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Largest california breweries7/14/2023 But the folklore surrounding McAuliffe’s brew refuses to die. “At the time, it was the only beer of its kind, and is recognized by beer experts as the original American craft beer.” The New Albion Brewing Company opened in 1976 by 1982, it was defunct. We’ll let craft beer legend Jim Koch, who founded Samuel Adams, tell the story: “In the late 1970s, a homebrewer named Jack McAuliffe built his own small-scale brewing equipment and opened a brewery in Sonoma, California, where he brewed New Albion Ale - a full-flavored pale ale made with the now-popular Cascade hops and a two-row pale malt blend.” Koch says. This legendary brew was, sadly, unappreciated in its time. “I wouldn't currently drink a Celis White if you paid me,” laments Philadelphia bar owner Brendan Hartranft, “but when Pierre Celis opened up his brewery in Austin by way of Belgium, the beer landscape was forever changed.” (For the record, a 2001 piece in the Austin American-Statesman declared that, after returning home to do what he loved, the brewer had once again become “a happy man.”)īrewers have revived the Celis brand multiple times over the years, but sadly the beer is still a shell of its former self. In 2000 it was shuttered, “breaking Pierre's heart and sending him back to Belgium,” Roper says. That same year, Celis sold his brand to Miller Brewing Company. One of those imitators was Coors, which in 1995 released what has become the best-selling wit in the U.S., Blue Moon. The beer was sensational and inspired many imitators,” explains Michael Roper, owner of Chicago’s Hopleaf Bar. “Pierre Celis brought Belgian wit beer to America in 1992 when his Austin brewery began production. The tale of Celis White, deemed by many to be America’s seminal Belgian-style wheat beer, could be seen as a true craft beer tragedy. However, thanks to the collective knowledge and expertise of our 21 voters, we think it's an exceptionally telling look at the beers that have shaped American craft beer history. The final list, like any list of this type, is sure to spur debate. The final order was determined strictly by the votes received, with the exception of any ties, at which point we used our editorial judgment to determine ranking. In the case of brewers, they were allowed to vote for themselves however, every single beer on this list received multiple votes, meaning a brewer's self-endorsement only counted if it was seconded by another voter. Voters were limited to two beers from any one brewery and encouraged to diversify their choices across years, states, and styles. We asked each voter to nominate five to seven American beers that they consider to be the "most important of all time." The only stipulations were that the beer must have started production after 1960, and it must have met the generally accepted definition of "craft beer" at the time it was introduced. To help better appreciate the history of American craft beer, we reached out to 21 experts from across the American beer scene, including legendary brewers like Ken Grossman and Gregory Hall, industry representatives like Julia Herz, and veteran writers like Aaron Goldfarb and Joshua Bernstein. But as exciting new beers appear weekly in bars and on specialty shop shelves, we shouldn't forget their forebears: the brews that spawned, defined, and advanced the craft beer movement, made by the influential brewers who brought our country from a low of fewer than 100 breweries in 1978 to where we are today. With more than 8,000 breweries, some of which produce dozens of different beers every year, America is home to the largest and most diverse beer culture in the world.
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