The Audacity of Hops: The History of America's Craft Beer Revolution

by Tom Acitelli

In 1975, there was a single craft brewery in the United States; today there are more than 2,000. A once-fledgling, clumsy movement, craft beer has become ubiquitous nationwide and even includes a honey ale brewed at the White House. Powered by millions of savvy, devoted consumers and raking in billions of dollars annually for producers and retailers, the movement has changed the industry landscape and the international reputation of American beer, upended the big beer giants that once seemed untouchable, and altered forever drinking habits, closet hobbies, and bar conversation. But the epic narrative of this class of brew has never been chronicled in one volume—until now.

Based on interviews with all of the biggest and most influential names in craft brewing since the 1970s—including brewers, critics, and marketers—The Audacity of Hops brims with charming, remarkable stories, which together weave a very American business tale, one of formidable odds and refreshing success.

The Audacity of Hops will be the holiday and birthday gift for every craft beer lover. Entertaining, informative, and accessible, this book is the first of its kind: the definitive history of the other American revolution.

Genres: Beer, Nonfiction, History, Brewing, Food and Drink, Food, Business

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Tom Acitelli is the author of The Audacity of Hops: The History of America's Craft Beer Revolution (Chicago Review Press; May 2013; 416 pages), the first history book of the American craft beer movement. He is a regular contributor to Town & Country and is the founding editor of Curbed Boston. He was a senior editor at The New York Observer for five years; and has also written for The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg View, the New York Post, Redbook and All About Beer, the leading trade magazine for the American brewing industry. He earned degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Columbia Journalism School; and lives in Cambridge, Mass., with his wife, an art historian.

Reviews

[Eli - Bookworm & Vine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, definitely drug in some parts. Viva La Craft Beer!

[Ben Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I'd picked up Obama's biography, but this book is about beer. I like beer.

[Darran Mclaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent history of the birth and growth of craft beer in the USA. I had heard a lot of the content anecdotally but it was fascinating to see how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. A lot of people made really heroic efforts to make craft beer what it is today and reading this makes me feel proud to be part of it. It's astounding to realise how close we were to beer being limited to the likes of Budweiser and Miller.

[Adam L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history

I had read Maureen Ogle's "Ambitious Brew" a few months before starting this book. I had been satisfied to learn more about the history behind a lot of the larger breweries in America (AB, Pabst, Miller, to name a few). Ogle's narrative only briefly touched on the contributions of men like Jack McAuliffe and Fritz Maytag in its last section. Acitelli's book expands on all that history, writing about the growth of brewing outside of Big Beer, from the West Coast to the East Coast, from the likes of New Albion, Anchor, and Boston Beer, to New Belgium, Stone, and Dogfish Head. The history of craft beer isn't over, but this is a good place to start learning about it. Grab a beer, grab this book, and drink it all in.

[Robert Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this and it was fascinating reading about beers I'd enjoyed both here and in America. Yes, at times it does seem like the author wants to mention every American who has ever brewed beer, but the more general history, social history and pen portraits, more than make up for this. As I sit in a cold, grey and damp England, I am secretly planning an odyssey to these breweries. Just don't tell my wife.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book recounts the efforts and personalities that created a lot of familiar breweries (Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada, Boulder Brewing, Sam Adam's, Pete's, Brooklyn Brewery, Dogfish Head, etc etc etc), as well as many that never made it, and some of the other institutions that informed the growth of craft beer in the U.S. (Michael Jackson's guides, industry conventions, Beer Advocate). Acitelli emphasizes the particular difficulties that the brewers faced at different stages of the industry's growth, and provides context for the choices they made in equipment, styles, and markets. To that extent I'm really glad I read this, and wish an earlier version of this history had been around fifteen years ago.

That said, I wish there had been later draft of this book. For one, there's a kind of PR department's corporate history tone throughout the whole book: Acitelli apparently interviewed a lot of his subjects, and produced a personality-heavy story in which he leads the cheering section for each company. That's fine as far as it goes, but this book aspires to cover a lot of companies, so the celebratory narration of yet another homebrewer scavenging up a used mash tun gets old after a couple dozen times.

