Brewpub

A brewpub is a pub or restaurant that brews beer on the 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 America in 1984.

Before the development of large commercial breweries most beer would have been brewed on the premises from which it was sold. The Blue Anchor brewpub in Helston, Cornwall, England, was established in 1400. It is regarded as the oldest brewpub in the UK.

July 2003 estimates published by the Association of Brewers (now the Brewer's Association) 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.

In Dublin, Ireland, as in the UK, there were brewpubs. And, as in the UK, these all closed after large commercial breweries, such as Guinness, were formed. In recent years two modern American style brewpubs have opened. In Munich, Germany, most of the brewpubs are not independent but owned by larger breweries.

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.

In 1979 a chain of brewpubs, known as the "Firkin" pubs, started. The chain finally closed in 1999 after a takeover by Punch Taverns. The first "Firkin" brewpub was the Goose & Firkin in South London. More recently there has also been a revival of independently owned brewpubs in the UK.