A common anthropological theory is that the brewing of beer caused the formation of agricultural society. Brewing’s importance to early civilization was evident- one of the first recorded set of laws, Hammurabi’s Code, included recipes for beer (and punishments for not making it well).
What was the main purpose of the Catholic Church besides saving souls? Making and distributing beer, of course. Monasteries were and continue to be beer making institutions. They are thought to be the first large scale beer production and distribution networks.
The age of Imperialism brought us global trading routes, and beers such as the IPA that implemented methods of preservation to make the journey. Unfortunately, what necessitated this reinvention was colonialism, as most of history is defined by violence and oppression.
Beer was one of the first consumer items to be revolutionized by modern industry. Many of the new technologies invented in the late 1800s, such as refrigeration and pasteurization, were specifically meant for beer. The railroads and steam engines enabled fast transport like never before, enabling (much to the chagrin of craft brewers and enthusiasts) massive sales of simple lagers that otherwise would not have made the long journey.
Tired of the bland homogeneity that utterly dominated the beer market from prohibition to the 1970s, brave brewers and entrepreneurs revived Old World brewing recipes with an American spin. We are now in an age of reckoning. Environmentalists call it the Great Turning. As the mainstream industrial beer market has shrunk in recent decades, the craft beer market has grown. Representing a new ethics economy centered around community, responsibility, and meaningful products, craft beer appears to yet again be indicating what lies ahead in the future for those thirsty for knowledge.
Craft Beer's Contributions to the U.S. Economy in 2020:
$62.1 billion
More than 400,000 jobs
Kept money in communities
Data from the Brewers Association