>> this is al jazeera america. live from new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. marijuana sells are brisk in colorado. it became the first day for businesses to sell pot for recreational use. 24 stores open their doors today. another first, insurance benefits under the affordable care act went into affect. they covered americans who purchased insurance. more than 2 million people have signed up so far. america's largest city has it's first democratic mayor in 20 years. bill deblasio took oath of office twice. former president bill clinton

administered the oath this afternoon. he was also sworn just after midnight outside of his home in brooklyn, south sudan has declared state of emergency. it's vice president has called focease-fire talks. russian president vladimir putin visited volg, ograd with victims of two suicide-bombing attacks. >> it's thanksgiving, and perhaps you're washing down your turkey and stuffing with a nice handcrafted american beer. millions enjoying flavors and

styles with an industry on the rise here. craft brewing is the "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suarez. now, full disclosure, the "inside story" team is off this new year's day so i'm not even really here. and to make that possible we dipped into our archive for a show that may pair well with family and football. we're talking about american craft beer. today there are as many working breweries in the country as there were in the late 19th century as consumers search for new flavors and experiences beyond the big brewers that you know like coor's and budweiser, the handmade beers brewed across the country are generating billions of dollars in retail

sales. boulevard brewing has been sold to a huge belgium brewer, and some are wondering if craft beer will become too big to remain distinctly american. >> this is a great time to be in craft beer. it's a lot of fun. >> reporter: americans have a nearly insatiable historic love of beer. 400 million kegs brewed in the u.s. annually. but not all beer is the same. craft beer is not your father's suds. craft doesn't belong in your red to go cup. you don't chug, you sip, you savor it. >> i like craft beer because it's very delicious, and it's constantly evolving, and it's constantly surprising me. i feel like i'm constantly learning new things about it. i guess it's the journey, you know.

>> defined craft is artisan made by smaller brewers who produce 6 million barrels or less annually. brewers focus on new interpretations of old styles and create new ones. handcrafted it's distinctly american. craft beer drinkers consume 6% of the total beer market but that 6% equaled $10 billion in retail sales last year. sales of the big beers, the ones even non-drinkers know, coor's, miller, budweiser has flatlined growing by 1% last year. but craft beer is booming. last year this niche market saw a 15% increase in volume, and this was the sixth straight year of double-digit growth even in the midst of high unemployment and sagging salaries. craft beer would appear recession proof. >> i like craft beer instead of like a budweiser or miller or

coor's because you can pursue different flavors. you can learn about different styles. there isn't just one type of beer that is fizzy yellow water that might catch a buzz. >> reporter: the large manufacturers are feeling the heat. a belgium brewer is tapping into the american craft market. the flemish beer mogul has been brewing beer since grant. the world's 12th largest micro brewer. it was the del upbeer that he sipped in paris that moved him to open his own brewery in kansas city, missouri, in 1989. boulevard is known for novel and favorableful american interpretations of belgium beer styles. the two company heads called the merger a natural fit. but american craft purists think the new owners will dilute the

brand. this is not the first time big beer has swallow up a small craft company. two years ago budweiser bought goose island brewing. miller coor's owns a wisconsin line. so what does make craft beer flow? we he met with craig engert, a being sommelier. >> i can't say what it is, but you know it when you see it. i feel with craft beer profi profitability, efficiency are always secondary to the flavor impact. non-craft beer is first departmented by business acumen. >> reporter: there is a world of difference between craft beer and the big brewers like anheuser-busch and millers

coor's. >> the draw back of beer is flavor. on a visceral level craft beer is something you can't stay away from because it's so engrossing when it comes to texture and aromas. >> there are bars catering to craft beer lovers or those who are searching for something different. >> it has a large collection of beers we don't find elsewhere, and we don't know what we're looking at half the time, but it is fun to try new things. >> reporter: craft enthusiasts are knowledgeable consumers. they use social networking to get up-to-date information about their favorite ale and taking the experience out of the glass and making it a cerebral endeavor. >> in the past five to ten years information sharing has blown up.

the internet provides so many ways to research and to share knowledge. people know you don't have to give in and grab what is you biggous buyoubiggous. it's a visceral pursuit. >> in more than 24 breweries across the country, more now than the 1880s. >> it's the freshest beer you'll get in the city. that's always a big selling county. >> reporter: washington, d.c. is experiencing a beer renaissance of its own. we visited one of the city's micro breweries. opened in 2009 dc brow is the first brewery in the city since 1956. they got in the craft beer business just as it was starting to take off and they haven't looked back. ceo and co-founder brandon skal.

