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History of Beer!

HISTORY OF BEER IN AMERICA

We are—and always have been—a country of beer drinkers. Beer has been part of the political and social makeup of America since its early beginnings. Even today, we consume over seven billion gallons a year of the stuff. See how we got to that point by reading about some of the major milestones:

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.

Wagon1819

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.

Brewers1860

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.

Kegs1876

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.

Caps1892

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.

AB1920'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.

Can1959

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.

 


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