America will be celebrating its independence next month. What a good time to consider including a California common, America's first unique contribution to the world's many beer styles, in your Independence Day celebrations.

California common is not a very well-known style. Most people have never heard of it, much less had one, but it holds the distinction of being recognized as the first specifically American style of beer.

Like much of the world's great inventions, California common was created out of necessity. Around the mid 1800s, California was experiencing massive growth and brewers were keen to supply the exploding population with beer. Brewers arrived with strains of lager yeast - lager had already begun to overtake ale in popularity - intent on making a fortune selling their golden-colored beer to gold hungry miners.

These would-be brewer barons quickly learned California was ill-suited to producing lager-style beer. The temperatures around San Francisco, where California common was most common, seldom reached freezing, so there was no ice for lagering beer or cooling wort to the colder temperature favored by lager yeast. The closest ice fields were in the Sierra Mountains, but there was no good way to get the ice down. Vexed, but possessed of that most common of American traits - the desire to make a buck - these brewers set out to make something lager-esque.

The first step was redesigning the fermentation vessels. Shallower ones allowed lager yeast to work in warmer temperatures and prevented off-flavors. But this was primitive brewing even by the standards of the day, so California commons were often heavily hopped to both preserve the beer and to mask off-flavors. The original commons were probably pretty nasty.

But as the process was refined, more palatable brews emerged, and while never considered a connoisseur's beer, California common did survive into the modern era as a uniquely American style of beer.

Modern California commons mix both ale and lager features. They will be amber to tawny in color, medium bodied and malty. Mild fruit notes and aggressive hop bitterness are common.

The most famous California common is undoubtedly Anchor Steam from San Francisco and is a descendant of the last commercially brewed common in the United States. Anchor Steam draws its name from the popular nickname for California commons: steam beer. Anchor Steam has a toasted malt aroma and tastes of caramel, bready sweet malt and citrus hops. It goes great with spicy BBQ and tangy cheeses.

Another less well-known California common is produced by Flying Dog Brewery. Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber is sweeter, with nutty notes, more pronounced caramel and a less assertive hop profile. Pair it with sweeter BBQ, hot dogs, hearty salads and milder cheeses.