Abstract
The United States is in the middle of a craft beer revolution. The number of craft breweries in the United States has grown explosively during the past 35 years, increasing from 8 in 1980 to over 2,700 today. As their numbers increased so did their share of the American beer market. In 2005, craft brewers’ share of the U.S. beer market was 3.05% by volume and 5.44% by sales. By 2013, these shares had increased to 7.8% and 14.28%, respectively. This fast and unanticipated growth of craft breweries is the subject of this fascinating book by Tom Acitelli.
Starting in San Francisco in 1965 and ending in Denver, Colorado in 2012, Acitelli provides a chronological history of the growth of the commercial craft brewing movement in the United States. This 400-page book has 77 chapters, so each is quite short. Chapters are vignette style and focus on particular events and people that played an integral role in the growth of the industry. Key individuals that you will meet in this highly readable volume include Fritz Maytag, who in 1965 purchased a 51% share in the struggling Anchor Stream Brewery in San Francisco and in doing so kept open what, at that time, was America’s only craft brewery; Merlin Elhardt who founded America’s first home brewing club (The Maltose Falcons) in suburban Los Angeles in 1974; and Michael Jackson, the bearded beer critic from England, who through his writings tirelessly promoted the American craft beer movement from the late 1970s until his death in 2007. It is through the efforts of these and many other individuals that craft breweries are now a ubiquitous part of the American landscape. Acitelli’s focus on people and their personal stories is important because it highlights the critical role that a relatively small number of hard-working visionaries can play in helping support, shape, and grow what was effectively a new and fledging industry. Their passion, determination, and belief in creating beer that was more flavorful than the homogenized pale lager that Americans were being offered by the large-scale breweries were all critical in bringing the craft beer movement to where it is today. In addition to key people, Acitelli identifies the key events that were also important to the growth of commercial craft brewing in the United States. These include the launch of Zymurgy (a magazine for home brewers) in 1979, the creation of the Association of Brewers in 1979, and the founding of the Great American Beer Festival in 1982.
While the story told by Acitelli focuses, by and large, on the positive aspects in the growth of the industry, the author does not shirk from discussing some of the challenges that the industry has faced during the past 50 years. The late 1990s and early 2000s were a particularly challenging period for the industry. The industry had reached overcapacity and there was simply too much beer being produced relative to demand. Furthermore, in their rush to get a part of the action, some of the newly established craft breweries were producing beer of dubious quality. This resulted in what Acitelli refers to as the Great Shakeout, and for the first time since 1982, the number of craft breweries closing in the United States was greater than the number of new ones opening up. Acitelli dates the Great Shakeout from 1996 to 2000, although data provided on the Brewers Association website (www.brewersassociation.org) suggest that he actually dates this event too early and that it did not, in fact, occur until the early 2000s. This period quickly passed, however, and the industry was soon, once again, on its way to impressive growth. To a large extent, the Great Shakeout is testimony to the increasingly refined palate of the American craft beer drinker as the breweries that failed to survive the Great Shakeout were by and large those that were producing inferior beer. At various points in the book, Acitelli also highlights some of the tensions existing within the industry. For example, the practice of contract brewing is the focus of several chapters. Contract brewing occurs when a brewery contracts with another brewery to produce a portion of its beer. The practice was the focus of a highly critical piece on NBC’s investigative reporting show Dateline in 1996, as a reporter questioned whether the American public was being deceived by brewers like the Boston Beer Company (brewer of the Sam Addams product line), whose marketing emphasized the beer’s Boston connection despite the fact that its brewing was contracted out to other breweries (not owned by the Boston Beer Company) located in other parts of the country.
Overall, this is a book worth reading. It is carefully researched. In putting the volume together, Acitelli painstakingly gleaned information from trade magazines and local newspaper articles that reported the openings of new craft breweries in particular communities. Fortunately for Acitelli, most of the chief protagonists in the growth of the craft beer movement are still alive and he was able to attain invaluable insights by interviewing them. Scholars, economic development practitioners, or anyone who has an interest in understanding the historical evolution of America’s craft beer movement will find this book of interest. It is written in a highly accessible and readable style, devoid of both jargon and statistics. The book is of particular relevance given the growth that the industry has experienced in recent years. It is a growth that shows no signs of slowing. The Brewers Association reports that there are currently over 1,500 craft breweries that are in the planning stages, yet to open. In many communities across the country craft breweries are contributing to local economic development initiatives at the neighborhood scale. Having a deeper understanding of the historical backdrop to the industry and the individuals and events that shaped its growth could be of particular value to local elected officials, policy makers, economic development practitioners, and others who are interested in the economic development potential of this industry.