Happy Friday! We hope you’re pumped for today’s freebie, Charleston Beer: A High Gravity History of Lowcountry Brewing.
Today’s giveaway comes from the hoppy stomping grounds of Timmons Pettigrew, and just in time for the first annual Charleston Beer Garden 2012. You can enter to win by commenting on this blog post by 12 a.m. EST on Sunday, June 24.
Timmons, a featured speaker of the festival’s “Brew School” (find him at 2:30 p.m.), enjoys casually popping a cap and talking craft beer as much as anybody.
But while visiting Asheville, North Carolina, in November of 2006, Timmons drank his first bottle of Weyerbacher Double Simcoe Ale and never looked back.
Timmons’s status as a beer geek is not only ironic, considering he’s a direct lineal descendant of “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman, but has also led to a complete immersion via ongoing beer coverage, which includes charleston.thedigitel.com and CHSBeer.org.
***
Artisanal craft beer has undeniably taken the Holy City by storm. And Timmons knows that Charleston’s locavores pride themselves on buying all things Lowcountry. With four established breweries, dedicated retail stores and bars, a home brewing club and the annual Brewvival festival, craft beer culture is booming.
But behind the modern ales, lagers and stouts that connoisseurs love, is a barrelful of beer culture that has been brewing for centuries…
Ed Falkenstein, co-owner and co-founder of the modern Palmetto Brewing Company, shows off a large, colorized reproduction of the old Palmetto Brewing Company’s diagram as displayed on its original documentation. Photo by Chrys Rynearson.
“Our children learn that the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, but they are less often taught that this was due to a detour resulting from the seafarers running out of beer,” Timmons revealed in his introduction to Charleston Beer.
Timmons explores the history behind craft brews—drinkers boozed locally out of necessity and poor travel conditions—as well as beer’s place in Charleston’s formative years.
“The most pertinent fact about the Holy City’s founding is that twelve tons of beer made its way to our shores with the first settlers,” Timmons said.
Fired clay or ceramic bottles like the one depicted here were of the type used to import beer in the 1700s. Its opacity would protect beer from any light damage on the voyage, and its thickness made for a sturdy container over sea or land. Photo by Timmons Pettigrew, bottle from the private collection of Jamie Westendorff.
From the first brewery that opened its doors in 1732, to Prohibition and finally to the 2007 “Pop the Cap” legislation that allowed high-gravity beer to return, Charlestonians have embraced beer wholeheartedly.
So, if you’re a craft beer enthusiast, we hope you’ll enter to win (and let us know what your favorite craft beers are, while you’re at it). Don’t forget to enjoy the free book excerpt below, and see you on Monday!
Ooooh. Want.
Today’s my birthday! That book would make a great present!
sounds like a great book. i’d sure like to get my hands on it
I like ales
I’m feeling lucky!
“Our children learn that the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, but they are less often taught that this was due to a detour resulting from the seafarers running out of beer,”
Really? Not that surprised though. How many detours did father’s make on road trips, especially if you were in a dry county?
I’m drunk right now.
Sounds like a very interesting read.
I have read this book and it’s damn good! Would love to win a copy and read it many more times!
I think everybody’s a craft beer enthusiast, aren’t we guys?… guys? Yeah they are, trust me. There are lots of great craft beers around hard to bring just one to mind. One company up in Canada that began as a craft brewery and then became pretty big time is the Big Rock Brewery out of Calgary. They produce lots of unusual products and seasonal brews.
Would love to gift this to my friend who brews at home.
My favorite city and a favorite topic. Just what I needed…another reason to visit Charleston. Liked the links.
Sounds like a great book!
Want!
Congrats to Dave, chosen by the robots at Random.org as this week’s #FreeBookFriday winner! And a big thanks to everybody else who participated…be sure to check back in two weeks for our next giveaway!