Brewpub

A brewpub is a pub or restaurant that brews beer on the premises.

Brief history

Before the development of large commercial breweries, beer would have been brewed on the premises from which it was sold. Alewives would put out a sign such as an ale-wand to show when their beer was ready. Gradually men became involved in brewing and organised themselves into guilds such as the Brewers Guild in London of 1342 and the Edinburgh Society of Brewers in 1598; as brewing became more organised and reliable many inns and taverns ceased brewing for themselves and bought beer from these early commercial breweries.

However, there were some brewpubs which continued to brew their own beer, such as the Blue Anchor brewpub in Helston, Cornwall, England, which was established in 1400, and is regarded as the oldest brewpub in the British Isles. While in Germany, the brewpub or brauhaus remained the most common source of beer and in 2005 there were still over 300 long established brewpubs.

Despite the stronghold of brewpubs in Germany, the trend throughout the world during the early to mid 20th century was for larger brewing companies. This trend started to change during the 1970s when the popularity of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)'s campaign for traditional brewing methods, and the success of Michael Jackson's World Guide to Beer, encouraged brewers in the UK such as Peter Austin to form their own small breweries or brewpubs.

Interest spread to America, and in 1982 Grant's Brewery Pub in Yakima, Washington was opened, reviving the American "brewery taverns" of well-known early Americans as William Penn, Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry. The growth since then has been considerable: according to July 2003 estimates published by the Association of Brewers (now the Brewer's Association), there were over 1,000 brewpubs in the United States. Arguably, over a third of these are in the West Coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California, with Oregon having the largest number per capita of any state in the country. Colorado is often regarded at a higher level by the press and statistics. Denver has a reputation as the brewpub capital of North America, and "America's Beer Haven". Denver's mayor, John Hickenlooper, is the founder of Denver's famous Wynkoop.

Brewpubs around the world

In Dublin, Ireland, as in the UK, there were brewpubs. And, as in the UK, these all closed after large commercial breweries, such as Guinness, were formed. In recent years two modern American style brewpubs have opened, the most well-known of which being The Porterhouse.

In France a chain of American style brewpubs operate under the name Les 3 Brasseurs

In Britain during the 20th century most of the traditional pubs which brewed their own beer in the brewhouse round the back of the pub, were bought out by larger breweries and ceased brewing on the premises. By the mid-1970s only four remained: the All Nations (known locally as Mrs Lewis's), Madeley, Shropshire; the Blue Anchor, Helston, Cornwall; The Old Swan (known locally as Ma Pardoe's) in Netherton near Dudley; and the Three Tuns, Bishop's Castle, Shropshire. The Old Swan stopped brewing in 1993 but after a refurbishment of the brewhouse it reopened in 2001.

In 1979 a chain of brewpubs, known as the "Firkin" pubs, started. The chain finally closed in 1999 after a takeover by Punch Taverns. The first "Firkin" brewpub was the Goose & Firkin in South London. More recently there has also been a revival of independently owned brewpubs in the UK.

In the late 70s and 80s Brewpubs became popular, along side Microbreweries in Portland, Oregon. Many of the United States best Brewpubs can still be found in Portland.

See also

• Inn
• Pub
• Brewery

External links

• History of the Brewpub
• Firkin entry at Quaffle
• The Old Swan at the Campaign For Real Ale website.
• Template:Dmoz