IN popular culture, the Fourth of July connotes hot dogs, hamburgers and cold beer. But the country has changed, and while burgers and hot dogs are still a distinct possibility, so are mofongo and arroz con pollo, or kimchi and kalbi. Cold beer, though, remains universal, and for that we might consider taking a moment to thank the founding fathers of the craft-beer revolution.

A mere 35 years ago, the domestic beer choices on Independence Day weekend were a dismal lot: bland, flavorless mega-brews, with perhaps a few equally uninspiring beers from dying regional breweries. Today, the American beer world is completely different, thanks to some farsighted brewers who envisioned a better future.

A craft beer Mount Rushmore might include the faces of pioneers like Fritz Maytag, who saved the Anchor Brewery in San Francisco and brought steam beer, a 19th-century remnant, out of Frank Norris novels and into the 21st century; Ken Grossman, who founded Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and created the pale ale that came to define a new American style; and Bert Grant in the Northwest, who set a template for microbreweries and brewpubs while inspiring a taste for extra-hoppy beers.

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http://events.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/dining/reviews/30wine.html