Pure Mountain Water
Beer Terroir - Place and Taste in the Pre-Prohibition Rocky Mountain West - 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
Hops grow best in moderate climates with a great deal of moisture. As such, in the US they are typically grown in the Pacific Northwest, New England, or other northern Midwestern, humid states. The Rockies are not conducive to this plant in many ways, yet growers did plant and train these vines for brewers. The soil and climate certainly impacted hops, and how did these mountainous varieties differ from coastal counterparts? Did brewers latch onto these hops as a local product and value the contribution to their beers, or did they wrestle with these options and desire hops from further afield?