The Egyptians reportedly were brewing beer 5,000 years ago, but Fitger’s Brewing in Duluth was founded much later, after 1857. Nestled on the shores of simmering Lake Superior, the long-shuttered company can be seen as a microcosm of what happened nationwide. Every town used to have a brewery like Fitger’s, often named after its German founder. Eventually, though, most local brewers closed down. Too much competition.
In Fitger’s case, all was not lost when it closed in 1972. Local developers saved the building from demolition, and the structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was reinvented as a multi-use destination.
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Elsewhere, small, local brewers were acquired by bigger breweries, which, in turn, were acquired by even bigger mega breweries. New technology and focused marketing led to the explosion of modern craft brewers.
There are some 4,000 craft brewers in the U.S. now,
according to the Brewers Association
, including more than 10 in the Duluth area. As one expert has noted, the future of beer is defined by a
major market reset
, moving away from endless hypergrowth and extreme high-alcohol concoctions and toward moderation, lower pric...