With craft beer booming, many are curious how this industry developed. But the story behind craft beer's renaissance isn't as simple as it may seem.
As with virtually every other industry, duopolies once dominated the beer market. As recently as 2012, AB InBev and MillerCoors controlled 90 percent of beer production.
Brewing Basics
Brewing is the process of steeping a starch source (most commonly malted barley) in water and then fermenting it with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by commercial brewers, at home by amateur or hobbyist brewers, or communally by indigenous peoples throughout the world for thousands of years.
The revolution started with a handful of entrepreneurs who wanted to make great beer in their own backyards, challenging the dominance of AB InBev and MillerCoors. But it's bigger than just brewing: It's about taste, culture, and heritage captured in a pint. It's about community, and it's about redefining what beer is, even as it continues to evolve. Visit craft beer UK.
Ingredients
A good brewer knows that the secret of a delicious beer lies in the ingredients. The four simple ingredients barley, water, hops and yeast can create a great variety of different flavors. These ingredients are combined in countless ways by thousands of breweries and millions of beer lovers all over the world to create a unique work of art.
The brewing revolution is part of a larger trend, where people are starting to look back at home-made products and are demanding high-quality food. Many people have discovered that their own home-made jellies, bread or beer taste much better than the industrially manufactured versions.
But this renaissance is not without its challenges. It has to deal with the same business environment as many other sectors, including technology or telecommunications. The big breweries are consolidating and trying to take over the market. The result: A lot of smaller breweries are closing or are being acquired by the bigger companies.
Fermentation
As most economists will tell you, as any industry grows over time certain companies begin to monopolize the market. This is called consolidation, and it is exactly what happened to the beer industry in America. Until recently, two beer companies controlled nearly 90 percent of the market.
After Prohibition, a three-tier system was established in which breweries produce their product and sell it to a distributor, also known as a wholesaler, who then sells it to a retailer. This allows for fair margins and prevents one company from controlling the market.
However, the craft beer revolution has changed all of that. In a time when consumers have started to value the experience of purchasing a brand, rather than simply buying a product, these small breweries understand that people-first branding is key to success. Craft beer brands are all about creating a product that customers will love, and they do this by working closely with their consumers to create a beverage that meets their needs.
Finishing
In a world where consumers value experience over product, craft beer companies are leading the way. They use a people-first approach to branding that gives their customers an authentic connection to the brand and the brewery itself.
In an industry where the vast majority of beer is produced by just two multinational conglomerates, there are more than 2,700 breweries operating in America. These microbreweries, or brewpubs, have changed the way beer is made and sold, and their influence has spawned a movement that's expanding across Europe's great brewing nations.
The Brewers Association defines a craft brewery as any brewery that annually produces fewer than six million barrels, does not receive major investments from non-craft entities, and uses traditional brewing methods. But this sort of industry consolidation worries economists, who warn that the presence of a few corporate behemoths stamps out innovation and hurts workers. And it may even be damaging to the beer we drink.
