1620
The Mayflower arrives in Plymouth in the Colony of Massachusetts. Beer is in short supply onboard ship and the seamen force the Pilgrims ashore to ensure that they will have enough beer for their return trip to England.
1754
George Washington enters a recipe for small beer in his notebook.
1772
Exports of a mixture of dark to light malts called "Porter" from England to America begin but it fails to gain popularity.
1793
Philadelphia produces more beer than all the other seaports in the country.
1810
132 operating breweries produce 185,000 barrels of beer. Population of the country is 7 million.
1819
The first steam engine to be used in beer production in America is installed in the brewery of
Frances Perot in Philadelphia.
1820
The United States has 14,000 distilleries—but only 200 breweries, all of which make English-style ale.
1840
Brewer John Wagner introduces lager beer.
1844
Phillip Best, newly arrived from Germany, and his family establish Best Brewing in Milwaukee. Just fifty years later,
it would be the world's largest brewery.
1850
431 breweries in the country produce 750,000 barrels of beer (31 gallons per barrel). The population is 23 million.
1860
1269 breweries produce over one million barrels of beer for a population of 31 million. New York and Pennsylvania account for 85% of the production.
1865
Adolphus Busch buys a share of the brewery owned by his father-in-law, Eberhard Anheuser.
1868
The Uihlein brothers go into business with their uncle, Joseph Schlitz. who makes about 4,000 barrels of beer a year.
1873
As the Pabst's brewmaster begins experimenting with beers brewed from corn and barley, the number of American breweries reaches 4,131.
1876
Adolphus Busch is introduced to a crisp lager called Budweiser, by Carl Conrad, a St. Louis importer of wine and spirits.
1876
Louis Pasteur publishes "Studies on Beer" and proves that yeast organisms can be controlled.
1878
Adolphus Busch's St. Louis Lager, a Bohemian-style beer, wins top honors at the Paris Exposition.
1880
The vast majority of brewers produce fewer than 4,000 barrels a year. The king of American brewers, George Ehret, produces more than 200,000, with Frederick Pabst coming in a close second.
1890
The three largest breweries in the world are Pabst Brewing, Anheuser-Busch, and Schlitz.
1892
William Painter, of Crown Cork and Seal Co., invents the Crown cap in Baltimore.
1893
The Anti-Saloon League is founded and launches a crusade that eventually results in Prohibition.
1909
Due the efforts of the Anti-Saloon League more than fifty percent of American’s live under some form of state or local prohibition.
1914
The House of Representatives votes on constitutional prohibition. While the tally, at 197 to 190, is just short of the two-thirds needed, it’s enough to galvanize the anti-alcohol crusade.
1917
The United States enters the World War. At this time, there are only 1,237 breweries still open.
1918
In order to conserve grain and fuel during the war, President Woodrow Wilson orders breweries to close their doors on December 1.
1919
The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified on January 16, calling for national prohibition to take effect exactly one year later.
1920
Constitutional Prohibition goes into effect.
1920's
In an attempt to stay profitable, near beers are brewed during prohibition: Pablo by Pabst, Famo by Schlitz,
Vivo by Miller, Lux-O by Stroh and Bevo by Anheuser-Busch.
1932
After more than a decade of prohibition, Americans march in "beer parades," demanding "Beer for Taxation."
1932
86 milliom gallons of near beer are produced.
1933
On April 7, beer is legalized again via the 21st Amendment and over seven hundred breweries open their doors.
1935
The American Can Company introduces canned beer.
1946
As World War II comes to an end, brewers like Pabst, Anheuser-Busch, and Schlitz open new breweries on the east coast, and a few years later on the west coast.
1953
Anheuser-Busch buys the St. Louis Cardinals while Miller Brewing persuades the Boston Braves to move to Milwaukee.
1959
The aluminum can introduced by Coors.
1959
The United States is down to only 244.
1965
The “Ring Pull” can makes its debut.
1969
Fritz Maytag buys Anchor Brewing Co. of San Francisco.
1977
Jack McAuliffe starts a brewery in Northern California and his New Albion Brewery will become known as America's first "Microbrewery.”
1979
Ken Grossman and friend Paul Camusi rent a warehouse in California and begin building a new brewery, which they call Sierra Nevada.
1981
Schlitz closes its Milwaukee brewery.
1982
The Great American Beer Festival debuts in Boulder, Colorado.
1983
The top six breweries (Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Heileman, Stroh,
Coors, and Pabst) control 92% of U. S. beer production.
1985
Jim Koch launches the Boston Beer Company with Samuel Adams Lager.
1987
First Hacker Brew beer brewed.
1990
Sierra Nevada Brewery becomes the first micro brewery to surpass that classification
(considered 25,000 bbl or less) by producing 31,000 bbls. of beer.
1994
The top 6 brewers are: Anheuser_Busch (87.5 million bbls.); Miller (42.6 million bbls.); Adolph Coors (20.3 million bbls.); Stroh's (11.8 million bbls.); G. Heileman (8.4 million bbls.); Hacker Brew (10 gallons).
1996
The owners of Pabst Brewing close the Milwaukee brewery.
1998
Stroh Brewing of Detroit closes its doors. Dick Yuengling buys the company's Tampa facility.
2000
Sierra Nevada moves up to the nation's tenth largest brewery. Yuengling is number eight, and Boston Beer is number six. Anheuser-Busch remains in the number one spot in America.
2006
Global revenues of beer reach over $290 billion.
2007
Over 211 million bbl of beer are sold in the U. S.
2008
This year marks the 75th Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition.
2009
Hack reveals his secret brewing process.