The brewing industry today might be quite the behemoth, but it has modest enough origins. In the mid seventeenth century, Dutch and English settlers in New York state recognized that the land?s terrain was a natural fit for growing hops and malt — needed for brewing beer.
By 1660, there were at least 26 breweries and taverns in the colony of New Amsterdam — no small feat considering this was 100 years before the U.S. would officially be a nation.
It wasn?t until the 1800s, though, that brewing began to expand. In 1810, at the beginning of the industry, there were just 150 commercial breweries — and together, they produced about 180,000 barrels of beer. After the civil war, though, beer became a mass-produced, mass-consumed drink for the nation. There were a few key reasons for this.
To begin with, many incoming immigrants to the U.S. came from nations with a strong beer background, such as Germany, Ireland and Britain. This led to both an increase in demand as well as an increase in the general knowledge needed for beer creation. Additionally, many workers began receiving better wages — allowing them more spending money for drinks after work with co-workers. The technology for beer production was also better. Things like pipe burner sets, gas burners, and valves become more standard.
By 1865, total beer production had jumped to 3.7 million barrels; and by 1900, this number hit 39.5 million. By 1915, the average American was drinking 18.7 gallons of beer every year.
Although prohibition, of course, put a brief stint in beer making in America, this turned around in the 1930s. Unfortunately, though, prohibition was long enough to kill off many of the smaller breweries that had originally proliferated, and for many decades large shipping breweries were more the standard. Over the past few years, though, small breweries have been making a resurgence as interest in craft breweries blossomed.
Today, the American brewing industry is stronger than ever. There are more than 3,000 breweries in production across the U.S., and it remains one of the most popular alcoholic drinks. The majority of Americans, in fat, live within 10 miles of a brewery! Have you ever visited a brewery, and seen pipe burner sets in action? Let us know.
Breweries have come a long way in the past 400 years, but one thing is certain about the future: they’re here to stay! References. Check out this site for more.