Beers of the World. America!

For this post I am going to be taking a different approach, instead of focusing on one beer from America I am going to focus on the idea of Craft Brewing.

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Craft Brewing (or microbreweries) is a relatively new term for an old idea. It not only indicates the size of the brewery but also the approach they use to make the beer. They use a much more alternative approach to brewing and are more concerned with recipe additions that bring flavor instead of cutting the cost.

Another key factor for a Craft brewery is HOW MUCH beer they are allowed to produce every year and still claim themselves a microbrewery. Right now that number is 6 million barrels or less according to craftbeer.com. However this does not mean that a microbrewery is completely independent. Many large breweries also own a portion (no more than 25%) of small craft breweries as another faction of their brand, such as Sleeman in Canada owning a portioan of Okanagan Spring.

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Slowly but surely small craft breweries are making their way into the beer scene, people are more concerned with the flavor of their beer than the brand. In fact last year according to craftbeer.com,

 

“Over 2,000 breweries are responsible for the beer brands made in the US with 97% of these fitting the small and independent craft brewer definition”

 
In fact, out of America’s 2126 breweries (facts from the Brewers Association) 2075 were classified as a Craft Brewery. To break it down even further as of July 1, 2012 there was 1072 Brewpubs, 922 Microbreweries and 81 Regional Craft Breweries.

Now I am going to pass you guys off to the expect; Chris Cuzme,

Stay tuned for Belgium!