Imported beer generally. To the point where ads for American beer often attacked "imports" as snooty.

This more or less kicked off in the 60s with heavy ad campaigns, famously Heineken achieved a lot of success marketing directed at house wives and the idea their beer was for special occasion and guests (a things that's depicted pretty well in Mad Men).

Belgian and German beers in particular were considered high quality, somewhat after that British beers. And people well off enough to travel in Europe, or who'd been stationed there post WWII, often sought the local brews they'd enjoyed once at home.

This becomes a factor in craft beer. When home beer and wine making was legalized under the Carter Administration the early home brew scene largely sought to replicate European beers. Often at lower cost. As the European beer market was more diverse, less consolidated and their beer considered much higher quality. Belgian and British ales became the big thing to emulate. Because ales are less complex to brew at home. And because Belgian beers were then considered the best in the world by many. While the similar (but less brew yourself) CAMRA movement in the UK became very influential in early home brew.

CAMRA, or the Campaign for Real Ale. Is an enthusiast and promotional group pushing for the preservation and continued production of what are called Real Ales in the UK. Traditionally made, naturally conditioned and cask dispensed British styles of beer. CAMRA's early documentation of beer styles, and brew methods that people could pretty easily adopt at home with no special equipment became a massive source of information for early US home brewers.

Which is part of how IPAs became the dominants style in US craft.

The craft brewing movement grows directly out of the early home brew scene. With homebrewers seeking higher quality ingredients and equipment, basically having to scale to do so. And eventually building enough of a following to open commercial breweries.

Though the "first" craft breweries some one pre-date this. Anchor was a pre-existing brewery, purchased as it was closing and kept going by a guy the Dairy business. New Albion Brewing, often cited as the US's first post prohibition brew pub and the first craft brewery started in 1976. Right around when home brewing was legalized. But sorta built the model later craft breweries would follow.

Early names to get big in craft. Sam Adams, Saranac, Sierra Nevada Red Hook. Were largely stated in the early to mid 80s. Around a baseline of brewing European styles. And as other's have noted. Often got listed with the "imports" on menus or stocked in that section of stores. Both down to similar pricing, but also cause of deliberate marketing.

The entire idea was to have the kind of quality and diversity that European beer had. But to have that quality locally, fresher and a more diverse selection.

In either case the associations of imports and European beer as fancy and higher quality were high enough that Early Craft ended up inherently tied to it. And to a certain extent early craft was meant to be even more European by bringing styles and quality that didn't get imported to Americans.