The start of the fightback

The twin evils of capitalism and the state have long had a negative effect on beer. But my belief that resistance to the crimes against beer committed by the big brewers came from consumers in the 70s now needs revising it seems.

Writing in the Journal of the Institute of Brewing back in 1923, Hugh Abbot said:

"No one approves of carbonated beers - no brewer, that is - and possibly no discerning consumer of beer either. We all seem to agree that filtering and carbonating a beer, to say nothing of the freezing, depreciates its quality; and yet the carbonating process continues to thrive, and, in fact, in some breweries - and they are not the least  prosperous or successful in the trade - this process has driven out the natural process altogether."

As many of my fellow beer nerds have embraced the neo-keggist heresy, mistakenly believing that all forms of beer are equal, it's heartening to see a brewer talking with such righteous clarity nearly 50 years before the formation of CAMRA.