“BEER FIRST, EARTH VERY CLOSE SECOND”: USING AMERICAN CRAFT BEER ICONOGRAPHY TO PORTRAY LOCAL EARTH SYSTEMS

The American craft beer industry abounds with colorful, descriptive names and imagery used to brand breweries and their products. A subset of this collective iconography is linked to aspects of local Earth systems, that combination of spheres (land, life, air, water, and human) that defines distinctive natural settings and features and our place-specific interactions with them. Here, we use this craft-beer iconographic subset to create miniature portraits of American Earth systems by paying particular attention to ways in which place-based brewery / beer names and imagery inform us and tell stories about local Earth systems across the United States.

With 4000+ U.S. craft breweries making many thousands of different beers, it is a daunting task to extract that subset of Earth system-centric beer iconography, document the stories told therein, and portray this information meaningfully. That iconography can range from iconic to clear and obvious to obscure and esoteric. As a preliminary step, we focused on beer iconography linked to landscape features, Earth-system processes and interactions, and human-environment issues and impacts. We then gleaned from personal experiences and online resources appropriate names and imagery and documented the stories of their Earth-system focused origins. To bolster this dataset, we solicited help from the U.S. craft beer community and American geography and geology society membership. We seek your input as well.

Many craft breweries go well beyond using beer names and label artwork to document their place in a local Earth system. They take a far more assertive approach by consciously interacting with their local settings and connecting to place. Although approaches vary, many are firmly attached to local Earth systems. Manifestations of this intense, purposeful, place-based, Earth-system focus include: alignment with contemporary environmental causes, recollection of historical events, participation in educational outreach programs, creation of community partnerships and alliances, sponsorship of special events and fundraisers, and utilization of sustainability practices in brewing / brewpub facilities. So, sit back, pour yourself a pint, and ponder how your local craft brewery reveals, informs you about, and becomes an active part of your local Earth system.