Back in the 1980’s and right up until close to the turn of the century, what we today call craft breweries were referred to as microbreweries. The reason for this was that, relative to the massive brewing companies that dominated the marketplace from New York to Vancouver and Rome to Tokyo – pretty much any place beer was sold, in fact, other than Germany – these new, upstart breweries were indeed “micro.”
The above will not come as a revelation to most readers of Ale Street News. What may surprise you, on the other hand, or at least serve as a reminder of something you take largely for granted today, is that the size relationship that defined microbreweries then is still largely true today. Yes, even in these times of exponential growth, of craft market share approaching double digit territory, of Boston Beer’s Jim Koch being ‘outed’ as a billionaire, and of companies opening second or even third brewing facilities, the constant expansion and consolidation of the majors still make the largest of the craft breweries look pretty much, well, micro.
(Read more at Ale Street News…)