Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-06T22:56:09.430Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

From Monasteries to Multinationals (and Back): A Historical Review of the Beer Economy*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2012

Eline Poelmans  and
Johan F.M. Swinnen
Eline Poelmans
Affiliation:
Economics & Management Faculty, Hogeschool Universiteit Brussel, Warmoesberg 26, B-1000 Brussel,, Belgium. e-mail: eline.poelmans@econ.kuleuven.be
Johan F.M. Swinnen
Affiliation:
LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, University of Leuven (KUL), Waaistraat 6, box 3511, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. e-mail: jo.swinnen@econ.kuleuven.be
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article reviews beer production, consumption and the industrial organization of breweries throughout history. Monasteries were the centers of the beer economy in the early Middle Ages. Innovation and increased demand later induced the growth of commercial breweries. Globalization and scientific discoveries transformed the beer industry and increased competition from the 16th through the 19th century. The 20th century was characterized by dramatic (domestic and international) consolidation, major shifts in consumption patterns, and the re-emergence of small breweries. (JEL Classification: N30, N40, L23, L66)

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Wine Economics , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , Autumn 2011 , pp. 196 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © American Association of Wine Economists 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, W. J. (2011). Determinants of the concentration in beer markets in Germany and the United States: 1950–2005. In Swinnen, J.F.M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Aerts, E., Cullen, L.M. and Wilson, R.G. (eds.) (1990). Production, Marketing and Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages. Leuven: Leuven University Press.Google Scholar
Aerts, E. and Unger, R.W. (1990). Brewing in the Low Countries. In: Aerts, E., Cullen, L.M. and Wilson, R.G. (eds.), Production, Marketing and Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 92–101.Google Scholar
Arora, A., Bhaskar, A., Minten, B. and Vandeplas, A. (2011). Opening the beer gates: how liberalization caused growth in India's beer market. In: Swinnen, J.F.M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 308–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bai, J., Huang, J., Rozelle, S. and Boswell, M. (2011). Beer battles in China: the struggle over the world's largest beer market. In: Swinnen, J.F.M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 267–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnett, J. (2000). A history of research on yeasts 2: Louis Pasteur and his contemporaries, 1850 +/− 1880. Yeast, 16(14), 755–771.3.0.CO;2-4>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baron, S. (1962). Brewed in America, The History of Beer and Ale in the United States. Boston, MA: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Behre, K.-E. (1983). Ernährung und Umwelt der wikingerzeitlichen Siedlung Haithabu: die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen der Pflanzenreste. Neumünster: Karl Wachholtz.Google Scholar
Behre, K.-E. (1999). The history of beer additives in Europe – a review. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 8, 35–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bickerdyke, J. (1889). The Curiosities of Ale & Beer: An Entertaining History. London: The Leadenhall Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, D.J. and Teeter, E. (2007). Egypt and the Egyptians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Clark, P. (1983). The English Alehouse: A Social History, 1200–1830. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar
Colen, L. and Swinnen, J.F.M. (2011). Beer drinking nations: the determinants of global beer consumption. In: Swinnen, J.F.M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 123–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deconinck, K. and Swinnen, J.F.M. (2011). ‘From Vodka to Baltika: A Perfect Storm in the Russian Beer Market’, in Swinnen, J.F.M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Degrande, G. (2010). Tournée générale: De geheimen van het Belgische bier. Leuven: Uitgeverij Van Halewyck.Google Scholar
Dickenson, J. and Unwin, T. (1992). Viticulture in colonial Latin America: essays on alcohol, the vine and wine in Spanish America and Brazil’? Institute of Latin American Studies, Working Paper 13.Google Scholar
