American Beer is a 2004 feature-length documentary directed by Paul Kermizian that chronicles and documents the American craft brewing industry. The film was shot in the spring of 2002. Kermizian and a group of four left New York City and traveled by minivan across the United States visiting 38 craft and independent breweries in 40 days. [1] [2]
Breweries featured in the film include Dogfish Head Brewery, Shipyard Brewing, Victory Brewing Company, McNeill's Brewery, Climax Brewing, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Anchor Brewing Company, New Glarus Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing Company, Bell's Brewery and others.
The film screened at various film festivals throughout 2004 and 2005 [3] and was released on DVD towards the end of 2005. A special edition of the DVD released shortly afterward contains more than 80 minutes of deleted scenes from breweries featured in the film along with other scenes deleted from the original cut.
As a result, from their experiences from the film, Paul Kermizian ended up opening Barcade, a chain of hybrid arcade and craft beer bars in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Philadelphia, [4] and Jeremy Goldberg started a brewery called Cape Ann Brewing in Gloucester, Massachusetts. [5]
A craft brewery or microbrewery is a brewery that produces small amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and is often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis on enthusiasm, new flavours, and varied brewing techniques.
The New Glarus Brewing Company is an American brewery founded in 1993. Located in New Glarus, Wisconsin, it is an independently owned craft brewery, whose products can only be found in Wisconsin. New Glarus Brewing Company is the 15th largest craft brewer and 25th largest overall brewing company in the United States, by sales volume.
Beer was introduced to Canada by European settlers in the seventeenth century. The first commercial brewery was La Brasseries du Roy started by New France Intendant Jean Talon, in Québec City in 1668. Many commercial brewers thrived until prohibition in Canada. The provincial and federal governments' attempt to eliminate "intoxicating" beverages led to the closing of nearly three quarters of breweries between 1878 and 1928. It was only in the second half of the twentieth century that a significant number of new breweries opened up. The Canadian beer industry now plays an important role in Canadian identity, though globalization of the brewing industry has seen the major players in Canada acquired by, or merged with, foreign companies, notably its three largest beer producers, Labatt, Molson and Sleeman. The result is that Moosehead, with an estimated 3.8 percent share of the domestic market in 2016, has become the largest fully Canadian-owned brewer.
Dogfish Head Brewery is a brewing company based in Milton, Delaware founded by Sam Calagione. It opened in 1995 and produces 262,000 barrels of beer annually. Dogfish Head has been a rapidly growing brewery – it grew nearly 400% between 2003 and 2006. The brewery was featured prominently in the documentary Beer Wars and was the subject of the Discovery Channel series Brew Masters, which premiered Sunday, November 21, 2010. The brewery takes its name from Dogfish Head, Maine, where Calagione spent summers as a child.
Summit Brewing Company is a regional craft brewery in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that brews a wide selection of beers. In 2017, Summit Brewing was the 25th largest craft brewer in the country and produced approximately 115,000 barrels of beer, with a capacity of 240,000 barrels per year. Their flagship beer has been an English Pale Ale branded as Summit Extra Pale Ale.
Brooklyn Brewery is a brewery in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It was started in 1988 by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter.
Beer in Japan mostly comes from the country's four major breweries, Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory, which mainly produce pale lagers around 5% ABV. Beer is immensely popular, far ahead of sake consumption.
BridgePort Brewing Company was a brewery in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It operated from 1984 until 2019. Brewery operations ceased in February 2019, and the brew pub closed March 10, 2019.
Two Brothers Brewing Company is an independently owned Illinois-based microbrewery founded by brothers Jim and Jason Ebel in 1996. The brothers brought their knowledge of different brewing styles to the Chicago craft brew market after living in Europe and experiencing the variety of beers available there. Jim and Jason started the business using bulk milk tanks converted into fermenters that were donated to them by their grandfather who was a retired dairy farmer. Two Brothers Brewing has now been in business for over 20 years and has opened multiple locations throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as one in Arizona.
The Golden Tap Awards (GTAs) is an annual beer awards event held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The awards are sponsored and presented by The Bar Towel, a website and forum dedicated to the discussion and promotion of Toronto's craft and microbrew beer scene.
The beers of the Caribbean are unique to each island in the region, although many are variants of the same style. Each island generally brews its own unique pale lager, the occasional stout, and often a non-alcoholic malta beverage. Contract-brewing of international beers is also common, with Heineken Pilsener and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout being the most popular. The beers vary between the islands to suit the taste and the brewing method used.
Portland Brewing Company was a brewery in Portland, Oregon. A pioneer in Portland's early craft brewing scene, it was known as MacTarnahan's Brewing Company from 2004 to 2013 before resuming its original name. It was closed by the Costa Rican company that owned it, Florida Ice & Farm Co., in early 2021.
Shmaltz Brewing Company is an American craft brewing company headquartered in Troy, New York, US. Originally primarily known for its He'Brew flagship brand, the company produces a large line of Shmaltz Brewing beers and numerous other brands including 518/838 craft beers and the Alphabet City Brewing brand. It also produced Coney Island Craft Lagers until that brand's acquisition by Boston Beer Company in 2013.
Barcade is a chain of arcade bars with locations in the northeastern United States, Los Angeles, and Detroit. First opened in Brooklyn in October 1, 2004, the venues feature a mix of classic video games and pinball and serve American craft beers.
Mikkeller is a microbrewery founded in 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark that was originally based on the so-called "cuckoo", "phantom" or "gypsy" ethos; that is, the company did not operate an official brewery and, instead, collaborated with other brewers to produce their recipes or experimental one-off brews. The company now operates four breweries, Mikkeller Brewing in San Diego, Warpigs, a brewpub in Copenhagen, Mikkeller Brewpub London and Baghaven, a brewery and Blenderia in Copenhagen. Mikkeller was founded by two home brewers: Mikkel Bjergsø, a high school teacher, and journalist Kristian Klarup Keller. Both sought to introduce their home-brewed beer to the public and to "challenge beer friends with intense new tastes", drawing inspiration from the American breweries that "aren't afraid to play and break all the rules".
The Devils Backbone Brewing Company is a brewpub located in Roseland, Virginia, owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. It was established in 2008 by Steven Crandall. In 2012, a 15,000 square foot production facility and tap room, referred to as "The Outpost", was established near Lexington, Virginia. In 2016, the company was purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev, meaning that Devils Backbone Brewing Company would no longer meet the Brewers Association definition of a "craft brewery", since ownership by Anheuser-Busch InBev exceeds the definition's 25% maximum ownership by a non-craft brewery.
The Elysian Brewing Company is an American brewery, owned by AB InBev, that operates two pubs and a taproom in Seattle.
East End Brewing Company is a Pittsburgh brewery. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it is a "force in the local beer market."
San Diego County, California, has been called "the Craft Beer Capital of America". As of 2018, the county was home to 155 licensed craft breweries – the most of any county in the United States. Based on 2016 sales volume, three San Diego County breweries – Stone, Green Flash, and Karl Strauss – rank among the 50 largest craft brewers in the United States. San Diego County brewers pioneered the specialty beer style known as Double India Pale Ale, sometimes called San Diego Pale Ale. Its beer culture is a draw for tourism, particularly during major festivals such as San Diego Beer Week and the San Diego International Beer Competition. San Diego County breweries including Stone Brewing Co., AleSmith Brewing Company and Ballast Point Brewing Company are consistently rated among the top breweries in the world.
Burnside Brewing Company was a brewery based in Portland, Oregon.