What is the history of beer in the United States?
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Every country has its own beer history , and the United States' is far from uninteresting. Beer arrived in the New World with the first European settlers.
If you followed your history and geography classes in middle school, you will remember that the colonists came from England , Spain, France, and even the Netherlands. As a reminder, the first name for New York was New Amsterdam!
So, beer arrived with several cultures and under the best auspices on the new continent. So, I'm taking you on a journey through the crazy history of beer in the United States.
The first permanent building in the United States was a brewery!
I love this story! According to the Pilgrims' journals of the time, settlers from the old world landed at Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer ! To continue their journey, they had to be able to continue "hydrating" as you might expect!
Based on this observation, they established a temporary base in this future city to allow them to brew beer. It was therefore officially the first American brewery . At the time, beer was brewed by colonists and was therefore rigorously identical to that which could be consumed in England.
New York and Philadelphia were the first two American cities to establish craft breweries. Many years later, New York had 42 breweries at the beginning of the 19th century . So, there was already plenty to fill your beer mug with back then!
English beer has become American
At first, the type of beer brewed was identical to what you could find in England . This is only logical because the English colonists who became Americans only knew the beer from their native country.
From the second half of the 19th century , things started to move. We can say that this is where the history of truly American beer begins.
Indeed, during this period, the country saw waves of immigration from Northern and Central Europe . These people were more accustomed to their own beers, such as lagers and pilsners. You can still find these types of beers today in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
As these newcomers were heavy beer drinkers, their tastes began to supplant American beer . The local beer was quite dark and heavy, while the newly arrived European beer was much paler and hoppier.
In just a few decades, this "new" lager had clearly established itself , and its production reached peaks by the end of the century. The massive influx of immigrants contributed greatly to the growth of this beer and the increase in its production. At least until the beginning of the following century.
The Prohibition Period
This is where the drama begins! From 1920 to 1933, alcohol prohibition in the United States wreaked havoc on the brewery industry . Since it was illegal to consume alcohol, an entire sector of the American economy suffered.
Craft breweries, like large breweries, lost almost all sources of profit overnight . However, some of them managed to survive by producing sugar from malt extract.
Some lucky ones have also become ice cream makers or even soda makers ! Adapt or you'll die...
The end of Prohibition failed to allow the closed breweries to recover and resume business. The 1930s marked a period of major depression and declining consumption.
American breweries produce cheap beer
The few breweries that had converted during Prohibition still had their production facilities. They therefore began to mass-produce inexpensive beer . Brands like Budweiser and Schlitz were able to thrive from then on because their budgets were in line with the pockets of their compatriots.
Thanks to their success, these breweries were able to further increase their production and constantly lower their prices, so they flooded the market . Welcome to the mass consumption of a bland, standardized product...
The Revenge of the Craft Breweries
The consumption of this mass beer began to change from the end of the 70s. Until this period, an American law, the Tied House Law, prohibited breweries from selling their production on site . I imagine it was a law to protect the lucrative business of these beer giants!
Regardless, the repeal of this law allowed many small breweries to emerge and gradually develop their businesses. This was done in stages because, as I remind you, we are in a federal country. Each state passes its own laws, and one after the other, they authorized our beloved breweries.
Since this opening, the growth of craft breweries has been constant. Some have grown and become industrial, but they have also allowed the release of beers that are a departure from those offered since the 1930s! Long live diversity!
The evolution of beer in the USA has seen many twists and turns . This Western country is also the only one to have had the distinction of banning the sale of alcohol for 13 years. Now you know the rest. Fortunately, things are changing and Americans can now drink good beer that tastes good, just like ours!
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