Blurb:

Here we will explore local recipes and varieties. In particular, we will examine spruce beer which was a common beverage through the Rocky Mountains. In part, this was because of the ubiquity of spruce trees, but it certainly was not the only style born and brewed in the Rockies. This chapter will focus on the micro level of brewing and examine the brewing cottage industry. In many ways brewing was highly localized, and it is inevitable given isolation and difficulty in obtaining pertinent ingredients that local substitutes were found and applied.