Coincidence? I don’t think so!

Do you know when the phrase “craft beer” was first used?

I went down a rabbit hole before going to bed the other night and ended up spending two hours on Merriam-Webster. “Craft beer” ended up showing up as I looked up the new entries into the dictionary for the year I was born.

According to Merriam-Webster, “the “craft beer” phrase was born in 1986. The same year I was born! Yeah, we could say it was meant to be from the start. “Microbrew,” however, was first used a year prior, in 1985. “Microbrewery” saw the light of day in 1982. As of today, “microbrewery” is in the top 32% of all entries looked up on Merriam-Webster. People are… thirsty?

It is also interesting to note that there is no entry for “craft brewery” on Merriam-Webster. Oxford Languages offers a definition. Maybe the Brits care more their beer than we do?! Ha! Fascinating! Especially since the new wave of craft breweries started in the US in the 1980s.