In the early 1990s with the advent of a free market in Poland, the large national breweries began selling off their unprofitable assets, which typically included brewing equipment that could not produce beer on a sufficiently large scale.

BBC: Krakow brews a beer scene of its own

All this led to the beer business consolidating into a large-scale national, and more recently, international industry.

FORBES: Coolest Beers

Until the mid-19th century, beer was produced locally on an artisanal scale, and consumed un-pasteurized from the barrel.

FORBES: Coolest Beers

Denver, well known as the beer capital of the U.S. and the epicenter of both large scale and craft brewing, even has a microbrewery at the stadium, the only one I know of.

FORBES: Opening Day 2012: Take Me Out To The Ball Park - For Delicious Dinner?

After obtaining from Genentech, Inc. the recombinant E. coli bacteria that contained the genetic blueprint for and that synthesized human insulin, they developed processes for the large-scale cultivation of the organism (in huge fermenters similar to those that make wine or beer) and for the purification and formulation of the insulin.

FORBES: When Genetic Engineering Came Of Age