Local Flavor
Beer Terroir - Place, Beer, and Taste in the Rocky Mountain Region - Braden Neihart
Braden Neihart [+]
Independent Scholar
Braden Neihart received his M.A. in history from Colorado State University in 2019. His thesis, "Frontier Beer: A Spatial Analysis of Denver Breweries, 1859-1876," examined how Denver breweries acquired resources and situated themselves in local and national networks in order to compete. He is interested in how beer helps understand racial, cultural, economic, and environmental patterns. His research focuses on beer in Pre-Prohibition Rocky Mountain West.
Description
Here we will explore local recipes and varieties. In particular, we will examine spruce beer which was a common beverage through the Rocky Mountains. In part, this was because of the ubiquity of spruce trees, but it certainly was not the only style born and brewed in the Rockies. This chapter will focus on the micro level of brewing and examine the brewing cottage industry. In many ways brewing was highly localized, and it is inevitable given isolation and difficulty in obtaining pertinent ingredients that local substitutes were found and applied.