Dineley, M. and Dineley, G. (2000). Neolithic ale: barley as a source of malt sugars for fermentation. In: Fairbairn, A.S. (ed.), Plants in Neolithic Britain and Beyond, Oxford: Oxbow, 137–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doorman, G. (1955). De middeleeuwse Brouwerij en de Gruit, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff.Google Scholar
Duffy, J. (2010). The plight of the micro-brewers. BBC News Online, 28 November.Google Scholar
Eßlinger, H.M. (2009). Handbook of Brewing: Processes, Technology, Markets. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. (1977). International Statistics on Alcoholic Beverages: Production, Trade and Consumption. Vol. 27, Helsinki: Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies.Google Scholar
Geller, J. (1992). From prehistory to history: beer in Egypt. In: Friedman, R. and Adams, B. (eds.), The Followers of Horus (Egyptian Studies Association Publication 2). Oxford: Oxbow, 19–26.Google Scholar
George, L.M. (2011). The growth of television and the decline of local beer. In: Swinnen, J.F.M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 213–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gourvish, T.R. (1998). Concentration, diversity and firm strategy in European brewing, 1945–90. In: Wilson, R.G. and Gourvish, T.R. (eds.), The Dynamics of the International Brewing Industry Since 1800. London: Routledge, 80–92.Google Scholar
Hackel-Stehr, K. (1989). Das Brauwesen in Bayern vom 14. bis 16. Jahrhundert, insbesondere die Entstehung und Entwicklung des Reinheitsgebotes (1516). Dissertation, Berlin 1987, herausgegeben von der Gesellschaft für Öffentlichkeitsarbeit der Deutschen Brauwirtschaft zum Jubiläum der Gesellschaft für die Geschichte und Bibliographie des Brauwesens e.V. 1913–1988, Bonn-Bad Godesberg: Gesellschaft für Öffentlichkeitsarbeit der Deutschen Brauwirtschaft, 1989.Google Scholar
Hartung, J. (1932). Die Brautechnik in den Vereinigten Staaten vor und nach der Einführung der Prohibition. In: Schmölders, G., Die Brauindustrie in den Vereinigten Staaten in ihrer technischen und wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, Berlin: Institut für Gärungsgewerbe, 101–190.Google Scholar
Holt, M.P. (2006). Alcohol: A Social and Cultural History. Oxford: Berg.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holt, M.P. (2006). Europe divided: wine, beer, and the reformation in sixteenth-century Europe. In: Holt, M.P. (ed.), Alcohol: A Social and Cultural History. Oxford: Berg, 25–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hornsey, I. (2003). A History of Beer and Brewing. Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry.Google Scholar
Jackson, M. (1996). All About Beer Magazine, 1 March.Google Scholar
Katz, S. and Voigt, M. (1986). Bread and beer: the early use of cereals in the human diet. Expeditions, 28(2), 23–34.Google Scholar
Mathias, P. (1959). The Brewing Industry in England 1700–1830. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Meloni, G. and Swinnen, J.F.M. (2010). The Political Economy of European Wine Regulation. Presented at the Fourth Annual Conference of the American Association of Wine Economists, UC Davis, California, USA on June 27.Google Scholar
Meussdoerffer, F.G. (2009). A comprehensive history of beer brewing. In: Eßlinger, H.M. (ed.), Handbook of Brewing: Processes, Technology, Markets. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.Google Scholar
Michel, C. (1899). Geschichte des Bieres von der ältesten Zeit bis zum Jahre 1899. Augsburg: Verlagsbuchhandlung Gebruder Reichel.Google Scholar
Mitchell, B.R. (2007a). International Historical Statistics: Africa, Asia and Oceania, 1750–2005 (6th ed.). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mitchell, B.R. (2007b). International Historical Statistics: Europe 1750–2005 (6th ed.). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mitchell, B.R. (2007c). International Historical Statistics: The Americas, 1750–2005 (6th ed.). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mosher, R. (2009). Tasting Beer: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, LLC.Google Scholar
Nelson, M. (2003). The cultural construction of beer among Greeks and Romans. Syllecta Classica, 14, 101–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, M. (2005). The Barbarian's Beverage: A History of Beer in Ancient Europe. London and New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nye, J.V.C. (2011). Brewing nation: war, taxes and the growth of the British beer industry in the 18th and 19th centuries. In: Swinnen, J.F.M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 62–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pasteur, L. (1866). Etudes sur le vin, ses maladies, causes qui les provoquent, procédés nouveaux pour le conserver et le vieillir. Paris: Imprimerie Impériale V. Masson.Google Scholar
