WHEREAS, California became the birthplace of the craft brewing movement when Fritz Maytag acquired the Anchor Brewing Company in 1965 and began brewing authentic handcrafted beers; and

WHEREAS, California is the home of the first microbrewery, built in Sonoma from scratch by Jack McAuliffe, who began selling New Albion ales from that microbrewery in 1977; and

WHEREAS, The second largest craft brewer in the country, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, was founded in Chico, California, in 1979, and spurred the craft brewery movement around the country; and

WHEREAS, In 1982, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 3610 to amend the state’s tied-house laws to remove the restriction on on-premises sales of craft beer. Following this change in law, California became home to three of the first five brewpubs in the United States; and

WHEREAS, The second brewpub in the United States, opened in August 1983, was Mendocino Brewery in Hopland, California; the third brewpub, opened in September 1984, was Buffalo Bill’s in Hayward, California; and the fifth, opened by John Martin in March 1986, was Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley, California; and

WHEREAS, In 2025, the California craft brewery industry had an annual impact of $8.46 billion on the state’s economy; and

WHEREAS, As of 2025, the California craft brewery industry supported approximately 46,700 jobs, with an average annual wage of over $53,000, employing delivery drivers, accountants, graphic designers, beer tenders, lawyers, and a whole array of other professions beyond brewers; and

WHEREAS, California has more breweries than any other state in the country. The current count numbers nearly 1,000 independently owned craft breweries. An average of one in every five craft beers produced in the United States comes from California; and

WHEREAS, California is known and recognized internationally for the quality of its craft breweries. Year after year, Californian breweries win more medals at the World Beer Cup, the largest international beer competition in the world, and the Great American Beer Festival, the largest beer competition in the United States, than breweries found in other states; and

WHEREAS, Breweries are driven to support their communities, contributing an average of $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 in charitable giving every year; and

WHEREAS, The California craft brewing industry is a leader in the stewardship of natural resources and the environment and has made a major commitment to implement sustainable practices that are environmentally sound, including some of the largest solar arrays in the private sector, and the use of fuel cells and other innovative conservation techniques and processes; and

WHEREAS, Despite the challenges, the state’s craft breweries continue to serve as gathering points for all members of the community, and are a major contributor to the economic vitality of California; now, therefore, be it