Food - Drink
Steam Beer's Gold Rush Origins
By MATTHEW SPINA
Many of the beer styles enjoyed in America have come from Europe, but steam beer is one of the oldest styles produced in the U.S. and isn’t one you’ll find in a European bar. It’s an original, unique beer that was created in California during the gold rush, and it was brewed by making some changes to classic European beer.
California’s Northern European immigrants preferred lager beer, which is brewed at cold temperatures, but California lacked the infrastructure to keep beer cold, so the lager yeast was just brewed at warm temperatures. There also wasn’t a steady supply of brewing grains like barley, so brewers used a mix of corn grits and other cereals instead.
The changes made when making the beer made it America's first truly original beer style, and while its original popularity didn’t last long, it was resurrected in the 1960s and branded as Anchor Steam. The revived brand helped drive a resurgence of the style through the world of craft beer, and the old style was given a new lease on life.