History of CA Craft Beer

New Albion Brewery was founded by Jack McAuliffe in Sonoma, CA. An engineer by trade, he built the New Albion Brewery from scratch, using discarded dairy tanks and other scrapped industrial equipment. With three distinct beers, it became the first modern microbrewery in America.

Up north in Chico, CA, Ken Grossman took welding lessons in an effort to build his own brewery. He created a brand-new beer style with his now famous Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and grew his brewery into one of the largest craft breweries, not only in California, but the entire country.

Legislation was passed to legalize brewpubs in California, making it the second state in the country to allow breweries to sell beer and food on-site.

Don Barkley co-founded Mendocino Brewing Co. When it opened, it was the first brewpub in California and just the second brewpub in America.

The CCBA introduced its first sponsored bill, which intended to define “small beer manufacturer.” Although the bill was not signed into law, this effort marked the beginning of CCBA’s advocacy program, laying the foundation for future legislative efforts.

The “Beer Dinner Bill,” sponsored by CCBA, allows both breweries and beer importers to conduct “Beer Maker Dinners” at bars or restaurants. These events allow consumers to taste and learn about different beers directly from the brewery.

CCBA-sponsored bill enacted regulatory relief and fostered the growth of small craft beer brewers by updating health department requirements to better align with brewery tasting room operations, enabling more breweries to operate tasting rooms.

A CCBA sponsored bill helped clarify and expand the rules around growler refills in California, making it easier for breweries to serve their customers. The Governor signed the “Growler Bill” at a local brewery in Sacramento, establishing clear labeling guidelines for breweries that refill a consumer’s growler purchased elsewhere.

CCBA-sponsored legislation passed that allows craft breweries to sell packaged beer at farmers’ markets. This continues to be an important marketing and promotional tool for small breweries, helping them grow their business by selling to the local community.

California became home to more craft breweries than any state in the nation, with more than 900 breweries operating across the state of California. That was up from fewer than 70 breweries across California in 1990. Nearly 92 percent of the state’s 39.5 million residents lived within 10 miles of a brewery.

CCBA-sponsored legislation allowed brewers and winegrowers to share a common gathering area where patrons can enjoy both beverages, provided their production premises are directly adjacent.

The number of craft breweries in California surged to over 1,000. The craft beer industry contributed $9.01 billion to the state’s economy in 2019 and supported  approximately 60,000 jobs, making it a vital force in California’s economic landscape.

The CCBA worked closely with the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and other state agencies to ensure that breweries received the same privileges as other essential businesses, allowing them to stay open and competitive during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to unfair restrictions that treated breweries differently from industries like wine, the CCBA filed a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). The lawsuit challenged the requirement for breweries to serve meals in their tasting rooms, a restriction not imposed on wineries. Ultimately, the State aligned breweries with wineries by removing the meal requirement, marking a key victory in CCBA’s advocacy efforts to ensure fair treatment for the industry.

The CCBA sponsored two important bills for breweries in California. The first increased the number of duplicate licenses that brewers could hold with retail privileges from six to eight. It also raised the number of duplicates allowed to serve food from two to four.

The second bill allowed breweries and wineries under the same ownership to offer their beer and wine together at a single point of sale; eliminating the need for separate purchasing areas, creating a seamless experience for patrons.