Brewpub
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A brewpub is a combination restaurant and microbrewery that sells the majority of its beer on premises. The first American brewpub was Grant's Brewery Pub in Yakima, Washington, which opened in 1982. According to Merriam-Webster, the term was first used in 1984.
July 2003 estimates published by the Association of Brewers (http://www.beertown.org/) show there are over 1,000 brewpubs in the United States. Over a third of those are in the west coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California, with Oregon having the highest number of brewpubs per capita of any state in the country.
There are brewpubs in countries other than the U.S., for instance in Ireland, however they are not commonly called brewpubs there; they are simply referred to as pubs. Explicit reference to the fact that certain pub-restaurants brew their own beer on the premises is rarely made in Ireland. Pubs are simply referred to by their name and in case they contain microbreweries it is assumed that the conversation partner is aware of this. Where that is not the case, it is explained with a short sentence such as "They brew their own beer in that pub."
In Dublin, Ireland, there used to be numerous such pubs along the Liffey in the previous centuries. The number of pubs brewing their own beer markedly declined with the advent of large beer brands (such as Guinness), but there still are some pubs that do so.
In Britain during the 20th century most of the traditional pubs which brewed their own beer in the brew'ouse round the back of the pub, were bought out by larger breweries and ceased brewing on the premises. One of the last to do so was The Old Swan (known locally as Ma Pardoe's) in Netherton near Dudley. Brewing stopped in 1993 but after a refurbishment of the brewhouse it reopened in 2001.
Starting in 1979 there was a revival of brewpubs in the UK, the "Firkin" pubs. The chain finally closed in 1999 after a takeover by Punch Tarverns. The first bewpub was the Goose & Firkin in South London, UK.
External Links
- Firkin entry at Quaffle (http://www.quaffale.org.uk/breweries/firkin.html)
- The Old Swan (http://www.camra.org.uk/SHWebClass.ASP?WCI=ShowDoc&DocID=2369) at the Campaign For Real Ale website.