As a practical matter, each chapter provides a different vignette or related group of vignettes, which results in a lot of starting and stopping and redundant introductions. It doesn't help that nearly every chapter includes a purportedly portentous moment in the history of American brewing (including seemingly every meeting of a homebrewer's association in the 1970's). Also, at times the writing is awkward to the point of distraction, with mixed metaphors ("there were bright spots amid the ruins"), un-ironic moments said to be "ironic," and strenuous non sequiturs, such as when quoting a beer critic who makes a banal Dracula reference:

In a section about proper storage and glassware (and years before the craze of young-adult books and movies about vampires!), [Garrett] Oliver wrote:

"Some American mass-market brewers do use clear glass bottles. . . . [T]hey use chemically altered hop extracts that won't react with light. How very appetizing. Somehow, this reminds me of Dracula, and the idea that you can't see him in a mirror." ...

There's genuine page-turner material in here. But as it is, it makes for slow going.

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too long book that covers the history and business of craft brewing, aka microbreweries. I probably consumed 20 beers while reading this book, and longed for a few heavily referenced beers that no longer exist.

The author states up front that this is "not a history of American beer before the craft beer movement arose. Instead, it is a book on how this movement, with the odds stacked against it, survived and thrived...", and while it is not a complete history, it is most definitely history. The second half of the book was more about the business than the brewing. I was interested to read about some of the mergers, but the various business bits caused my eyes to glaze more than once.

Some information was repeated in multiple chapters, and at times it felt like a collected series of magazine articles. More than one reviewer has commented that it could use serious editing. 2½ stars.

[Chris Aylott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This survey of the craft brewing movement is a little too extensive. Acitelli seems determined to give every brewer his (or her, but mostly his) due, and whole thing starts sounding more Homer's list of ships than a coherent history.

That said, this would be a worthwhile read for many of my friends in the hobby games movement. Many of the personalities and business situations will be familiar, and I think there are some cautionary lessons to be drawn from the craft brewing experience. Hobby gaming is in a commercial and cultural boom right now -- the same "praise in the NYT" phase craft brewing was a few years back -- but it's worthwhile to remember that those heady days were followed by consolidations and shakeouts.

[David Buse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book delivers a concise look at the development of the craft beer movement in the United States. From Fritz Maytag's Anchor Steam in San Francisco to Sam Calagione's Dogfish Head, the importance of local craft beer to the local economies of areas could not be more important. Very interesting as a San Diego resident to read about how Stone was almost squeezed out by Big Beer in the 90's. John Pappas introduced me to that Harpoon IPA (Harpoon is older than Boston Beer Co. by the way) at Uncle Tom's in Weymouth and now I can't get enough of the West Coast cascade hop IPAs. Ready to start my own brewery, who's in??

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent telling of the story of craft beer' ascension from one craft brewer in 1965 (Anchor in San Francisco) to nearly 2,000 different brewers today. Exciting, touching and well researched this book follows the highs and lows of the industry with microstories and microbreweries found coast to coast. It's a very uplifting tale of the rebirth of an innovative and successful American industry.

[Ray Knickmeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who know me know that I love a good beer, and a good beer story. The history of craft beer in America is full of such stories, and it's fun to stumble upon some of your favorites while reading this book. That said, I wish it had been a little shorter, it feels like it could have used tighter editing and some trimming here and there. Also, I think it would have been a more fun read if it had a little more humor to it. For a book about the joys of beer, it could be a bit dry at times.

[Hunter McCleary · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some good stories here on the re-birth of the craft beer "industry." As someone who occasionally brews up a five gallon batch it's fun to see how the bigger boys made the leap from home to commercial. That said, what a slog to read. So much repetition of facts, even from one page to the next. And there was at least one gargantuan sentence measuring 72 words long. My English comp teacher would have a conniption. So if you can get past the need for serious editing, it's ok.

[Ariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, highly detailed history with a very personal touch. Definitely recommended for the beer geek who wants an overview of how this still-expanding craft beer industry was developed.

