Brewing Battles: A History of American BeerFrom local and collegial to consolidated and competitive, the brewing industry followed a pattern that illustrates many of the changes that have taken place in the American business and cultural landscape over the past 100+ years. Brewing Battles explores the struggle of German immigrant brewers to establish themselves in America, within the context of federal taxation and a growing temperance movement, their losing battle against Prohibition, their rebirth and transformation into a corporate oligarchy, and the determination of home and micro brewers to reassert craft as the raison d'etre of brewing. Brewing Battles looks at beers cultural meaning from the vantage point of the brewers and their goals for market domination. Beer consumption changed over time, beginning with an alcoholic high in the early 19th century and ending with a neo-temperance low in the early 21st. The public places where people drank also changed from colonial ordinaries in peoples homes to the saloon and back to home via the disposable six pack. The book explores this story as brewers fought to create and control these changing patterns of consumption. Drinking alcohol has remained a favored activity in American society and while beer is ubiquitous, our country harbors a persistent ambivalence about drinking. An examination of how the industry prevailed in a sometimes unreceptive environment exemplifies how business helps shape public opinion. Brewing Battles reveals the complicated changes in the economic clout of the industry. Prior to the institution of the income tax in 1913 the liquor industry contributed over 50 percent of the federal governments internal revenue; 19th century temperance advocates portrayed the liquor industry as King Alcohol. Today their tax contribution is only 1 percent yet brewing actually has a much more pervasive influence, touching on almost every aspect of modern American life and contributing greatly to the GNP. Brewing Battles is this story. |
Contents
| 1 | |
tHe Brewing | 23 |
drinkers saloons and Brewers 18801898 | 47 |
wHo will pay tHe tax? Brewers and tHe Battle over | 71 |
repeal of proHiBition 19331941 | 97 |
tHe morale Builder 19421952 | 125 |
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Common terms and phrases
accessed advertising alcoholic beverages alcoholic content American Brewing Anheuser–Busch became Beer Institute Blatz Blocker bock beer Brewed inAmerica Brewers Almanac Brewers Association brewery workers Brewing Company brewing industry Busch Candy Lightner Committee company’s competition Congress consumption Coors country’s craft brewers Dictionary distilled spirits Downard drinkers drinking age economic Eighteenth Amendment established excise taxes federal government fermented Frederick Lauer German Heileman History Ibid industry’s Internal Revenue issues Jacob Ruppert labor lager beer large brewers largest brewer legislation liquor industry malt liquors manufacture Miller Brewing Milwaukee Mittelman Modern Brewery Age neo-temperance nineteenth century Office organization Pabst Brewing Company percent Phillip Morris president prior to Prohibition production purchased Regional Breweries Repeal saloon Schaefer Schlitz Schlüter Shea small brewers sought tavern tax increase taxation temperance temperance movement tion tobacco trade association union United Brewery Workers United States Brewers USBA Volstead Act Washington whiskey wine York