>> this is not a story unique to us here in d.c. the craft brew culture and the craft brew industry has really taken off and come into its own over the past several years. we've been lucky enough to be a part of that locally. >> reporter: d.c. brow owners brandon and his owner like many brewers across the nation see the craft beer industry as more than just a cool job but also as an important local contributor. >> i think there was a demand for it. culturally the city had changed from that place that very transient and there was lack of identity of people putting down roots and settling down and people craving something to represent d.c. not just in beer form, product form but cultural form. we were able to step in that role and people make that identity. >> reporter: many craft beer enthusiasts say the draw is the

local appeal. >> i like to support the smaller breweries. in d.c. we have a few small breweries, and we go to those breweries, meet the people who work and you get the sense that it's a small community oriented business. i do like to support that. >> reporter: and more than just a savory thirst quencher craft beer is a little known bright spot in the u.s. economy. according to the brewer's association the industry supports 100,000 jobs despite limited distribution and higher prices craft beer growth projections are nearly $6 billion in the next five years. as you sit back and enjoy your friends, family, and the festivities of the holiday season, have a sip of something that's already becoming as american and apple pie. >> when we come back we'll dive into the fermenter so to speak and talk about craft beer with three pie year pioneers in the .

stay with us, this is inside story. "america tonight" investigative series >> we traveled here to japan to find out what's really happening at fukushima daiich >> three years after the nucular disaster, the hidden truth about the ongoing cleanup efforts and how the fallout could effect the safety of americans >> are dangerous amounts of radioactive water, leaking into the pacific eververyday? >> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima only on al jazeera america

>> welcome back to inside story. i'm ray suarez.

joining us now to talk about the american craft beer industry from spokane, washington, john bryant, cofounder of life brew house. and richard, and greg cook, co-founder and ceo of stone brewing company. well, you guys and your market segment, greg cook, continue to grow at a time when the rest of the industry, if you'll excuse the pun, is flat. what is the problem? i hear this under current of narrative of loss every time one of your compatriots sells out to a big brewing giant as an ah shucks instead of chest thumping high five situation. >> the idea that we shouldn't expect more and that we just want less, we're changing that

notion into we actually deserve more and we deserve better. as you know compatriots fighting on the front line of great beer in this country when one of us decides to go to the other side of the line it is a disappointing loss sometimes. >> let's talk about that other side of the line, bill butcher. from what you've seen so far, and there have been several acquisitions of smaller brewers by smaller ones, have they tampered with the recipes? have they tea tampered with the spirit. >> i'm not sure what they've done with the recipes. our brewery is less than three years old. we're focused on what we're doing, trying the make the best beer possible and get it out as fresh as possible so people can enjoy better quality beer. >> is that the difference between a port city and a giant beer? >> our beer is very, very flavorful, and our beer is

unpasteurized in a natural product, and we get it to our customers in our local and regional market as fresh as possible. we turn our inventory at our brewery completely every three weeks. >> john bryant, he's talking about the beer like it's a living product like a loaf of bread. are you changing people's ideas about what beer is by making it differently and talking to your customers differently about it? >> well, ray, much of the business of peer craft brewing in the united states has basically been outsourced around the world. if you look at the major breweries in the united states, they're owned by international companies. and to greg and bill's point we're fighting to keep a culture of beer in the united states, but create a craft beer culture. and with it being hyper local in each of our states in our country, that's u.s. jobs, that's a great tax base.

where there is great beer food will follow. where there is beer and food music will follow. that demonstrates how we create a cultural in the united states. that's rooted right here and that helps our local economy. we're trying to be a driver as much as dreg is in san diego or bill out in virginia and d.c. in spokane we're trying to build a craft brewing universe. when they go to the grocery store they vote every time with what they purchase. what we're seeing people are buying local. local can be u.s. it can be your local neighborhood or your state. it can be your region. but people are proud of the beers that are made in the united states like stone brewing or port city or brew house. that's something that we're fighting for at this time in the narrative are much is being

outsourced. a hundred years ago basically all the beer in the united states was made here. today the largest brewery in the united states might make 2 million barrels, and those large conglomerate companies are overseas. >> i was out to dinner with my young adult son and he was asking the waiter about their drink offerings. when the waiter went away i asked, and he said dad, if you drink better you drink less. do you relate to the product differently if you have that kind of relationship with it? >> well absolutely. it's the difference between fast food and fine dining restaurant or actually artisan cheese and say pre-wrapped processed cheese slices. we're getting away from of the industrialized notion facsimile of beer into real beer. unfortunately actual real beer

is worth discussing and talking about. every once in a while i'll hear people talking about how it's a mere fansfication. when we're moving away from additives, preservatives to just a few, barley, hops, water and yeast, that's not a fanc fancification. that's a return to normalcy. >> it sound like what you and your comrades are saying is how you measure success and how you define success is different. >> it's all about quality over quantity. i come to the craft beer industry from the wine business. i was in the wine business for 18 years, and when i was coming up it was a time when americans were discovering better quality wine. they stopped ordering a generic chablis.

and then it happened with coffee. people discovered artisan coff coffee. it's better quality, freshly roasted, and possibly locally roasted. that tastes better. it costs more but people are willing to pay more for something that tastes better. once they taste the good stuff they never go back. >> more after this break. stay with us. the stream is uniquely interactive television. in fact, we depend on you, your ideas, your concerns. >> all these folks are making a whole lot of money. >> you are one of the voices of this show. >> i think you've offended everyone with that kathy. >> hold on, there's some room to offend people, i'm here. >> we have a right to know what's in our food and monsanto do not have the right to hide it from us. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> watch the stream. >> and join the conversation online @ajamstream.

