News Smithsonian Brewing History Collection Readies to Open

The Smithsonian American Brewing History Initiative, a collection of artifacts, documents and audio stories from the American craft brewing industry will open on October 25th.

The Initiative is the first scholarly research and collection project to gather and preserve artifacts, written materials and an oral history from the craft beer revolution. It includes such artifacts as a cherished childhood microscope and a set of brewer’s coveralls from Fritz Maytag, a guest book recording visits to one of the nation’s first microbreweries, Boulder Brewing Company and the first brewing system used by Sam Calagione. Oral histories recorded from over 75 craft brewing pioneers and key industry figures are also available for listening.

The exhibition is a part of the Smithsonian “FOOD: Transforming the American Table” which will reopen with the new section “Beer: An American History” in Washington DC. The exhibition includes other new sections on migration and food, dieting history, and Mexican-American vintners.

Full story from the exhibits curator Theresa McCulla here.

To top