Meaning & use
microbrewery
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A small brewery that makes beer in limited amounts, often with unusual or strong flavors.
Grammar: Countable: one microbrewery, two microbreweries. Often used after 'a' or 'the'.
Patterns
- a microbrewery produces something
- beer from a microbrewery
- open a microbrewery
They opened a microbrewery in an old warehouse and sell only to local bars.
This microbrewery makes a chocolate-flavored beer that people either love or hate.
The tour of the microbrewery ended with a tasting of six different beers.
Word forms
| plural | microbreweries |
|---|
Common combinations
- local microbrewery
- The local microbrewery has become a popular meeting place.
- craft microbrewery
- A craft microbrewery focuses on quality and variety rather than volume.
- microbrewery beer
- Microbrewery beer often costs more than mass-produced beer.
- visit a microbrewery
- We visited a microbrewery on our trip to Portland.
Synonyms and how they differ
- craft brewery
- Very similar, but 'craft brewery' emphasizes traditional methods and quality, while 'microbrewery' emphasizes small size.
- brewpub
- A brewpub is a microbrewery that also serves food and drink on the premises; not all microbreweries have a restaurant.
Word family
Commonly confused: microbrewery or brewery?
microbrewery vs brewery
A brewery can be any size; a microbrewery is specifically small and often independent.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'microbrewery' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A microbrewery is a small brewery, so 'makes only 500 barrels a year' fits. Option A describes a large commercial brewery, B confuses it with a home appliance, and D is wrong because it makes beer, not wine.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “microbrewery”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.