American craft brewing is flourishing, and Prohibition is partly to thank.
Led by brewpubs and microbreweries, the number of U.S. breweries has doubled since 2007 to roughly 3,000, according to the Brewers Association, with hundreds more under construction. There were as few as 93 breweries countrywide in the early 1980s.
Big brewers are still dominant — craft beer accounts for only 8 percent of total volume, and two companies, Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors, hold roughly three-quarters of the market. But craft brewing is steadily gaining.
Craft brewers chalk up their success to a sea change in Americans’ tastes.
