Summary: benevolent regulation caused the craft beer boom. I call bullshit. Look at this graph [1] and tell me again how great the three-tier system was for market diversity. America went from 700 post-Prohibition breweries to less than 100 in 1978. That was the year homebrewing was legalized, and it's a pretty steady climb back up from there. Brewpubs -- which circumvent the three-tier system and its all-too-easily-locked-up distribution channels -- were legalized in the early 80s and exploding by the late 90s.
I must however agree that this is a happy development. "Beer Wars" is a great little documentary about the phenomenon. [2]
I must however agree that this is a happy development. "Beer Wars" is a great little documentary about the phenomenon. [2]
[1] https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-total-number-of-breweries-in-the...
[2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1326194/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1