U.S. National Brewery

jason · #1 (**permalink**) 03-25-2007, 11:06 PM

In 1810 President James Madison seriously considers a proposal to establish a national brewery in Washington D.C. He asks former president Thomas Jefferson to study the concept. Sadly this never came about. What do you think things would be like today if we actually had one.

wild · #2 (**permalink**) 03-26-2007, 03:02 AM

Wow! I never knew that. I wonder how much that would have influenced the history of the US. Would it have prevented prohibition? How much would the recipes have changed during the depression? And would there be an alcohol tax as there is today?

Sadly, due to the power of the almighty dollar, they'd probably be producing a Budweiser.

Wild

jason · #3 (**permalink**) 03-26-2007, 11:27 PM

Well I believe in Germany they have very strict rules about what is allowed to go into their beer. I wonder if something like that would have come about.

Budweiser was created to be geared towards the taste of females during the first world war I belive. So yeah, they would still have that. But I think if prohibition didn't take place all the micro-brewers that were around would still be around. That would be nice.

wortmonger · #4 (**permalink**) 03-27-2007, 11:32 AM

That would have been the coolest thing ever to have a national brewery. Our Founding Father's were some cool cats when it came to "their pastimes." I have a funny anti-post-prohibition-beer story about girls drinking the beer. The girls that I hang out with, funny enough, don't like "beer" at all. One day they tried a wheat I was drinking and that was all she wrote, and they even "understand" the difference that I can't seem to get my guy friends (bmc fans) to grasp. Lol, never would have figured the girls would be the ones helping me float my keg every month, lol.

ettu brew te' · #5 (**permalink**) 03-31-2007, 12:44 PM

Actually, Wild, the AB boys brewed thier beer so light because that is what the American people wanted. I say "American people" as in the general public. If I remember what I've read and heard on the History channel (whose intereptaion's I sometimes question) there was a growing distrust of Germany and most things either produced there or had a heritage of Germany.

As far as German beer is concerned, they are required by state mandate that they ONLY use barley, hops, yeast, and water. Yeast was added after it had been discovered. Before that, it had to occur naturally.

If I am completely wrong, I apologize, but I am pretty sure that is what the Bud reason is.