Beer: Repeal

Prohibition began to recede into history in March 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, when the Cullen Bill was passed, allowing states that did not have state prohibition laws to sell 3.2 percent beer and placing a five-dollar per barrel tax on that beer. Then, on 17 April 1933, the legalization of beer took effect with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment—as of 2012 the only amendment to the Constitution of the United States ratified to nullify another amendment.

On 3 December 1933, U.S. citizens took their first legal drinks in fourteen years. Of the 1,568 breweries in operation in 1910 (brewing over 63 million barrels a year), only 750 reopened when Prohibition was ended in 1933. Production in that year was just over 2 million barrels. By the end of June, 31 breweries were back in full operation. One year later, 756 breweries were meeting the demands of a thirsty nation. The brewing industry recovered gradually, reaching production of just over 55 million barrels when World War II broke out.