ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 opens with the ways that the social imagination of beer is about community and authenticity. This imagination shapes how craft brewers understand the history of beer moving away from these beginnings and the desire to move back toward a more authentic beer community. The chapter then goes on to briefly discuss the culture of beer brewing in the United States, its place in local communities, and the ways that it was influenced by the German tradition of beer making. Then with prohibition the number of breweries drops significantly. After WWII, advances in refrigeration and canning led to not only consolidation in beer production, but also a shift in consumption from beer being consumed in local pubs, to beer being consumed in the home. This consolidation further leads to the homogenization of taste and the American adjunct lagers all begin to taste the same. The chapter next moves on the taste revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, and the early beginnings of craft beer. The idea of craft beer generations is introduced to frame the movement of craft beer from the 1980s to the present. Finally, the chapter talks about the rise of craft beer in the Philadelphia community and the generations of craft breweries in Philadelphia.
