Blog #006 - 1873?

In attempting to understand why there were 4,131 breweries in the United States in 1873, I have been reading through BeerHistory.com’s chronology and several articles online. That number is more and more perplexing as I discover multiple states had in place their own prohibition laws during this period. Add to that the number of organizations under the Temperance movement where, although not originally created as a teetotalist idea, the goal was to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed by society in general. The IRS started enforcing barrel tax stamps on all beer leaving the brewery, the first brewery workers strike is organized in New York City and a prohibitionist candidate by the name of James Black runs for office. With all the odds seemingly stacked against the beer industry, what was it that made brewing so attractive? I believe the answer is technology…