Humble Origins of Modern Craft Brewing in the U.S.

 I know it's been a while, but fear not loyal readers, for it is post time.  If you got yourself stuck in the wall again while rushing to your laptop, just relax, lube up your sides, wiggle out from that wall, grab a beer, and prepare to have your mind blown once again. 

A typical WAT reader rushing to read the latest blog post

Recently, a friend of mine forwarded a list of someone's top 20 craft breweries (top 20).  While perusing the article, I began to notice a pattern of the brewery establishment years.  Basically, the great craft breweries we're all familiar with nowadays seem to have come in distinct temporal waves beginning in 1979. Each new wave of breweries seems to have gained inspiration and a passion for brewing from the previous cohort of craft beer trailblazers. 

As the above chart illustrates, following a post-21st Amendment spike, the number of American breweries had hit an almost 50-year nadir around the year 1978 with only 89 breweries nationwide.  Two key events around this time would eventually launch America's now famous craft beer identity and influence countless home and commercial brewers for years to come. 

The Federal Legalization of Home Brewing-1978
It's hard to believe, but due to an overlooked carryover from the 18th Amendment prohibiting the production and distribution of alcohol, home brewing was federally illegal until 1978, 45 years after the end of Prohibition.

 Note: Despite federal legality, states ultimately have the power to regulate and control their jurisdiction's alcohol laws.  Thus, not entirely surprisingly, the only state where home brewing remains illegal is Alabama.  But fear not, because incestuous marriages are still extremely legal in Alabama.

A recent session of Alabama's state senate as seen on CSPAN

This long overdue advancement meant home brewers no longer had to hide in the shadows and could now freely meet, exchange ideas, influence one another, and most importantly, hone their skills by brewing a lot of beer.  Because just about every head brewer from Ken Grossman (Sierra Nevada) to Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head) to Jim Koch (Samuel Adams) learned their craft after years of home brewing, this landmark legislation laid the groundwork for the establishment of the thousands of American breweries we now know and love. 

Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing in the hope that Americans would produce better beer than his brother

The Foundation of Sierra Nevada Brewing-1979
I've discussed this in several previous posts, but the one brewery that is most responsible for America's craft beer revolution is Sierra Nevada from Chico, California.  At the time of Sierra's foundation, the entire country had 89 breweries for a population of roughly 220 million people (1 brewery per 2.5 million people).  Seizing on this obviously disparate brewery-to-consumer ratio and following his passion for home brewing, co-founder and brewer Ken Grossman took the commercial leap in 1979.  Influenced by fellow California breweries Anchor and the now defunct New Albion, Grossman set out to produce uniquely American beers utilizing generous amounts of innovative new hop varieties (e.g. Cascade) grown domestically in the Pacific Northwest.

Sierra launched America's prominent taste for generous helpings of hops and higher IBU beers. Sierra is generally credited with the development of the "American" styles (e.g American IPA, APA, American Red Ale etc.) which became associated with higher IBUs that feature distinctly American-grown hops such as Centenniel, Simcoe, and Cascade.   

The use of uniquely American-grown hops and the experimentation of newly engineered hop varieties would subsequently influence a whole new crop of American home brewers who would later helm some of the country's most well known and beloved craft breweries.  For example, Sam Calagione, the founder of Dogfish Head, has described trying Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale as his “beer epiphany” moment.  

So the next time you sit down to enjoy your favorite craft brew, raise your glass and give a toast to Jimmy Carter (politics aside), Anchor Brewing, New Albion Brewing, and Sierra Nevada.  Until next time, cheers to them and cheers to craft beer.