As recently as the 1970s, America was the butt of jokes in world beer culture. There were only a few dozen breweries, all producing little more than straw-colored lagers with minimal flavor. Today, our country boasts over 1,600 breweries leading the world in creativity and quality in brewing. To better understand that transformation, I propose drinking ten different beers that illustrate the nature of modern American beer. Not all in one sitting.

But I checked the weather on my smartphone before taking my daughter to school today, and that miracle piece of technology told me it was 42 degrees Fahrenheit when I walked out the door this morning. That may not impress you if you grew up somewhere in Yankee-ville, but here in Alabama that’s considered downright chilly.

The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) was once again recently held in Denver, Colorado, from September 16th through 18th. It is the largest beer festival in the United States. And it was the largest beer judging competition ever held to date, with over 3,500 beers judged.

Everything about this beer makes for a great story from a beer geek’s perspective. Popular, regional brewer involved? Check. Breaking the rules and defying established style categories? Check. Collaboration between multiple craft brewers (who, in any other industry, would just be competitors)? Check.

We have once again made it to the best time of year: Fall, when the temperature in the South finally starts to drop below 90 degrees, college football is on the television and seasonal beers really hit their stride. Spring and summer have their own seasonals, but they aren’t as exciting as fall and winter seasonals.

I was lying in bed last Saturday night trying to fall asleep and basking in the glow of a near perfect performance by the Crimson Tide in their victory over San Jose State when it occurred to me that this week’s column should focus on the combination of great beer and our state’s official pastime.

For the last few hundred years, Germans brewed mostly lagers, the English brewed mostly low-alcohol ales and stouts with understated hops, and Belgians brewed higher alcohol ales fermented with spicy yeasts. These were the major brewing cultures, and there was minimal cross-pollination between them.

Though a massive wave of new beers hit Alabama for the first time last summer after the Gourmet Beer Bill passed, things have slowed down quite a bit over the past few months.

Lenny’s R.I.P.A. is the brainchild of Jeremy Cowan, founder of Schmaltz Brewing Company. Schmaltz does not have its own brewery. It owns recipes that are produced under contract by brewing facilities owned by other companies.

The science is a bit complex, but the important point about malting is that it develops enzymes that allow the grain’s starches to eventually be converted to fermentable sugars, and that’s where the alcohol in beer comes from. The base grain for all beer is barley, but wheat, rye and oats are all very common in craft beer, as they enhance the flavor and body of certain beer styles. Rice and corn are very common in mass-produced lagers, as they lighten both the flavor and body of beer.