"Mites, Mildew, and Anheuser-Busch: How Pests, Big Beer, and Hops Shaped the Craft Brewing Industry"

There are over 9,000 breweries in the United States, more than at any point in the nation’s history. Since the 1970s, craft brewers—who strive to produce beers with unique flavors—carved out a niche market for themselves by contrasting their complex products with the bland industrial lagers of Big Beer. The humble hop played an important role in this process. American hop hybrids, like the Cascade, became the face of craft beer. This essay demonstrates the integral role of pests, pesticides, and Big Beer in the development of the hybrid hops critical to craft beer’s success. The history of hybrid hops illustrates the intimate yet sometimes invisible connections between large and small firms. In addition to providing a nuanced account of hop breeding and American craft beer, this paper also provides a case study on the importance of flexibility in product production. Big brewers funded the development of new hop varieties but neglected to use them out of fear of consumer backlash. Yet, in doing so, they missed the opportunity to appeal to a significant market segment bored by bland lagers—a segment later captured by hoppy craft beers. Therefore, the history of craft brewers' and beer drinkers’ celebrations of novel hops provides an example for evaluating industry and consumer acceptance of unconventional crops. This historical lesson is critical as modern food corporations adapt to supply chains disrupted by climate change and look to embrace alternative ingredients and products.