[Tim Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting stories marred by poor writing.

[Geoff Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle, "The History of America's Craft Beer Revolution," would be better phrased as "A Selected History of America's Craft Beer Revolution," as much is omitted. In fairness, there is a great deal of material to be covered in a relatively short space, and the overall picture looks okay as far as I can tell.

The stories of the people who made craft beer a reality in America are impressive and inspiring, and the author rightfully presents them in a favorable light, while at the same time not glossing over the many missteps made along the way. He honors those that built the industry and helped it grow.

There are idiosyncrasies in the telling that I don't care for personally, but that probably says more about me than about the book. The narrative runs in strict chronological order, which means it frequently bounces from place to place, from person to person. I would have preferred to focus on one story at a time and move back and forth in time, but that's my own idiosyncrasy.

The chapters are fairly short, and each reads like a magazine article intended for general audiences. The writing style is very journalistic, with perhaps more scene setting than is necessary (lots of physical descriptions of places and people). But again, this is a matter of personal taste.

My biggest complaint is in the omission of key players. I can't speak to the accuracy and completeness of the author's handling of all areas of the country, but I do know a bit about the history of craft beer in San Diego, and I know that chunks are missing.

A single chapter is devoted to San Diego, which is home to more craft breweries than any other city in the country, and that is focused almost solely on Stone Brewing. Although Stone (founded 1996) is arguably the most famous brewery in town and certainly deserves the attention, other pioneers are given scant or no space at all.

Karl Strauss (founded 1989) gets a couple paragraphs, Pizza Port (1992) a few parenthetical nods. The now-defunct Callahan's (1989) isn't mentioned once. Neither are AleSmith (1995), Ballast Point (1996, started as Home Brew Mart in 1992), or the yeast manufacturing giant White Labs (1995).

Such gaps cause me to wonder about similar omissions elsewhere. Because I am not as familiar with the histories of craft beer in other regions, I cannot judge their accuracy without doing research of my own, but the author's treatment of San Diego gives me pause.

All that being said, this was by and large an enjoyable read. I especially appreciate the bibliography provided at the end and look forward to tracking down some of those titles for further reading.

[Woody Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Just … wow! First of all, this is the third book that I finished reading … TODAY! My Reading Challenge keeps encouraging me to catch up, but I should be fine. I reduced to 75 this year from last year's crazy 100, a number pulled from the ether. I'll be returning to the classroom at the end of the month & reading time is now built into the curriculum, so that will also be helpful. It seems counterintuitive, but having more time off has led to less reading on my part. 8=(

This was a fantastic book, especially coming on the heels of my reading about the Busch family history & the takeover of Goose Island by A-BInBev.

I was once accused, on BeerAdvocate.com, a website mentioned in this book of being a "name-dropper". Hmm. My first-cousin (my late-father's late-brother's son) is Colby Chandler of Ballast Point. I made an early name for myself shortly after my retirement from the Navy in 1998 by using my FerMentor, Lew Bryson's book, Pennsylvania Breweries, as a guide, going to breweries & brewpubs, meeting the owners & brewers & becoming "The Beer Pest". This book dropped a lot of names, but it was all legit. He traced the arc from Jack McAuliffe to Jim Koch to Greg Koch to BeerAdvocate.com to everything in between.

This was a fascinating read & one that I am glad to have had recommended to me by the people of Flanagan's Boat House in Conshohocken, PA.

[Nick Draeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone mildly interested in one day starting a brewery, The Audacity of Hops is an essential read. While the prevailing view of craft brewing is that of the friendly, cooperative little-engine-that-could destined to topple A/B & MillerCoors, Tom Acitelli paints a far more complex story.

As most are probably familiar with, the United States has a rich brewing history dating back to the 1800s when German immigrants poured into the country, bringing with them their mighty thirst for beer. By the late 1800s thousands of breweries dotted the map producing largely German-style beers. With temperance movements in full swing, prohibition wiped out the majority of these breweries and others clung on for life by producing prescription bear, near-beer, or switching to soda or malt beverage.

