A Not-Drunk History of American Beer, from Pre-Prohibition to the Craft Boom 

It’s not news to anyone whose braved the complicated, lengthy lists of beers that are seemingly a must for bars these days, but there are a lot of people producing a lot of good brew these days. When I talked to Bill Manley, a giant beer geek at Sierra Nevada, he mentioned that there are more than 1,700 breweries in the U.S.looking at these data from the Brewer’s Association, is that in 1900 the U.S. had almost exactly the same number of breweries. these days. What’s crazy, especially Thanks to Prohibition, the industry collapsed. For the good part of a century, Joe Six-Pack was relegated to two choices: drinking some generic import, or kicking back one of the ubiquitous, bland American pilsners whose main differences were all based in marketing strategy. Considering that as recently as 1990 there were still only a couple hundred breweries nationwide, what took so long for brew to make a comeback, and why now? This video that just popped onto the web, chock full of sudsy infographic goodness that will help you slam back your next double IPA with a knowledge sidecar.

Oh, and lest we forget the days of watery beer, here’s my favorite beer commercial of all time. It’s just so manly: Look at the guy rip a six-pack out of a frozen mountain stream and gaze in awe as a freaking stallion pops wheelies in front of a sunset. Stunning.

 

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