Beer has been around for thousands of years--historians believe ancient Egyptians brewed beer. Today's American-style beer was influenced by German immigrants who began brewing in the US in the 1800s. Some of those breweries are still in operation today--we know them as Anheuser-Busch, Pabst, Miller, and more.
Independence Brew Pub in Philadelphia
The American affair with alcohol
picture from brittanica.com
Americans have had a love-hate relationship with alcohol for centuries. The first temperance movement began in the 1820s with the creation of the American Temperance Society in Boston, Mass. But it wasn't until the 1917 that Congress passed the Volstead Act, making the sale and manufacture of alcohol illegal. The House of Representatives wanted to make Prohibition an amendment to the Constitution and the states agreed, and the Volstead Act became the 18th Amendment in 1919-- just 13 months later. Prohibition was in effect until 1933 when Congress finally repealed the 18th Amendment with the 21st Amendment.
1612: The New Amsterdam Brewery: The first brewery is built in what is now Manhattan.
top
1750s: George Washington was a beer connoisseur in addition to commanding the Revolutionary forces. In 1754 he entered his own recipe for beer into his journal.
Soldiers were also given one quart of beer per day as part of their ration. Sam Adams was also known to brew a little beer now and then, too.
1840s: German immigrants to the United States are largely credited for the development of American-style beer as we know it. In 1844 Philip Best started what would become Pabst Brewery, and by the 1880s there were over 2,300 breweries in operation.
back to timeline
1919: Temperance gets the best of Americans and alcohol consumption and distribution is made illegal by the 18th Amendment. Watch a video of Prohibition below!
back to timeline
1933: Americans finally come to their senses and repeal the 18th Amendment banning alcohol with the 21st Amendment, making alcohol legal once again. There are fewer than 800 breweries still in operation in the United States.
back to timeline
1969: Fritz Maytag buys Anchor Brewery in San Fransisco, inheriting a, "truly awful beer and worse reputation,", and unknowingly revives a movement of American beer drinkers thirsty for domestically-produced high quality beer--not watered down stuff filled with adjuncts.
back to timeline
1977: Now known as the "most important failed brewed in the industry's history", the New Albion Brewery, in Sonoma, Calif., started the first microbrewery in the United States. Though the brewery failed, the movement didn't.
1978: Due to a legal loophole, homebrewing was never legalized after Prohibition formally ended. Recognizing the growing numbers of home and mircobrewers, homebrewing was finally made legal in 1978, when Congress passed Bill HR 1337, and President Jimmy Carter signed it into law.
Charlie Papazian, a homebrew enthusiast, starts the American Homebrewer's Association and the accompanying magazine, Zymurgy.
1982: The brew pub is born! Yakima Brewing and Malting Co., Inc, in Yakima, Wash., is the first establishment to offer beer and food. What a combination!
2008: According to the Brewer's Association, there are over 1,000 craft breweries in the United States, grossing approximately $5.7 billion dollars annually. There are no official numbers of American homebrewers, but industry experts guess that the numbers are in the thousands.
Sources:
www.beeradvocate.com
www.beerhistory.com
www.archives.gov
www.ambitiousbrew.co
www.beertown.org/homebrewing
Learn more about the history of beer by checking out the links page!
Prohibition
Prohibition nearly destroyed the beer industry in the United States.
video used with permission from britannica.com
Site Map
content and design by:
Kathryn Eident
Boston University
2008