And as Acitelli explains, thirteen - almost fourteen - years later, even with prohibition lifted, the plight of breweries did not necessarily improve. They re-entered the marketed into the greatest economic depression the country has seen to date. The author fails to mention a key driver of the history of the watered-down pilsner style, which is the WWII rations that necessitated a weaker beer style, one consumers actually developed a taste for. It's curious that with his disdain for the generally flavorless style, he overlooked this crucial aspect of its history.

With the postwar economic boom, not all breweries fared equally. Like other industries, the brewing world underwent a series of mass consolidations, placing production in the hands of the few. Concurrently, post-prohibition regulations, postwar abundance, the television, and the suburb pushed beer drinking from the tavern to the supermarket and into the home, in front of the television. "Big Beer" was uniquely able to seize onto this opportunity, using mass advertising and its giant budgets to market its product.

Amid the consolidation of Big Beer, culminating with ~85% (don't quote me) of beer produced by the usual suspects. In the midst of this, in the mid-1960s, an enterprising, quirky young man named Fritz Maytag purchased, essentially on a whim, the Anchor Brewery in San Francisco, birthing, in the author's view, the craft brew movement and informally establishing its central tenets: small, independent & traditional.

Suffice it to say, the early craft beer movement consisted of a loose, informal network of avid homebrewers with shoddy supplies, a few experts, and many dreamers. Knowledge was passed along in books, newsletters, and personal interaction. Many sought advice from Maytag in SF, the tour of Anchor planting the seed in their minds to one day open a brewery.

Contrary to image of today's craft beer scene, which often champions the story as an inevitable triumph over monolithic, mass-produce, mass-marketed, flavorless beer, the early beginnings were rife with setbacks. The first few upstart breweries were financial failures, operations cobbled together by technical know-how, sweat equity, and long, long hours. An undeveloped market that did not know what to do with the porters and hoppier ales combined with a daunting distributor landscape (the three tier distribution is beyond absurd) to cast New Albion Brewery and others into the history books.

Much of the book after this point focuses on individual breweries, such as Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Boston Beer (Sam Adams), their foundings, successes, and failures. For each brewery that survived the rocky 1970s, uncertain 1980s, and shakeout of the 1990s, their are probably equally as many that are now largely forgotten.

Acitelli depicts not only the growth of the breweries, but also its network of supporters - writers, press, associations, trade shows, publications, and contests - that pushed craft beer from an amateur occupation to a professionalized industry, established enough to warrant a response from Big Beer.

And respond they did. Through acquisitions, "phantom" craft brews, and their mighty budgets, Big Beer sought to squash the still struggling breweries that accounted for maybe 1-2% market share. The 1990s witnessed the IPOs of several breweries, most of which no longer exist, shattered consumer confidence, and great uncertainty. Opportunists, pretenders, and chain brew pubs emerged. Several breweries over-expanded are were forced to shut-down. One of today's icons, Stone Brewing, almost folded.

Despite the vibrant craft beer scene of today, rife with limited edition tappings, festivals, tastings, ever-increasing innovations, boundary-pushing styles, and a number of breweries resembling pre-prohibition levels, we often forget that craft beer still makes up only about 6% of the market. Within this market comes increased competition from new craft breweries, which do not necessarily expand market share, and from other fermented beverages like hard cider. While it's easy to sit back, crack open a delicious craft beer, and smile at the successes, the ascent of craft beer was never a guarantee. In fact, in some ways it succeeded against all odds.

There will inevitably be more failures and more challenges. Future encroachments into Big Beer's market share will be undoubtedly be met with resistance. Not every brewery will become a Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, or Dogfish Head. Many more will fail. ABInbev and SABMillerCoors will exercise their financial power, absorbing breweries like they did Goose Island, Widmer Bros, & Redhook. So raise your glass to all the independent craft brewers out there advancing beer culture even amidst daunting odds. And to the pioneers who made it possible for me to choose from a massive selection of styles spanning the United States at liquor stores and bars - THANK YOU!

