Tag Archives: microbreweries

What Is Brewing with Kosher Beer?

Spring 2026

No one would argue that we are living in the Age of Information, one that has greatly benefited the kashrus world. Thirty years ago, we did not have access to the information highway known as the internet because the highway was still under construction. Ferreting fact from fiction was the mainstay of our research process, one that involved finding the right people to speak to who could share their expertise so that we could create reliable kashrus standards for the tzibur.

In that era, our knowledge of the kashrus of beer and liquor was very much in its embryonic stage. Few, if any, beers carried reliable kosher certification. Using the information then available to us, we developed an educated kosher beer policy which stood the test of time for three decades. In 1996, the Kashrus Kurrents published its first beer article, “Is Something Kosher Brewing?”

But today, we are light years […]

HE-BREWS: A Micro View into A Microbrew

Spring 2017

Introduction
If there is a word that can be used to describe the unprecedented growth of microbreweries it is explosive’. There are more microbreweries than ever in the U.S., accounting for $22.3 billion of revenue and 21% of market share. In 2015, the brewery count stood at 4,269 breweries: 2,397 microbreweries; 1,650 brew pubs; and 178 craft breweries. In essence, this dynamic growth has in essence reshaped the playing field, both in quality and new offerings. Of course, the success of the microbrewery is changing the face of the beer industry from traditional to innovative, which obviously impacts the typical kashrus perception of a microbrewery.
It was previously assumed that microbreweries were more purist than their ‘big brother’ counterparts. This means that they would not deviate from the strict rules of the reinheitsgebot-German Beer Purity laws. Is this still true today? And if not, what is the kosher status of a […]