While you might be thinking the coronavirus is hitting hard the beer industry, the virus is strictly chump-change when compared to US Prohibition which lasted for 13 long, long years.

A brewery could only churn out so many bottles of alcohol free beer – called near-beer in the States. Pabst had ‘Pablo’, Miller’s ‘Vivo’, and Schlitz ‘Famo’. Six breweries were able to convince the powers-that-be that beer was a medical product, but most went under.

Pabst then had the great idea of making cheese. In this wonderful article by Atlas Obscura, the history of Pabst’s survival during the Prohibition years is outlined, along with the rest of the industry.

If you’re having to isolate or be in lock-down, this makes a great way to temporarily escape.