Pasteur, L. (1876). Etudes sur la bière, ses maladies, causes qui les provoquent, procédés pour la rendre inaltérable avec une théorie nouvelle de la fermentation. Paris: Gauthier-Villars.Google Scholar
Patroons, W. (1979). Bier. Antwerpen: Standaard Uitgeverij.Google Scholar
Persyn, D., Swinnen, J.F.M. and Vanormelingen, S. (2011). Belgian beers: where history meets globalisation. In: Swinnen, J.F.M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 79–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poelmans, E. and Swinnen, J.F.M. (2011). A brief economic history of beer. In: Swinnen, J.F.M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 3–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabin, D. and Forget, C. (eds.) (1998). The Dictionary of Beer and Brewing (2nd ed.). Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.Google Scholar
Robertson, J.D. (1984). The Connoisseur's Guide to Beer. Ottawa, IL: Jameson Books.Google Scholar
Röllig, W. (1971). Das Bier im Alten Mesopotamien. In: Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Bibliographie des Brauwesens, Jahrbuch. Berlin: Institut für Gärungsgewerbe, 9–104.Google Scholar
Schmölders, G. (1932). Die Brauindustrie in den Vereinigten Staaten von der Kolonialzeit bis zur Gegenwart. In: Schmölders, G. (ed.), Die Brauindustrie in den Vereinigten Staaten in ihrer technischen und wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung. Berlin: Institut für Gärungsgewerbe, 3–100.Google Scholar
Sedlmayr, F. (1934). Die Geschichte der Spatenbrauerei unter Gabriel Sedlmayr dem älteren und dem jüngeren 1807–1874 sowie Beiträge zur bayerischen Brauereigeschichte dieser Zeit. Munich: Kommissionsverlag von Piloty & Loehle.Google Scholar
Stack, M. (2000). Local and regional breweries in America's brewing industry, 1865 to 1920. Business History Review, 74, 435–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stack, M. (2003). A concise history of America's brewing industry. In: Whaples, R. (ed.), Economic History Net Encyclopedia of Economic and Business History, available at http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/stack.brewing.industry.history.us.Google Scholar
Stubbs, B. (2003). Captain Cook's beer: the antiscorbutic use of malt and beer in late 18th century sea voyages. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 12, 129–137.Google ScholarPubMed
Swinnen, J.F.M. (2009), The growth of agricultural protection in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. The World Economy, 32(11), 1499–1537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teich, M. (1990). The industrialisation of brewing in Germany (1800–1914). In: Aerts, E., Cullen, L.M. and Wilson, R.G. (eds.), Production, marketing and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 102–113.Google Scholar
Teich, M. (1998). The mass production of draught and bottled beer in Germany, 1880–1914. In: Wilson, R.G. and Gourvish, T.R. (eds.), The Dynamics of the International Brewing Industry since 1800. London: Routledge, 75–79.Google Scholar
Tremblay, V. and Tremblay, C. (2005). The U.S. Brewing Industry: Data and Economic Analysis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Unger, R. (1995). The scale of Dutch brewing, 1350–1600. Research in Economic History, 15, 261–292.Google Scholar
Unger, R.W. (2001). A History of Brewing in Holland, 900–1900, Economy, Technology, and the State. Leiden and Boston: Brill Academic Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Unger, R.W. (2004). Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Tongeren, F. (2011). Standards and international trade integration: A historical review of the German ‘Reinheitsgebot. In: Swinnen, J.F.M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 51–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
von Blanckenburg, C. (2001). Die Hanse und ihr Bier. Brauwesen und Bierhandel im hansischen Verkehrsgebiet. Dissertation. Cologne: Böhlau Verlag.Google Scholar
Wilson, R. and Gourvish, T. (eds.). (1998). The Dynamics of the International Brewing Industry Since 1800. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Wrightson, K. (1981). Alehouses, order and reformation in rural England 1590–1660. In: Yeo, E. and Yeo, S. (eds.), Popular Culture and Class Conflict 1590–1914. Brighton: Harvester, 1–27.Google Scholar