Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer, than larger "macro" breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, new flavours, and varied brewing techniques.
Bergenhus microbrewery, Bergen, Norway
Craft brewing at Allagash in Portland, Maine
A growler of beer from Flounder Brewing, a nanobrewery in New Jersey, US
Smoked beer from the Schlenkerla brewpub in Bamberg, Germany
Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, the most widely consumed, and the third most popular drink after water and tea. Beer is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The fermentation of the starch sugars in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.
Schlenkerla Rauchbier, a traditional smoked beer, being poured from a cask into a beer glass
Ancient Egyptian painting, 18th dynasty, reign of Akhenaten, c. 1300 BC, showing Syrian mercenary drinking beer through a straw. Egyptian Museum of Berlin
François Jaques: Peasants enjoying beer at pub in Fribourg (Switzerland, 1923)
Malted barley before roasting
