History of Industrial Brewing

For most of its history, brewing was a domestic or small-scale commercial activity supplying an essential element of the diet to a primarily agrarian population. Over the course of the twentieth century, it became an industry dominated by a few large companies striving for global supremacy in the supply of branded recreational alcoholic beverages. ¹ In the last couple of decades, this hegemony has been dented by the rapid proliferation of brewers operating at the other end of the scale. ² This chapter outlines the complex changes in the organization, economic importance, scale, scientific understanding, and technology of brewing, and attitudes about the social function and nature of beer that these changes have engendered across the world.