Michigan
The Daily News, Saturday, September 14, 2013
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Ryan Schlehuber • Daily News features editor • (616) 548-8279 • scoop@staffordgroup.com
Prohibition
Profit
Once a nationally banned substance, alcohol is trending into a niche business throughout West Michigan and providing a growing economic avenue throughout the state
By Mke Taylor
Daily News/Cory Smith
Daily News feature writer
57 Brew Pub bartender Rae Wireman.
T
he first beer was likely an accident. Historians say that sometime around the 5th millennium, BC, maybe even earlier, wild, airborne yeast came into contact with some recently harvested cereal grains (the practice of harvesting grain was fairly recent then). Combining with the sugars in that cereal, the yeast caused spontaneous fermentation, and the first batch of beer bubbled into existence. Some would say that’s when all the trouble started. Others contend the happenstance was nothing short of providence, proof that nature can, indeed, be kind. Regardless of personal opinion, it soon became apparent that alcoholic beverages were here to stay. It didn’t take long for beer to catch on and turn into a commodity — brewed, traded and sold. A 6,000-year-old Sumerian tablet depicts a group of friends sitting around a communal bowl, drinking beer through straws. That’s a far cry for the multi-billion dollar brewing industry of today, where giant corporations and small brew pubs contend daily for the beer drinking public’s attention. The path from that first, accidental brew to today’s widespread availability has not been without its detours and speed bumps, however. Despite general acceptance in much of the world, early Americans repeatedly attempted to control, limit or ban the manufacture and consumption of beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages. Colonial settlers in Massachusetts petitioned the court there to ban the sale of all manner of beer, wine, whiskey and similar intoxicants. These restrictions eventually went by the wayside; however, over the years, state and federal governments regularly attempted to impose stiff taxes and levies on alcohol in an effort to limit its consumption. Temperance organizations came and went, their goal
57 Brew Pub lead line cook and assistant brew master Jared Edison prepares the next batch of beer.
always the same — to ban or limit alcoholic beverages. Though the popularity and success of these organizations waxed and waned with time, the movement survived. So did the brewers and distillers. The prohibition era of the 1920s and early ‘30s began with the signing of the 18th Amendment. According to
history.com, this led to the illegal manufacture and distribution of liquor and the worst gang-related violence the country had ever seen. Gangsters, such as Al Capone, were happy to provide the American public with what brewers and distillers no longer could. Newsreels were filled with tales of shootouts, killings and extortion, all related to prohibition. Public opinion swayed and prohibition’s supporters grew scarce. The era came to an end in 1933, with the ratification of the 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th, closing the chapter on America’s experiment with prohibition. With prohibition ended, brewers were again free to develop and perfect their wares, though most American brews followed similar paths as they had before. Indeed, for a generation or more, there was very little real difference between one brand of “grocery store” beer and another. Americans, many of them soldiers, who sampled local beers while serving in England, Germany and other European countries came away with a knowledge that something better existed in the world. When they returned stateside, they brought that knowledge with them. Even so, it took decades before small-batch, craft beers began making a common appearance on grocery store shelves. And it’s only been in the past decade or two that small, independent brewers have begun to make an impact on the marketplace. Legislators in Michigan are seeing the potential growth in revenue in the craft beer industry and now are considering allowing the expansion of microbreweries and brew pubs in the state, according to The Associated Press. See Prohibition to Profit, Page 4