Craft Beer and Edible Communities

In spite of the gains craft brewing has made in recent years, it's still a small piece of an enormous $101 billion pie. At first glance, it might even seem insignificant. Anchor Brewing Company, which distributes to all 50 states as well as several foreign countries, employs just 50 people. Anheuser-Busch InBev has 120,000 employees worldwide. But a closer look at the US beer industry reveals telling details that can't be neatly quantified or easily summarized with charts and tables.

Earlier this fall, I wrote several articles about the evolving story of craft beer in New York and New Jersey. The first, entitled "Heads Up, Big Boys," profiles a few of the newest brewers in the Garden State—businesses like the Cape May Brewing Company, Carton Brewing in Atlantic Highlands, and Kane Brewing of Ocean Township. Another piece, "Climbing Their Way Back," about the return of hop farming in New York, appears in Edible Hudson Valley. And finally, in a third article for Edible East End, I chronicle the proliferation of craft beer bars on Long Island.