Days of the Beer, September 12

The beer for today is Kronenbourg 1664.

On September 12, 1940, four teenagers, Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel and Simon Coencas discovered a cave in Lascaux, France. Inside that cave complex were some prehistoric cave paintings. These paintings are now some of the most well-known examples of Upper Paleolithic art. The paintings are estimated to be 16,000 years old. The pictures are mostly large animals like bulls, horses, bison and other animals.

The most famous section of the cave is The Great Hall of the Bulls. Additinoally there are rooms called, the Lateral Passage, the Shaft of the Dead Man, the Chamber of Engravings, the Painted Gallery and the Chamber of Felines.

Lager comes from the German word for storage. Lager beer is traditionally stored for several weeks before it is served. This storage is normally done at colder temperatures. Caves in Germany proved to be excellent places to store the beer and to allow it to ferment.

There are two main styles of beer, Ales and Lagers. The difference in the two is the yeast used (otherwise, they both use barley, hops, water and then the different yeast style). Ale yeast normally ferments at higher temperatures, while lager yeast ferments at lower temperatures. Ale yeast tends to float to the top of the beer when it's done working, and is called top fermenting, while lager yeast sinks to the bottom and is called bottom fermenting.

For a really good article on yeast, check out A Short History of Yeast, by the Zythophile.

Kronenbourg 1664 is a 5.5% ABV pale lager. It is the best selling beer in France.

The premium beer of Brasseries Kronenbourg brewers since 1664. Kronenbourg 1664 is brewed with a unique hop blend including aromatic hops from Alsace.

So, for the find of caves in 1940, have a cave beer.