Lewis, Michael
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Brewers Association
label: Collection Interviewer
content: Harry, John
label: Collection Interviewer
content: Johnson, Paula, Curator
label: Collection Interviewer
content: McCulla, Theresa
label: Collection Creator
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.)
setName: label: See more items in
content: American Beer Brewing Oral History Collection
label: See more items in
content: American Beer Brewing Oral History Collection / Series 1: Born-Digital Interviews
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 821.64 Megabytes (Total Running Time: 01:14:47, audio/wav)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2017-03-31
container: label: Container
content: Item NMAH-AC1595-BDA0048
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Audio
label: Type
content: Megabytes
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Oral history interview with Michael Lewis, professor emeritus of brewing science at the University of California, Davis. Topics covered include Lewis's childhood in Wales and England; his early interest in biology and inspiration to study brewing; and graduate study at the University of Birmingham, where Lewis specialized in the properties of yeast in beer. Lewis also discusses his arrival in the United States for a postdoctoral fellowship; coming to UC, Davis in 1962, where he became the first professor of brewing science in the U.S.; and building the brewing science program. Other topics include the American beer industry in the early 1960s; Lewis's students, who included homebrewers and winemakers; and the beginnings of the microbrewing movement, with figures like Fritz Maytag, Jack McAuliffe, and Ken Grossman. Lewis also discusses his approach to teaching students how to brew beer; the relationship between American and global beer culture; his definition of craft beer; and his predictions for the future of the American brewing industry.