Hi there, there's plenty more to be said, but there are some answers regarding Prohibition in the FAQ's on the right side of the page:
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/wif32/how_did_major_breweries_distillers_etc_survive/
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1kgmym/what_was_prohibitions_effect_on_american/
Hope this will get you started, at least!
Breweries were very much local and regional prior to repeal of Prohibition and the growth in mass media and national advertising about the same time. However, in the 1880s some of the Milwaukee brewers pioneered distribution via the growing railroad network, supplying saloons throughout the West.
Breweries were very local before prohibition, and also for a considerable period of time after prohibition. Macrobreweries as a trend didn't start until the 1950s.
1951 Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis builds a new brewery in Newark, New Jersey starting a trend for expansion of breweries.
Sources:
Prior to Prohibition and modern taxation breweries were local and in many places something done in the household, until the past 100-150 years has Brewing, and distilling become something done by companies. For beer it was considered a woman's job much like cooking or cleaning, whereas distilling was something done by a man at the end of the harvest season (typically during the time when this happened spirits were not aged).