M. B. Mooney - Craft Brew: An American Beer Revolution

Table of Contents

This book is a publication of

Red Lightning Books

1320 East 10th Street

Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

redlightningbooks.com

2021 by M. B. Mooney

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

Manufactured in the United States of America

First printing 2021

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mooney, M. B., author.

Title: Craft brew : an American beer revolution / M. B. Mooney.

Description: Bloomington, Indiana, USA : Red Lightning Books, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021018601 (print) | LCCN 2021018602 (ebook) | ISBN 9781684351558 (hardback) | ISBN 9781684351565 (paperback) | ISBN 9781684351572 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Beer festivalsUnited StatesGuidebooks. | MicrobreweriesUnited StatesGuidbooks.

Classification: LCC GT2890 .M67 2021 (print) | LCC GT2890 (ebook) | DDC 394.1/30973dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021018601

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021018602

Neither this book, nor the previous one I wrote about beer fests, would have been possible without some amazing people who led me in the right direction and gave me an inside look into the craft brew culture.

To the great friends and homebrewers who shared their homemade brews with meScott Freed, Steven Faletti, Bill Hawkins, and Walt Woodenyour friendship and patience with a new convert welcomed me and taught me a great deal.

To Phil Ferril, the brewmaster with experience at beer fests, homebrewing, and the changes in craft beer over the decades, your insight and knowledge were invaluable.

To the brewers and owners Ive had the pleasure of interviewing, you were all a pleasure to talk to and generous with your time and stories. Every conversation only confirmed the amazing character of the individuals within the craft beer industry.

I also want to thank Indiana University Press. You have been professional and kind in dealing with a strange author publishing for the first time.

My agent, Cyle Young, helped me get this opportunity and answered my dumb questions. You and the Serious Writer communitynotably Bethany Jett and Michelle Medlock Adamshave overwhelmed me with support and direction on all the details of the publishing industry.

When we got married, my wife, Becca, promised that she would always invest in my dreams, and she has never wavered. I dont deserve you, and you give new meaning to out of my league. Im thankful God helped me find a partner to live this great adventure with.

America has a complicated history with beer.

William Shakespeare wrote, A quart of ale is a dish for a king, but many Americans associate beer with the working class rather than the well-to-do. They believe it causes trouble because people guzzle it as a cheap way to get inebriated.

A puritanical religious heritage, well-meaning but misguided reformers, and a dash of anti-immigrant hostility against the Irish and Germans led our nation to pass a lawan amendment to the Constitution itselfthat outlawed alcohol. This required a two-thirds majority of the US House and Senate.

Rampant crime and violence convinced lawmakers that this noble experiment did not solve societys ills but rather exacerbated them to an exponential degree. The US changed the Constitution again in 1933.

As difficult as it is to pass an amendment to the US Constitution, changing minds or culture is even harder. The negative attitudes toward alcohol, and especially beer, remained. The big conglomerates underscored this mentality by selling cheap, watery, low-quality beer across America, pumping massive amounts of money into advertising and keeping small breweries out of the market.

Enter the craft beer revolution.

An underground movement to make great beer began during the larger counterculture revolution of the sixties and seventies. A young generation rebelled against the greed and consumerism that the previous generation celebrated.