Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer, than larger "macro" breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, new flavours, and varied brewing techniques.
The U.S. state of Oregon is home to more than 200 breweries and brew pubs that produce a large variety of beer.
Full Sail Brewing Company is a craft brewery in Hood River, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1987, Full Sail was the first commercially successful craft brewery to bottle beer in the Pacific Northwest for retail sale, and one of Oregon's early microbreweries. The first beer packaged was Full Sail Golden Ale, followed in 1988 by Full Sail Imperial Porter, Full Sail Amber Ale, and Wassail Winter Ale.
Widmer Brothers is a brewery founded in 1984 in Portland, Oregon, by brothers Kurt and Robert Widmer. It is part of the Craft Brew Alliance, Inc., the 12th largest brewing company in the United States in 2017.
Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.
Allagash Brewing Company is a brewery in Portland, Maine. The brewery specializes in Belgian style beers.
Brewing in Ireland has a long history. Production currently stands at over 8 million hectolitres, and approximately half the alcohol consumed is beer.
Deschutes Brewery is a craft brewery in the northwest United States, located in Bend, Oregon. Founded in 1988 as a brew pub, it is known for such products as Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale. In 2008, the brewery opened a second pub in the Pearl District of Portland, Oregon. Deschutes Brewery ships beer to 28 states, the District of Columbia, and around the world from its main brewing facility. The brewery is named after the Deschutes River, which runs through Oregon. As of 2016, Deschutes was the eighth-largest craft brewery and fifteenth-largest overall brewery in the U.S., producing 250,000 US beer barrels (290,000 hL) in 2012.
Rogue Ales is a brewery founded in 1988 in Ashland, Oregon. Rogue has pub locations in Oregon.
McMullen's, known locally as Mac's, is a regional brewery founded in 1827 in Hertford, England, the United Kingdom. The brewery expanded during the second half of the 19th century by purchasing other breweries and their associated pubs. In 1902 it was the second largest brewery in Hertfordshire. The brewery has occupied several different sites in Hertford and moved to its current location in 1891. There have been several breweries on this site and the current one opened in 2006. As of 2021, members of the 6th generation of the McMullen family are still involved with the business.
Russian River Brewing Company is a brewery and brewpub in downtown Santa Rosa, California, with a second location in Windsor. The company is known for strong India pale ales and sour beers.
The Otley Brewing Company Limited, colloquially Otley Brewery, is a brewery located in Pontypridd, Wales. Established in 2005, it has won several awards, including the Champion Beer of Wales in 2006. The head brewer is Charlie Otley. In October 2016, the brewery was put up for sale by its owners. In February 2018 the brewery ceased trading.
York Brewery is a brewery, formerly located in York within the city walls, owned by Black Sheep Brewery in Masham where York Brewery beers are currently brewed.
Kona Brewing Hawai'i is a brewery in Kailua-Kona on Hawaii's Big Island. Formerly owned by Craft Brew Alliance, Kona is now owned by PV Brewing Partners since September 2020. Kona Brewing Company distributes its beers in 36 states and 10 different countries. Approximately 10 other styles of beer are brewed on a regular basis and served at Kona Brewing Company’s pubs, with a few being served in other restaurants all over the islands.
Odell Brewing Company is an independent craft brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. It's the 23rd largest U.S. craft brewing company by the Brewers Association. Odell Brewing is known for their hop-forward and balanced IPAs.
Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) is an annual brewing competition that commenced in 1992.
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.
Craft Brew Alliance is a beer brewing company that originally was composed of five beer and cider brands:
Craft beer tourism refers to tourism where the primary motivation of travel is to visit a brewery, beer festival, beer related activity or other event that allows attendees to experience all aspects of the craft beer-making, consuming and purchasing process. Travel and tourism constitute one of the largest industries in the world, with Americans spending a total of $1.1 trillion in domestic and international travel in 2018. The beer tourism industry has evolved from the larger culinary and beverage tourism category in which people began planning travels based around experiencing food and drink of different geographies. Informally, vacations centric to the theme of enjoying beer have been dubbed "beercations".
