Craft Beer

BrewWiki Portal Craft Beer

Craft beer is beer sold to the public that is produced by a brewpub, microbrewery or regional brewer. Craft beers are typically all-malt beers that started in microbreweries or brewpubs. The success of these small brewers eventually led some to expand to regional breweries, and the term craft beer was coined to distinguish the distinctive products of these new micro- and regional breweries from the products traditional large US breweries.

Prior to prohibition, thousands of small breweries existed throughout the United States. Post prohibition, beer brewing was dominated by just a handful of major brewers making a small selection of beer styles - usually Pilsners with large amounts of rice and corn added. After President Carter lifted the prohibition on homebrewing in 1978, the resurgence of homebrewing brought with it a new demand for beer styles from throughout the world. To meet this need, microbreweries and brewpubs started to pop up in the 1980's and 1990's throughout the country providing a huge selection of beer styles. Some of the more successful small breweries eventually expanded to become regional breweries.

Craft Breweries

Listed alphabetically. Please include city, state and country if appropriate.

• Anchor Brewing Company - San Francisco, CA
• Caldera Brewing - Ashland, OR
• Cambridge Brewing Company - Cambridge, MA
• Great Lakes Brewing Co - Cleveland, OH
• Shipyard Brewing Company - Maine
• Sierra Nevada Brewing Company - Chico, CA
• Smuttynose Brewing Company - Portsmouth, NH
• Stone Brewing Company - San Diego, CA
• Bells Brewing Inc - Kalamazoo, MI

See Also

• References

External Links

• Brewers Association - US Craft Brewers Association
• Craft Beer Radio - Podcast
• Beertown Craft Beer Industry Statistics