At the turn of the century (1900), there were about 2,000 brewers in the US, serving it’s 75M residents. In 1940, following prohibition, there were 750 breweries serving the nation’s 130M residents. By 1960, the population has grown to 180M, but the number of breweries had fallen to just 200. By 1980 the number of breweries had dropped to 100, while the population had reached 225M. Each brewery served 40,000 people, then 200,000 people, then 1M, then 2M. The ratio increased 50 fold! (this is a negative result, less variety and options)

In 1978, Congress passed a law that allowed “home brewing” without punitive excise taxes.

Between 1986 and 1996, the number of active breweries increased ten-fold to 1,000, exceeding the number producing in 1940.

By 1998, the brewery count reached 1,500 and plateaued for the next decade through 2008.

The following decade showed a 3-fold growth in active breweries, exceeding 5,000, a record high above the 4,000 level of the 1870’s. The new ratio of people to breweries is 70,000 to 1, twice as high as the turn of the century (1900), but 20 times better than 1980.

I served as a residence hall director at a small college in Cleveland from 1979-82. We held blind-folded beer tastings. Of a dozen “remaining” brews, the legally eligible students could only reliably identify Strohs, with its “fire-brewed” sulphur smell.

Coors was considered a very premium beer. Genessee Cream Ale from upstate NY was a good option. Old Milwaukee was an acceptable brew. Duquesne Beer from Pittsburgh was solid. Iroquois Beer from Buffalo was acceptable. POC, “pilsener on call” or “piss on Cleveland” was the bottom of the barrel, except for “Heritage House”, a private label brand at Fisher-Fazio-Costa supermarkets, which was the very lowest. Chicago’s Old Style was available, but not so special.

It’s difficult to illustrate the tremendous change in available options between 1980 and 2020, but one way is to focus on just one American city, Chicago.

Goose Island, 3 Floyds, Revolution Brewing and Two Brothers garner 10 of the 15 Chicago best. 5 others warrant acclaim.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/craving/ct-chicago-best-beers-ever-food-0322-20170316-story.html

Or, consider this list of 25 historically influential brews in the US. So many great options.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/drink/ct-most-important-beers-ever-food-0222-20170214-story.html

Some history lessons …

Beer History

https://firstwefeast.com/features/illustrated-history-of-craft-beer-in-america

https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/UqfrcsPoAI/

Crash Course: History of Craft Beer

https://www.alcoholprofessor.com/blog-posts/a-brief-history-of-beer-in-america

https://www.mixerdirect.com/blogs/mixer-direct-blog/a-brief-history-of-craft-beer

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/charlie-papazian-sparked-americas-craft-brew-revolution-180974877/