This thesis explores the craft and business aspects of the brewing trade in the Delaware Valley from 1760 until 1800. Drawing on evidence from brewers’ account books and other business records, as well as contemporary newspapers and printed sources on the trade, I argue that brewers in the region thrived in a difficult economic environment through a variety of methods. Philadelphia’s brewers kept abreast of techniques and technologies revolutionizing the industry in England which allowed brewers in both cities to be more efficient with ingredients and to achieve a more consistent product. To adapt to local economic conditions, Philadelphia brewers remained flexible in labor practices and developed new strategies for managing risk and ensuring a steady supply of ingredients. The uncertainties of the local economy encouraged specialization and co-operation between brewers in the region, and in the two decades prior to the American Revolution a complex economic network developed linking small-scale brewers in rural towns like Wilmington, Delaware to larger operators in Philadelphia. In the two decades following the close Revolutionary War, these brewers took advantage of emerging domestic and international trade opportunities to expand their network, importing ingredients from across the Atlantic coast and selling their beer in ports around the world. The collective experiences of these brewers complicate the traditional narrative of early capitalism and lends new insight into the victualling industries of early America.