"Aquatic Concerns: Water and the Rise of the Chain Brewery"

This paper explores the history of the American brewing industry by evaluating the role of water in the brewing process. Specifically, it focuses on water manipulation technology and the expansion of “chain breweries” across the United States after World War II. Water quality and its chemical composition are critical to overall beer flavor and product consistency. Even tiny amounts of mineral differences, such as 0.3 parts per million of iron, among water sources can have a noticeable impact on a beer’s flavor. Therefore, the production of many iconic brands, such as Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser, were historically place-bound due to water variability across locations. During the 1950s and 1960s, however, the nation’s largest brewers harnessed advances in water chemistry to manipulate one locale’s water profile to mirror another, allowing big brewers to produce their signature brews anywhere. As a result of this technology, the biggest brewers constructed a series of “chain breweries” across the United States, allowing them to save on shipping costs due to their proximity to major retail markets. This phenomenon eroded any price advantage held by the handful of remaining small local breweries, thus contributing to the emergence of the American brewing oligopoly of the late twentieth century. The paper also explores other major water issues raised by the construction of chain breweries, including a short-lived attempt to ship dehydrated beer concentrate to independent bottlers during the 1960s, and debates over the environmental impacts of chain brewery water consumption on local communities.