BREWING: AN INDUSTRIAL CASE STUDY
"A fermented beverage made from malted grain and usually seasoned with hops"
oh yes.... well, apart from single malt whisky...
BREWING AS A CASE STUDY
Brewing is a SECONDARY industry, which depends on agriculture (PRIMARY) to provide the raw materials, which tend to be GRAIN and HOPS. The Hops vary depending on the finished product required. The Brewing Industry has been affected by TECHNOLOGY which has allowed the product to travel long distances.
Breweries used to be far more local, limited in their SPHERE OF INFLUENCE or MARKET AREA by the distance which a dray (cart pulled by shire horses) could comfortably travel.
They were also very much a LOCAL industry, using local water before water supply became ubiquitous. Breweries in London used to use water from the River Thames.
CASK ALE increased the distance that beer could be transported without spoiling.
Now we are going back to the old trends, with MICRO BREWERIES springing up again.
If you want to experience a good example of this, I suggest 'The Fat Cat' near Kelham Island Industrial Museum in Sheffield. Have a pint of 'Pale Rider'.
USEFUL WEBSITES
When I started researching this topic, the first decent website I came across was called ONLY FINE BEER. This has a range of articles and other resources, plus the chance to order some fine beer (over 18's only...) Check out the BEER ARTICLES for an ILLUSTRATED HISTORY.
Shepherd Neame beer, brewed at Faversham in Kent has 'protected geographical area' status.
RECOMMENDED READING
"Man walks into a Pub" - Pete Brown