though O'Brien explains that three companies control over 80 percent

> of the beer industry in the US, there are an estimated 250,000

> homebrewers in the country, and the numbers are growing. Not only is

> homebrewing a fun activity to do with friends and family, but brewers

> can choose organic products to use as ingredients and not rely on

> corporations for their beer. O'Brien also reminds us that brewing at

> home cuts down on fossil fuel consumption in that homebrew doesn't

> rely on gas for delivery. In Vermont, we have a variety of organic

> products to use in our brewing, as well as a whole host of micro-

> breweries to choose from. (For those who want to learn how to

> homebrew, pick up a copy of Charlie Papazian's easy to follow book The

> New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, published by Harper Resource).

>

> Every reader of Fermenting Revolution is likely to find something that

> strikes a personal chord with them. For me, it was a history of the

> tin beer can. My grandfather was an avid recycler of beer cans in the

> college town he lived in. He was able to save tens of thousands of

> dollars from the nickels acquired over decades of digging through

> garbage bins and salvaging cans after college parties. O'Brien tells

> us that in 1959, Bill Coors, the owner of the beer company which

> carried his last name, developed the first seamless aluminum beer can.

> His colleagues in the industry laughed at him even when he asked

> people to return the cans for a penny a piece - but it worked! O'Brien

> writes that using a recycled can utilizes only five percent of the

> energy required to produce a new can from scratch: "Recycling one can

> saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours."

>

> Fermenting Revolution is not only informative, with pragmatic

> suggestions on social change, but it is fun to read. This mind-

> expanding book will make you thirsty for justice, and a good organic,

> homebrewed beer. Readers interested in self sufficiency and homegrown

> products should pick up a copy of Fermenting Revolution and get things

> brewing.

>

>

>

> Visit Chris O'Brien's Beer Activist Blog for regular updates, news and

> links.

>

> Benjamin Dangl is a member of the Burlington, VT Homebrewer's Co-op.

> He is the author of The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social

> Movements in Bolivia (AK Press, 2007) and edits the VT-based

> international news website, TowardFreedom.com. This review was

> originally published in Vermont Commons.

>

>