Photo by Bernt Rostad

Craft Beer Week in America

By Brandon Schiwal
Contributing Writer

Craft beer is here to stay, at least according to the Brewers Association. This week marks ‘American Craft Beer Week’ which is sponsored by the Brewers Association with the aim of showcasing the innovative and artisanal craft beers currently brewed in America. American Craft beer week is meant to be a celebration of the craft brewer that brings more interest to quality beers from small breweries.

What is a craft brewer? The Brewers Association defines them as small, independent and traditional breweries. To be classified as a craft brewery by The Brewers Association, you cannot brew more than six million barrels of beer per year or have ownership of more than 25% by a non-craft brewer. A craft brewery by the same standards must have a flagship all malt beer or have greater than half of its production volume in “either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.” This means if you use corn, rice, oats, or any grain other than malted barely, it has to add flavor and not create a more watered down taste.
From its very beginnings America has had a love affair with beer. The founding fathers of this country were almost all brewers, and to demonstrate this, the New York Library recently partnered with Coney Island Brewing to brew one of George Washington’s personal recipes. In 1810, James Madison proposed plans for a national brewery and the appointment of a cabinet level position aptly named “Secretary of Beer.” (It is a shame this never happened.) Even the pilgrims on the Mayflower decided to settle at Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer! One passenger wrote in his diary, “We could not now take time for further search ... our victuals being much spent, especially our beer ... “

As they say, however, all good things come to an end. The highest point for American brewing was in 1873 when there were 4,131 breweries nationwide, and that same year, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union began their campaign against alcohol in our country. This marked the beginning of the slow degradation for our great American beverage, and 46 years later the fruit of their efforts was realized with Prohibition.

From a beer perspective, the worst part of Prohibition was not over when it was repealed in 1933. Prohibition lost over a hundred years of beer culture in America and began a narrowing of the American palate. Even in 1981, 48 years after the 21st Amendment was enacted, there were only 81 breweries active in America, all of which served pale adjunct lager.

The 1980s may have been a low point, but a grassroots movement started to bring flavor back to beer. In 1982, the first Great American Beer Festival was organized to bring together the few craft brewers who were brewing quality beer. The craft beer movement was truly born in the 1980s when home brewers organized and started commercial breweries of their own. There are now over 1,700 breweries nationwide and many more currently in the planning stages.

American Craft Beer week runs from May 16 through May 22, and in Fargo there are some exciting events beginning on May 19. This Thursday, Happy Harry’s will host a beer tasting to kick off their big beer sale from 5-7 p.m. On the same evening there will also be a Bell’s Brewery Pub Crawl starting with Hell Hath No Fury tapped at the Sidestreet at 7 p.m., Batch 10,000 tapped at J.L. Beers at 8 p.m., and finishing with Wedding Ale, The Oracle, and Oatmeal Stout tapped at The Hotel Donaldson at 9 p.m. Old Chicago is featuring a Craft Beer Tour as well through June 5.

Questions or comments:Tundrabooking@gmail.com