man, it’s a shine on your shoes ... the sweet feel of a fly rod in your hand ... If you’re a woman, it’s a tricky new hair-do maybe ... or a change of lipstick. Morale is a lot of little things like that. People can take the big bad things ... the bitter news, the bombings even ... if only a few of the little, familiar, comforting good things are left." From the time America entered the war in 1941 until it ended in 1945, the overall production of beer increased by over 40% despite the small number of active breweries. This wartime growth allowed the large breweries such as Anheuser-Busch to dominate the American market for over fifty years. During this period they produced beers more noted for their uniformity than for any particular flavor. Beers such as those made by Anheuser-Busch and Coors Brewing Company followed a restricted pilsner style, with large-scale industrial processes and the use of low-cost ingredients like corn or ingredients such as rice that provided starch for alcohol production while contributing minimal flavor to the finished product. The dominance of the so-called "macrobrew" led to an international stereotype of "American beer" as poor in quality and flavor. Emergence of small breweries By the 1970s, consolidation and dominance by the country's major brewers led to the fewest breweries in the country's modern history. Despite this, the period also saw the beginnings of the country's current craft beer movement. In 1976, optical engineer and homebrewer Jack McAuliffe founded New Albion Brewing Company in Sonoma County, California, becoming the nation's first microbrewery since Prohibition. Influenced by Fritz Maytag's recent turnaround of the Anchor Brewing Company and an earlier military stationing in Scotland, McAuliffe's brewery offered bottle-conditioned porter, stout, and pale ale to a public more accustomed to lightly flavored lagers. Despite only staying in business for seven years, New Albion ignited an interest in craft beer and set a precedent for a generation of craft brewers, including Ken Grossman and the owners of Mendocino Brewing Company, the nation's first brewpub. On October 14, 1978, H.R. 1337 was signed into law, which legalized the homebrewing, home production of a small amount of beer or wine for personal consumption. Since then, the United States has witnessed a resurgence of brewing culture and the widespread proliferation of small breweries. By March 1986, five brewpubs had opened in the United