Empires of Industry - Brewed in America (History Channel)

Brewed in America
The History Channel - Empires of Industry

Like most products of the history channel this show provides a very well researched and succinct summary of beer and brewing in America. It does a good job of touching on the entrepreneurial spirit of those who brewed. The hour format does seem to make the show give short shrift to prohibition and the culture than created it. Although the program mentions the rise of the craft beer industry the American craft beer market and the homebrewer community, which are among the best in the world, get very little mention. With those two criticisms aside, this film does a great job at looking at the industrial innovations (pasteurization, cans, refrigeration) that the beer industry pioneered as well as the evolution of the markets from small and local to international. For a more complete treatment of brewing in America, check out Maureen Ogle's book Radical Brew.

The documentary acknowledges that since at least the Sumerian civilization, humans have consumed beer. However, it goes further to explain how pasteurization, caps, and cans changed the product. I learned of how the Prohibition movement had multiple causes, not just a few, but I also learned that beer companies had their counterattack.

Did you ever see that episode of "The Simpsons" where Grandpa Simpson tries to keep German paintings away from Mr. Burns? In that episode, Grandpa implies that he was military buddies with the fathers or grandfathers of all the men in Springfield. The same dynamic happens in this work: there are young Coors, Pabsts, and Busches present to speak about their entrepreneurial ancestors. One interviewee said "much more simpler" and may need to brush up on his English grammar rules. This work explains why certain beer companies have survived, but it's still amazing considering how companies come and go. (Think of Pan Am, Marshall Fields in Chicago, and many other examples of this dynamic.)

There are certain things left out. The work mentions competition amongst beer companies, but says nothing on the competition between beer versus wine, or other products--legal or illegal. Would the characters in the film "Sideways" like or hate this work? The Coors family plays a role in Colorado politics to this day, but it's not mentioned. Gay activists battled the Coors company in a way only slightly less important than the Stonewall riots, but it doesn't come up. Black activists have criticized all the alcohol advertising in Black publications, but this work doesn't mention that controversy. By the way, frat boys as loyal beer drinkers doesn't come up either.

I saw a documentary on candy and I definitely wanted some sweets afterwards. I don't care for beer and this didn't want to make me go out and buy some. Beer enthusiasts may be affected differently, however.