[Jeremy Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book about one of my favorite things in the world - beer. More precisely, the history of craft beer in the US. I was super excited to receive this book from a Goodreads Giveaway, and learned a ton about the history of this movement. There is so much information in this book, it probably could be classified as a text book. But the stories and struggles behind the people who were able to create some of the brews I love made this a fun and informative read. And the author sure did a lot of research to bring this book together, providing a wealth of knowledge on such an interesting and dynamic topic.

[Jeremy Monkres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book!! A wonderful history of something that a lot of us love and appreciate, which, especially if you’re a brewer (home or otherwise), makes you feel very connected to this unique American movement. Highly recommend if you love beer and want to understand just how spoiled you are right now when it comes to choice!

Only 4 stars instead of 5 because of the super specific subject matter (not something just anyone would enjoy), and, just because of how the history played out and the amount of information that needed to be covered, the writing becomes much less romantic in the second half, which is a large part of what I enjoyed about it when I started.

[Samuel Gaeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super detailed history of craft beer in America, from Fritz Maytags Anchor Brewing to present. The book was interesting because it discusses why brewers were making certain beers and how different brewers’ images were determined by the way they ran their businesses (Maytag, Jim Koch, Garrett Oliver, Sam Calagione). This book focused more on the people involved with the history of craft brewing and how it has come that America is arguably the best in the world rather than about specific beers. I really enjoyed reading stories of how all the different brewers got their different starts and the challenges/innovative methods they used to succeed in a market that did not exist before the 1960s.

[Darrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating read which will make you thirsty. The writing style wasn't my 'pint' with various spelling errors in the last 25% of the book. Cheers to Frederick Louis Maytag III (Anchor Steam) for your perseverance over the years and all that you've done to foster the craft beer movement which offers the world a variety of choice today! Honorable mention goes out to Charlie Papazian for fostering home brewers!
Darrin (Kalamazoo, MI)

[Charles Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this one especially useful in learning about the 70s & 80s American Craft scene, but once it hit the 90s, I found the approach - short vignettes, one after another - a bit tiring and mishmash-y. I felt like the narrative thread tightly woven in the first third to half frayed and never quite came back together. There are some great stories in here though, and will get you reaching for an Anchor Steam if nothing else.

[Dushyant Shrikhande · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history of America's craft beer industry is quite storied and this book captures it in detail. However, I do feel like this book could have been shorter and crisper. The stories themselves are quite interesting, though the writing seems verbose at times, and that took away from the overall experience.

Overall, a detailed history, and a must read if you are a craft beer enthusiast.

[Martin Born · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beginning of the American craft beer study should be with this book about.
Histroy from Fritz Maytag saved Sierra Nevada Brewery in San Fransisco where it all started to nowadays giants like Brooklyn Brewery etc. Cant miss it if you care about american craft beer!
That means if you care about beer at all!

[Max Finnance · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting look at first ~40 years of American craft beer culture. Filled with well research stories, this series of vignettes is tied together thoughtfully across time and geography to deliver some key insights into the challenges (and opportunities) faced by early American craft brewers. Well worth a read for anyone interested in this topic.

[Sonja Fosgate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is generally interesting and full of facts, but oh gosh is it a repetitive slog. Acitelli reintroduces the players very frequently and seemingly can only think of the word "concern" to describe a business or company. Some of the tangential explanations were extraneous, as well. I feel like an editor could have easily chopped 100 pages from this book and nothing would have been lost.

[Stephanie Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great book to learn the history of craft beer in America. It wasn't too technical on the styles or on the personal stories but, a good mix. Gave me a nice overall sense of what was happening in the 70s and how it's built up to the 2000s craft beer scene.

[Kevin Harber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit long, but exhaustively comprehensive account of the history of American craft brewing. I didn’t realize how much of the industry came from military and foreign service personnel who were stationed in Europe, where they realized that beer didn’t have to taste like Bud or Coors.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awesome historical look at the craft beer movement. I found it informative and entertaining. As a craft beer enthusiast, despite it's length, enjoyed it from cover to cover.

[Steve Walsh · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I liked the material but just culnd get into the writing style; felt to much like a dry textbook from university, making this feel more like a chore than an intriguing read.