Everyone who cares about good beer owes Tom Acitelli a huge thanks: his history of American craft beer is lively, substantive, and thoughtful.
Maureen Ogle, author of Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer
[Tom Acitelli]s thorough research into the craft beer revolution tells a great story and shows how a ragtag yet purposeful group of passionate individuals can build an industry. He did an amazing job capturing the characters, improbable tales, and astounding passion that make up the craft brewing community.
Ken Grossman, founder, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
The Audacity of Hops chronicles the rich history of Americas craft brewing revolution with deft portraits of the resourceful pioneers, the innovative brewers, and the intrepid entrepreneurs who are changing the way the world thinks about beer.
Steve Hindy, cofounder of Brooklyn Brewery and coauthor of Beer School
Toms narrative threads moments of insider anecdote with a historians vision of what makes growing, outsider movements so dynamic, meaningful, and, in our case, delicious. An important achievement.
Jeremy Cowan, author of Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah and proprietor of Shmaltz Brewing
This book is a delightful read, painstakingly researched, often humorous, and filled with stories that breathe life into the birth of our industry.
David L. Geary, president of D. L. Geary Brewing Company
Copyright 2013 by Tom Acitelli
All rights reserved
First edition
Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN 978-1-61374-388-1
Cover and interior design: Jonathan Hahn
Cover photographs: Michael Halberstadt
Typesetting: PerfecType, Nashville, TN
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Acitelli, Tom.
The audacity of hops : the history of Americas craft beer revolution / Tom Acitelli. First edition.
pages cm
Summary: Charting the birth and growth of craft beer across the United States, Tom Acitelli offers an epic, story-driven account of one of the most inspiring and surprising American grassroots movements. In 1975, there was a single craft brewery in the United States; today there are more than 2,000. Now this once-fledgling movement has become ubiquitous nationwidetheres even a honey ale brewed at the White House. This book not only tells the stories of the major figures and businesses within the movement, but it also ties in the movement with larger American culinary developments. It also charts the explosion of the mass-market craft beer culture, including magazines, festivals, home brewing, and more. This entertaining and informative history brims with charming, remarkable stories, which together weave a very American business tale of formidable odds and refreshing success Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61374-388-1 (pbk.)
1. BeerUnited States. I. Title.
TP573.U5A25 2013
641.23dc23
2013002264
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
To my parents
CONTENTS
Prologue: America, King of Beer
Turin, Italy; Paris; Washington, DC | 2009-2010
THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST
San Francisco | 1965
DO IT YOURSELF
Dunoon, Scotland; Fairfax County, VA | 1964-1968
BEER FOR ITS OWN SAKE
Okinawa, Japan; Portland, OR | 1970
EDEN, CALIFORNIA
Davis, CA | 1970
TV DINNER LAND
San Francisco | 1970-1971
LITE UP AHEAD
Munich; Brooklyn | 1970-1973
BREWED THROUGH A HORSE
Los Angeles; Chicago | 1973-1978
THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BEER
San Francisco | 1974-1978
CHEZ MCAULIFFE
Sonoma, CA | 1976
THE BARD OF BEER
London | 1976-1977
LONG DAYS, LONGER
ODDS Sonoma, CA | 1976-1977
TIPPING POINTS
Boulder, CO; Washington, DC | 1978
SMALL, HIGH-QUALITY FOOD PLACES
Sonoma, CA | 1978
THE BEARDED YOUNG MAN FROM CHICO
Chico, CA | 1978
THE FIREMAN AND THE GOAT SHED
Novato, CA; Hygiene, CO | 1979-1980
THE WEST COAST STYLE
Chico, CA | 1979-1981
MAYFLOWER REFUGEE
Boulder, CO; Manhattan | 1981-1984
HOW THE BREWPUB WAS BORN
Yakima, WA | 1981
THE FIRST SHAKEOUT
Sonoma, CA; Novato, CA | 1982-1983
THATS A GREAT IDEA, CHARLIE
Boulder, CO; Denver | 1982-1984
THE THIRD WAVE BUILDS
Manhattan; Virginia Beach, VA; Portland, OR; Hopland, CA | 1982-1984.
THE LESSON OF THE NYLON STRING
Newton, MA; Boston | 1983-1984
THIS CONNOISSEUR THING
Manhattan | 1983-1985
BECAUSE WINE MAKING TAKES TOO LONG
Belmont, CA | 1985
MORE THAN IN EUROPE
Boston; Kalamazoo, MI | 1983-1986
BEER, ITS WHATS WITH DINNER
Washington, DC; Portland, OR | 1983-1987
VATS AND DOGS
San Francisco, CA | 1986-1987
TO THE LAST FRONTIER AND BACK
Juneau, AK; Baltimore; Boston | 1985-1986
WEEPING RADISHES AND SCOTTISH LORDS
Portland, ME; Abita Springs, LA; St. Paul, MN; Manteo, NC | 1985-1986
HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE
Denver|1987
UNHAPPY MEALS
Rome | 1986
SECOND CAREERS
Brooklyn | 1986
DAVIDS AND GOLIATHS
Boston | 1986
FIVE HUNDRED MILES IN A RENTED HONDA
New Ulm, MN | 1986-1987
NEW YORK MINUTES
Brooklyn; Manhattan | 1987-1988
THE REVOLUTION, TELEVISED
San Francisco; Cleveland; Chicago | 1987-1990
A MANIFESTO AND ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
Venice, Italy | 1990
THE VALUE OF GOLD
Utica, NY | 1991
THE TYRANNY OF FAST GROWTH
Baghdad, Iraq; Marin County, CA | 1991-1994
FINDING ROLE MODELS, DEFYING LABELS
Philadelphia; New Glarus, WI; Burlington, VT; Fort Collins, CO | 1991-1993
GHOSTS AROUND THE MACHINES
Washington, DC | 1993
CHERRY BREW AND NAKED HOCKEY
Manhattan | 1992-1993
IN PRIME TIME
San Francisco | 1994
CRITICAL MASS
Durham, NC | 1995
THE POTATO-CHIP EPIPHANY
Kailua-Kona, HI | 1993-1995
THE BREWPUBS BOOM
Denver; Palo Alto, CA | 1993-1995
SUDS AND THE CITY
Brooklyn | 1995
ATTACK OF THE PHANTOM CRAFTS
Denver; St. Louis | 1994-1995
BUDHOOK AND THE BULL BEER MARKET
Seattle; Portsmouth, NH; Frederick, MD | 1995-1996
LAST CALL FOR THE OLD DAYS
Hopland, CA; Portland, OR; Portland, ME | 1995-1997
BIG BEERS BIGGEST WEAPON
Merriam, KS; Chico, CA | 1996
THE FRENCH LIEUTENANTS COAT
Brooklyn | 1996
TO THE EXTREME
Rehoboth Beach, DE | 1995-1997
THE TOTAL PACKAGE
Petaluma, CA | 1995
BOOS
Boston; Pittsburgh | 1996
THE MOVEMENTS BIGGEST SETBACK
New York; Philadelphia | 1996
LUCKY BASTARDS
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