This is an idea that’s been floating around my brain for a long time. Turns out, I am not alone. At last, some folks stepped up to create The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame. It officially launched on August 1, 2024. This fall they’ll announce the inaugural class of inductees.
Many of today’s craft beer consumers may not remember the world before craft beer, and therefore may not recognize why craft beer is worthy of its own hall of fame. There was a time when huge, corporate beers were the only thing available. The largest breweries were getting larger and larger, gobbling up smaller, regional brands. Because of industry consolidation, the USA reached a low point in 1979 with only about 75 breweries in the entire nation. These breweries focused on efficiency and profitability, not creativity and flavor.
Then craft beer happened. Some say the first shot in the Craft Beer Revolution was fired by Fritz Maytag in the late 60s when he purchased Anchor Brewing. Others say the first shot was fired by Jack McAuliffe (New Albion Brewing 1976) or Ken Grossman (Sierra Nevada Brewing 1979). What was then called microbrew not only looked and tasted different but it was brewed by independent, small companies, not faceless, monolithic corporations. For the first time in decades, the number of breweries in the U.S. began to rise in the 1980s. Today there are nearly 10,000 breweries in the USA and the overwhelming majority of them are small, independent breweries–craft breweries.
According to a statement introducing The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame, the nation’s craft beer industry will now have a way to formally recognize the individuals whose efforts elevated it to become one of the nation’s most beloved beverages. The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame celebrates not the beer itself, but the human hands, minds, and passions that have made it what it is today.
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The founders of The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame say the mission is simple. “The Hall” was established to honor, celebrate, and commit to history those people who are responsible for initiating, sustaining, and promoting the American craft beer industry. Furthermore, the mission is to ensure that the memories of their contributions and achievements will not fade with time.
The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame will recognize individuals from all facets of the industry–brewery owners, brewers, writers, educators, and others. These individuals will be honored for their achievements and their efforts in pushing the industry into the modern era.
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The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame is not yet a brick-and-mortar location, but for now, The Hall will reside online at americancraftbeerhalloffame.com. Along with biographical information about the inductees, the website will provide historical perspectives on the craft beer industry, details about the key events that helped form it, and the greater significance that craft beer brings to other areas of American life.
The ACBHOF is the vision of Marty Nachel, a long-time beer writer, beer judge, and beer educator, who wanted to recognize and memorialize the people who made the American craft beer industry happen. For this project, Nachel has organized an impressive team of Directors, Advisors, and Electors that is a veritable “who’s who” in the American craft beer world.
“American craft brewers have changed the global landscape of beer,” says Nachel, “Forty-plus years into this ‘renaissance,’ I think their stories need to be etched in history.”
The inaugural class of inductees to The Hall will be announced in the Fall of 2024. The ACBHOF would like to recognize Hankscraft AJS Tap Handles for their generosity and expertise as the sponsors and producers of the trophies to be provided to the inaugural class.
The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame is incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization and part of its mission is to raise funds for its charitable wing. If you’d like to learn more, visit The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame website.