>> we're talking about craft beer in america. john bryant in washington state. bill butcher in alexandria,

virginia, and brian cook. >> could the influence go in the other direction as well. rather than worrying about the watering down either literally or figuratively of the smaller brewer, could there be a love of craft and a love of good ingredients heading towards the other direction, towards the big guys? >> you know, i think it plays advantage, you talk about ingredients and source of orig origin. i know they use chesapeake oysters to make this oyster stout. they clamor for that because it's ingredients from that area and they're responsible for pushing the boundaries of what you can do with hops and other ingredients. out here in spokane we might be the only city in the united

states who has its own federally recognized beer style classification called spoke spoe style. we get that because we get everything from this area and in turns we support local jobs. our tanks that we use are from a company right here. that in turn just trickles down and it goes boast ways. the customer votes for that. when you look at money rolling back out of the country by larger international brewers be it those gobbling up smaller ones, that culture is rooted back to that original country. what we're doing is creating and fighting for a beer culture that recognizes what our values here are in the united states or for us it's spokane, washington, or the specific northwest. >> doesn't everything that you just describe drive up your cost

per barrel and mean that at the tap the individual customer is going to have to pay a little bit more for the beer? >> you know, absolutely. there is a lot of truth to that. our economy and scale is nowhere near anheuser-busch or miller coor's. but to greg's point, artisan cheese or coffee, people are willing to pay more for a better quality product that is fresher, local, and creates jobs in our area and the three of us would say that is a better tasting product that is worth a little bit more. >> bill, what does that tell but the stratification of the market. the number of adults in the country has been growing a little but not by leaps and bounds. you have this stable market for a product that can only be consumed by adults legally. what's going on inside that market that you are prospering at a time when the giants are not doing as well a well at all.

>> and even through the recession we've been through in the past six or so years. craft beer has not only thrived but grown at double digit rates. you talk about stratification, if you come to our tasting room on a weekend, it's packed with a lot of young people in their 20s and 30s, and these are all people that have come of age of drinking age wanting something more from their beer, wanting more flavorful beer and the big mega brewers just don't make a product that they're interested in. >> greg, sometimes i got to admit, and i had a lot of these products across the country. i try a drink local wherever i go. sometimes it seems precious when you just want a glass of beer and you're getting cardomon pods

and vanilla notes, i don't know, sometimes i just want a glass of beer. and sometimes it just seems a little too, too. >> sure. you got to realize that your in the world of craft beer a fractional tiny number of beers that you would describe that way. most of it is a lot more straightforward. instead of suggesting that beer should be this watery oversimplified sort of beer-ish experience, it's real beer that we're making. and yes, we do have some extreme boundaries of craft brewing that offers some very unique experiences. but you want a normal, fantastic, amazing flavorful beer that's one of the things that craft brewing really excels at. >> we're down to the last couple of minutes in the conversation, gentlemen. since a lot of people are seeing this program at different times

of the day around the country, they may be about to eat or thinking about tomorrow's leftovers, and how they're going to stretch the feast out with family and friends, how do you pair this beer with what we eat this time of year? both at desert tim dessert timel time. >> i start with the weight of the fuel. if you have a more full bodied dish i pair it with a full bodied beer. in the summer, a salad, perhaps a weak beer, something that is lighter in style. but i don't wanting to too far down the path of food and wine where it gets to be too too. you drink what you like with the food you like to eat. >> john bryant? >> yeah, absolutely. bill nailed it. you drink the beers that you like to drink. i get jonessed for the dessert after the turkey today.

i'm looking for a nice stout with lots of flavors. but more importantly around the table what is great about beer is there are so many different styles, so many different beer flavors. they all go well together. it's really what you enjoy drinking is all that matters. beers, it's an event in itself. it should be fun. it should be relaxing. and it should be just compliment the social event that you're getting together with family and friends. pick up a six pack or a bomber bottle of your favorite beer. take it and crack it open and let everyone try it. over the course that have exchange, beer is communal. you may walk away finding a beer brand that you never had and you just learned something and had fun with your friends. >> greg, your best advice before we go? >> well, you know, the idea again, some people may roll their eyes at the idea that you pair beer and food. well, you know, honestly for too

long in this country we were lied to. we were oppressed by this idea that beer was nothing more than this industrial beverage when it is so much more. just like bill and john said, find great beers. go out there and sample what a better time than today with friends and family to sample beers you never had before and give yourself the opportunity to experience new favorites. it's a wonderful world of craft brewing today. we have it unlike any time or any place in the history of our planet. no better time to discover than right now. >> it's clear that this show is from the "inside story" archive on thanksgiving, but we felt it was in the holiday family spirit, so happy new year, and see you for the rest of this year on "inside story." i'm ray suarez.

>> you want to come first? >> not really. just go ahead and shop with these two guys here. >> lea. >> yeah, i'm all right. >> you see what? >> no. ♪ ♪ ♪