The Craft

There may not be a better time to be a beer drinker in America - except tomorrow. There's a movement afoot, an unprecedented variety and creativity in American beer making, that you can see in our shelves. Bottle after bottle of craft beer lined up are the result of beer drinkers opting for better beer whenever  they can get their hands on it. It wasn't always so easy.

The early '80s might have been the darkest hour. A new brewery hadn't opened in America since before Prohibition. What were available were purposefully lightened, bland beers that were largely the same. But then craft breweries began reappearing, believing the American beer drinker would appreciate something better. And they were right.

Today, as overall beer buying in America moves down in lockstep with the economy, beer consumption grows. More than 95% of all breweries in this country are craft brewers. So what's the difference between craft beer and the big guys?

You just said, "flavor," in your head, right? True, part of the definition has to do with volume produced (6MM barrels a year or less) and ownership (less than 25% by a big alcoholic beverage company) but taste is literally in the definition. Craft brewers are small, independent and traditional. That traditional component means, among other things, that when adjunct ingredients are added, it's done to add flavor, not lighten it.

Craft beers deliver taste, by definition.

And there are more different flavors and styles than ever before. America has more breweries than any other nation—more than 1500. Add to this the increased importation of impressive beers from Europe, Asia and beyond, and it's no overstatement: we're living in a golden age of beer.

Who's up for trying 'em all?

History of the Growler

Growlers, originally simple metal pails with lids, were named due to the growling sound of CO2 escaping the lids as foamy beer sloshed around inside. Proud drinksmen and women toted beer home in growlers before Prohibition, while the local youth in Bowery era New York were hired to "rush the growler" from bar to table for patrons of Lower East Side drinking establishments. But then the temperance groups bemoaned how they promoted drinking in the home and growlers were history.

Imagine that—fresh draft beer in the home…

 

 182 Grand Street
 Brooklyn, NY 11211

  View Map

 347.457.6350

Copyright Breukelen Bier Merchants, 2011