Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
A microbrew is a beer produced in relatively small quantities by a microbrewery, a small commercial brewery.
In the early twentieth century, Prohibition drove many breweries into bankruptcy because they could not rely on selling "sacramental" wine as wineries of that era did. After several decades of consolidation of breweries, most American commercial beer was produced by a few very large corporations, resulting in a very uniform mild-tasting lager of which Budweiser is the most famous (or infamous) example. Consequently, some beer drinkers craving variety turned to homebrewing and eventually a few started doing so on a slightly larger scale. For inspiration, they turned to Britain, Germany, and Belgium, where a centuries-old tradition of artisan beer and ale production had never died out.
Microbreweries are gradually appearing in other countries (such as New Zealand and Australia) where a similar market concentration exists. For example, microbreweries are flourishing in Canada, which (like the US) has a large domestic market dominated by large companies.
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details