Maine and Massachusetts celebrate a relatively unknown holiday outside their corner of the United States called Patriot’s Day, which commemorates two battles in the Revolutionary War that were fought near Boston in 1775. Turns out the rest of us in the country have a good reason to celebrate this April 19th, for it marks the 25th anniversary of The Boston Beer Company.
The Boston Globe has nice write up of Jim Koch, Boston Beer’s founder and the man who brought the world Samuel Adams beer. A true entrepreneurial success story, Koch began brewing his famous beer in his kitchen without the money to distribute his creation in kegs or six-packs.
Patriots Day 1985 marked the emergence of American beer drinking from the dark ages, according to Koch. Twenty-five years later, Boston Beer is the largest independently owned US beer maker, and one of the world’s most successful craft brewers.
While most craft brewers were home brewers who had gone commercial by cobbling together a bigger version of the systems they used to brew beer at home, Koch invested in professional equipment to ensure consistency.
“Back then you had a choice — Bud, Miller, and Coors, or you could get an imported beer that was supposedly better, but it was usually skunky and it was never fresh,’’ said Koch. “More than anything else, what we have done over the past 25 years is change the perception of American beer and have shown that beer is a beverage that is as complex and as deserving of respect as fine wine.’’
Read the full story at Boston.com.
