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.
Big Rock Brewery is a Canadian public company and the largest brewery that is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Additional brewing operations are located in Vancouver, British Columbia; Etobicoke, Ontario; and Liberty Village in Toronto, Ontario. Big Rock distributes a variety of beers and ciders throughout Canada.
The U.S. state of Oregon is home to more than 200 breweries and brew pubs that produce a large variety of beer.
Beer in the United States is manufactured by more than 7,000 breweries, which range in size from industry giants to brew pubs and microbreweries. The United States produced 196 million barrels (23.0 GL) of beer in 2012, and consumes roughly 28 US gallons (110 L) of beer per capita annually. In 2011, the United States was ranked fifteenth in the world in per capita consumption, while total consumption was second only to China.
Brooklyn Brewery is a brewery in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It was started in 1988 by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter.
Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in New Zealand, accounting for 63% of available alcohol for sale. At around 64.7 litres per person per annum, New Zealand is ranked 27th in global beer consumption per capita. The vast majority of beer produced in New Zealand is a type of lager, either pale or amber in colour, and typically 4–5% alcohol by volume.
Rogue Ales is a brewery founded in 1988 in Ashland, Oregon. The company brews their own beer, distills their own spirits, farms their own ingredients and coopers their own barrels. Rogue has locations in Oregon and Washington.
AleSmith Brewing Company is an American craft brewery located in San Diego, California. It specializes in handcrafted ales in a variety of styles. As of 2015 it produces about 25,000 barrels of beer a year.
Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style witbier brewed by MillerCoors under the name the Blue Moon Brewing Co. It was launched in 1995, and was originally brewed in Golden, Colorado.
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.
Firestone Walker Brewing Company is a family-owned craft brewery with operations in Paso Robles, Buellton and Venice, California. The brewery was established in 1996 by brothers-in-law Adam Firestone and David Walker. The original brewery was located on a family vineyard in Los Olivos, California. Their first beer, Double Barrel Ale, was made in a patented variation of the Burton union system. The main brewing operations moved to Paso Robles in 2001. Firestone Walker is today known for bestselling beers such as 805 and Mind Haze. Firestone Walker celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021 and is now California's second largest craft brewery.
Starr Hill Brewery was founded in 1999 in the town of Charlottesville, Virginia, by Mark Thompson and Kristin Dolan. The brewery takes its name from the neighborhood where it was originally located. In 2005, the brewery moved to nearby Crozet, Virginia. After Thompson retired in early 2015, brand and recipe development leader Robbie O'Cain was tapped as Brewmaster. In September 2017, Starr Hill opened the Pilot Brewery & Side Stage in Roanoke, Virginia.
SweetWater Brewing Company is a craft brewery founded in 1997 by Freddy Bensch and Kevin McNerney in Atlanta, Georgia. SweetWater's beers are unpasteurized and distribution is limited to select states.
Basil T's Brewery was a brewpub in Red Bank in Monmouth County, New Jersey. In 1987 Victor Rallo Jr., his brother and late father opened and Italian restaurant, then converted into a brewpub 1996. The brewery opened a second location in Toms River in 1997, which was later sold and renamed Artisan's Brewery. The brewery produces 650 barrels of beer per year. In 2014 the owners re-opened as Birravino.
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.
Women have been active in brewing since ancient times. Though Western societies have viewed brewing as a male-dominated field for the last 150 years, traditionally, it was an activity engaged in by women. Ethnographic and archaeological studies have shown that brewing was an outcropping of gathering or baking traditions, which were predominantly women's roles throughout the world. From the earliest evidence of brewing in 7000 BCE, until the commercialization of brewing during industrialization, women were the primary brewers on all inhabited continents. In many cultures, the deities, goddesses and protectors of brewers were female entities who were associated with fertility.
