California, the birthplace of the American craft brewing movement…
The history of craft beer in California and the entire nation began in 1965 when recent Stanford graduate, Fritz Maytag, sat enjoying his favorite beer in a local pub. In a conversation with the bartender Maytag was told, “You better enjoy that Anchor. It may be your last.” Anchor Brewery was on the verge of going out of business. Maytag visited the brewery the next day and, for a modest investment, bought a controlling interest in the ailing business.
Maytag was soon brewing authentic, artful beers and reintroducing lost styles. He proved that Americans were ready for a different kind of beer; beer with flavor, diversity and history. His Anchor Brewery became the first “craft” brewery since prohibition and was the inspiration that sparked a revolution in brewing.
Anchor was a lone pioneer until Jack McAuliffe, who had developed a taste for British ales while stationed in Scotland, visited the Anchor brewery and decided to build his New Albion Brewery from scratch, using discarded dairy tanks and other scrapped industrial equipment. New Albion began brewing in 1977 in Sonoma, California, making it the first modern microbrewery in America.
A little farther north in Chico, “Home Brew Shop” owner, Ken Grossman, also dreamed of opening his own brewery. Inspired by both Anchor and New Albion, Grossman took welding lessons at the local community college so he could build his own brewery and equipment. He opened Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in 1980, and their Sierra Nevada Pale Ale created a brand new beer style, the American-style Pale Ale, breaking from the English pale ale it was based on.
In September 1983, Mendocino Brewing opened in Hopland, the first brewpub in the state and the second in America.
From these humble beginnings, small California breweries continued to open, first concentrated in the north and then spreading throughout the state. Today there are more than 600 breweries in the state.
California is now known for not only starting the craft beer movement but also quickly becoming an epicenter for new styles and high quality beer.
In 2012, 54 countries entered almost 4,000 beers in 95 separate categories at the biennial World Beer Cup Competition. California’s craft brewers took home 55 medals, not just more than any other state, but any other nation, as well.
For more information about the growth and success of California craft beer, follow the CCBA blog.