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| International Beer Day |
Beer brewing in Scotland goes back 5,000 years, and ale is at the center of that history. It is interesting to note that the huge increase in interest in IPA (India Pale Ale) beer in recent years in the US has its beginnings in Scotland in the early 1800s. That is when brewers all over Scotland began catering to the public's taste for lower gravity, pale colored and clearer beers. The higher hop content of some of these beers allowed them to travel better than previous products, thus creating a higher quality product for export to India and elsewhere. The lower alcohol content shortened the fermentation and maturation time, thus increasing throughput. By the mid-19th century Edinburgh had forty breweries and was "acknowledged as one of the foremost brewing centers in the world."
Belhaven Brewery, the oldest brewery in Scotland, has been brewing beer for 300 years. In addition to ales (see photo), they also brew a fine IPA. Today is International Beer Day (first Friday every August). Cheers.
