August 2, 2001 -- Bert Grant, who founded the first modern brewpub in the United States in 1982, has died at the age of 73. The industry pioneer passed away in a nursing home in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday night.

Born in Dundee, Scotland, Grant moved to Canada with his parents at the age of two. He entered the brewing industry early on with a job at E.P. Taylor's Canadian Breweries at the tender age of sixteen. In his autobiography, The Ale Master, Grant notes that he was offered a prestigious job in the gold industry at the same time. He chose beer over gold and, he said, "never regretted it."

Grant stayed in the beer business his whole life, developing a great fondness for hoppy ales along the way. He was known to always travel with a vial of hop oil with which to 'doctor' beers he deemed to be lacking in bitterness and aroma.

Suitably, Yakima Brewing was founded by Grant in the heart of Washington state hop-growing country in 1982. While the business expanded from brewpub to bottling brewery and was eventually sold to Chateau Ste. Michelle wines, Grant remained the public face of the brewery and his name graced the label of every beer it produced.

Last year, Yakima Brewing produced 10,000 barrels of beer. But the legacy of Bert Grant should be counted in the influence he has had on an industry rather than the number of barrels produced by the brewery he founded. Grant's passion for beer was contagious, and there are no doubt dozens of brewers in the Pacific northwest and beyond who would count him among their greatest inspirations.

The craft brewing industry has lost an icon. Bert Grant will be sorely missed.

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