New Albion Brewing Company in Sonoma, California. America's 1st Craft Brewery               

The New Albion Brewing Company was founded in 1976 by Jack McAuliffe in Sonoma, California, New Albion is acknowledged as the first United States microbrewery of the modern era, as well as a heavy influence on the subsequent microbrewery and craft beer movements of the late 20th century.
     

  
Jack McAuliffe's initial plans to build the brewery in San Francisco and name it the Barbary Coast Brewing Company were thwarted by expensive real estate and a lack of investors. By 1975, McAuliffe quit his job and moved north to Sonoma, a decision influenced by cheaper expenses and a local food and wine scene which focused on quality and would eventually lead to emergence of California cuisine. In October 1976, along with business partners Suzy Denison and Jane Zimmerman, McAuliffe officially began the New Albion Brewing Company, the name given to the San Francisco Bay Area by sailor-explorer Sir Francis Drake, as well as a former San Francisco brewery of the same name. In 1977, the brewery brewed its first batch of ale. The facilities of a shaded steel warehouse with shed housed food-grade 55-gallon Coca-Cola syrup drums he converted into brewhouse vessels and fermenters, a World War Two era bottle washer made from battleship decking, and a vintage 1910 bottle labeler.
  

  
New Albion brewed 7.5 barrels per week, quickly selling every bottle upon completion. The brewery offered a pale ale, porter and stout, all bottle-conditioned for five weeks rather than pasteurized. The reputation of the brewery quickly spread, and visits from publications such as The New York Times, Washington Post, and Brewers Digest served to increase the company's profile. However, production was not enough to turn a profit, and six years after its founding, New Albion brewed its final batch of beer.