America's Craft Brewery Boom

Beer lovers across the United States celebrate National Beer Day on April 7 to commemorate the end of Prohibition, at least as far as (low-alcohol) beer is concerned. On this day in 1933, the Cullen-Harrison Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt, legalizing the sale and consumption of beer with an alcohol content of up to 3.2 percent. This was the first step towards the repeal of Prohibition, which officially ended on December 5, 1933, with the ratification of the 21st Amendment. National Beer Day has since become a day to celebrate the rich history and culture of beer in the United States, and is marked with events, festivals, and of course, the consumption of beer.

America’s rich culture of beer got even richer in recent years, as the number of craft breweries and available beer styles has exploded over the past decade. As our latest Racing Bars video shows, the number of small, independent breweries in the country has more than quintupled between 2010 and 2021, after growing by less than 20 percent in the previous decade. According to the Brewers Association, the U.S. beer landscape included more than 9,000 craft breweries in 2021, representing a great counterweight to brewing conglomerates that command an ever-growing share of the global beer market.