History
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
History is a crucial part of terroir, the longevity of the production matters as much as the product itself. In France, for example, long family histories are intertwined completely with the grape vines. This chapter will take the analysis out of the pre-prohibition era and focus on the relatively modern craft beer boom. Many brewers today in the Rocky Mountain region use their shared history of ranching, mining, and brewing to help name, promote, and connect their beers to a regional brewing tradition. This will bring the analysis up to a fairly modern date and will help contextualize many brewers in the Rockies as well as across the US.