Throughout its development it has been closely associated with Canadian brewing, and while the history of the flowering of individual firms can be attributed to one country or another, the history of “American brewing” constantly brings together the brewing traditions of the U.S. and Canada. True, only before Prohibition – then their histories diverged, and now brewers in these countries are trying to establish their own traditions and their own brews in the marketplace.
Today, beer historiographers claim that beer in America was known long before Columbus – it was brewed by Indians in Mexico and Southwest America. But the U.S. does not cover these territories, so Americans prefer to say that the existing tradition of brewing was imported from Europe.
By the time of the American Revolution (1775-1783), which resulted in the formation of the United States in 1776, beer was brewed almost everywhere in the American colonies. It was then brewed using ale starter brought by the British with fermentation at the top. Many landowners brewed their own beer – a brewery was as commonplace as a stable. The newly created country was a country of ales and porter, which made up the vast majority of beer produced. However, this only lasted until about 1840, when the first wave of German immigrants brought with them a new fermented beer starter at the bottom. From that moment on, the United States truly became a lager-loving nation: to this day, the bulk of the beers produced by American companies are a variety of light beers – lagers.
By the end of the 19th century there were about 4,000 breweries in the United States. Every town, even the smallest, was surrounded by breweries, which in some places outnumbered bakeries and slaughterhouses. But the nineteenth century was also a great transportation revolution. The networks of railroads that covered virtually all of the United States made it possible to move goods over long distances, and the invention of artificial ice made it possible. In turn, the general development of production was also reflected in the beer industry – small breweries were replaced by breweries, some of which grew into real giants.
The heyday of the industry in the early twentieth century was replaced in the 1950s and 60s by a significant decline in production, which slowed down in the 1970s, and by the early 1980s the US beer industry had sort of come to a standstill. Then the government took a decisive step to revive the industry: the ban on the production and retail sale of beer in one place, which had been in effect since the Prohibition Act, was lifted. This ban existed as a recommendation on the national level and had the force of law in most states. Its repeal at the state level led to its gradual repeal in various states. Where the ban was lifted, brewpubs began to flourish, which breathed new life into a stagnant industry. Americans suddenly remembered that such eateries were an essential part of the country’s history, that they existed at its inception and accompanied it through the centuries.
Another part of the industry’s heyday was the massive penetration of a variety of beers from Europe into the American market. Americans began to betray their former love, the light lagers. The blossoming of beer restaurants helped the “change” to happen: small producers found it much easier than large companies to readjust to the production of a variety of beers. Beer taverns, which did not brew beer but were increasingly buying it, also tried to satisfy consumer tastes: a standard tavern today, for example, has at least a dozen beers.
Today’s American market is saturated with a wide variety of beer brands. Not only is there the best selection of lagers, but also a variety of ales, porter, and wheat beers. Restoration of old recipes and development of new technologies of porter production allowed to provide the production of a variety of porter, including the pride of Americans – a particularly strong porter. The “dry” lager, in which all fermentable sugars have been transformed into alcohol, but the final alcohol content is the same as in the usual lager, which has recently come from Europe, has also caught on in the American market. Another type of beer, invented more recently by the efforts of two of the nation’s largest companies, Anheuser-Bush and Miller Brewing, the so-called “frozen” beer, has also recently begun to capture more and more beer lovers.
“Frozen” beer was developed by the Canadian company Labatt, so in the U.S. and Canada today this beer is sold under the same brand name. The specifics of production of “frozen” beer make it possible to obtain from an ordinary pale lager a beer with twice the alcohol content. The effect of this is achieved by the fact that immediately after brewing the lager is quickly cooled to freezing temperature, resulting in the formation of ice crystals in the beer even before fermentation, which are later used to produce “frozen” beer.
Today’s America can offer the consumer not only the most popular beer brands, but also a wide range of local beers for all tastes for those who prefer something special, more subtle than mass-produced beer. Thus the Americans have managed not only to develop the most powerful mass-produced beer industry, but also to restore the former tradition of beer production by small producers.
Today the American market successfully neighbors the beer of the national brewing monsters with the beer of small breweries. Anheuser-Bush (opened in 1852 in St. Louis, Missouri) is the largest brewing company not only in the United States, but also in the whole world. In the American market it has captured and firmly holds 40% of the national beer market, at the same time beer brands of this company are popular in many countries around the world. The company launches on the mass market famous beer brands such as “Budweiser” (released in 1876) and “Michelob” (released in 1896), “Natural Light” (1977), “Michelob Light” (1978), ” Michelob Classic Dauk” (1981), “Bud Light” (1982), non-alcoholic beer “O’Doul’s” (1990)…
Miller Brewing (founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin), has been a leader in brewing and is one of the top three American breweries.
By the end of the 1970s Miller Brewing had become the second-largest brewing company in the United States after Anheuser-Bush. For many decades the leading brand of the company was Miller High Life – the national lager brand that existed before Prohibition, then Miller Gemine Proft (1986), the beer with reduced calorie “Life” (1975).
One of the most popular brands produced by Miller Brewing is “Lowenbuaun” beer, produced under license from the Munich company of the same name. In turn, “Miller High Life” beer is brewed under licenses of Miller Brewing in Canada and Japan. The third place in the U.S. in terms of sales is currently occupied by Adolph Coors. Founded in 1873 high in the Rocky Mountains, Golden, Colorado. Golden’s plant is the largest brewery in the world. Its most popular brand is Coors Banguet, a low-calorie beer called Coors Light, Winterfest and Gerge Kilian’s licensed Irish Ked ale.
Unlike in Europe, most American beers are produced by giant companies in big breweries, not mini-breweries.