argely confined to illegal operations that could deliver compact distilled beverages — smuggled rum and domesticmoonshine — more efficiently and reliably than bulkier products such as beer.
American Prohibition was repealed by degrees. First, the Volstead Act defining “intoxicating liquors”, was amended in April 1933 by the Cullen-Harrison Act to provide that beer with a strength of up to 3.2% alcohol was not “intoxicating”, and thus not prohibited. Within 24 hours of legalization, as much as 1.5 million barrels of 3.2% beer was sold, causing some to predict a “beer famine”. Soon thereafter, in December of the same year, the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed Prohibition in general, but left the production of alcoholic beverages heavily regulated by federal, state, and local authorities. Included in this regulation was the imposition of a three-tier distribution system.
Although the Twenty-first Amendment allowed brewers to legally resume practicing their craft, many “dry” counties remained and many states failed to ratify altogether, which slowed the resurgence of the brewing industry. In addition, the many prohibitionists of the temperance movement were still quite vocal and were able to retain a large following despite the repealing of the 18th amendment. Before the American beer industry could attempt to re-establish itself, World War II began. This further inhibited the re-emergence of smaller breweries because much of the grain supply was rationed due to the war, forcing the breweries to use adjuncts such as corn and rice alongside the barley traditionally used in brewing. The prohibitionists saw a tantalizing opportunity to quell the efforts of remaining breweries, insisting that the commercial brewing of beer squandered manpower, grain, fuel and cargo space that should have gone towards the war effort overseas. Brewers responded to these accusations by extolling the benefits that brewer’s yeast have on human health, namely, their high vitamin B content. It was argued that the increase in thiamine in the diets of the soldiers and factory workers would improve performance on the battlefield as well as in the factory and that this increase sufficiently justified the need for beer. The American government decided that the benefits of the vitamin B in brewers yeast, alongside the taxes coming in from beer sales were enough to justify a request for fifteen percent of beer production for servicemen.
Although America’s breweries had the backing of their government, they still needed to capture the hearts and the wallets of the American people. In order to accomplish this, the major breweries banded together and launched the “Morale is a Lot of Little Things” advertising campaign. The campaign can be well summarized from the following 1942 magazine advertisement:
“If you’re a man, it’s a shine on your shoes … the sweet feel of a fly rod in your hand … If you’re a woman, it’s a tricky new hair-do maybe … or a change of lipstick. Morale is a lot of little things like that. People can take the big bad things … the bitter news, the bombings even … if only a few of the little, familiar, comforting good things are left.”
From the time America entered the war in 1941 until it ended in 1945, the overall production of beer increased by over 40% despite the small number of active breweries. This wartime growth allowed the large breweries such as Anheuser-Busch to dominate the American market for over fifty years. During this period they produced beers more noted for their uniformity than for any particular flavor. Beers such as those made by Anheuser-Busch and Coors Brewing Company followed a restricted pilsner style, with large-scale industrial processes and the use of low-cost ingredients like corn or ingredients such as rice that provided starch for alcohol production while contributing minimal flavor to the finished product. The dominance of the so-called “macrobrew” led to an international stereotype of “American beer” as poor in quality and flavor. However, in recent years the major brewers have