Posted on 04/18/2023 11:33:57 AM PDT by Red Badger
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The nation's craft beer market is at an inflection point.
Driving the news: Independent brewery production remained flat at 24.3 million barrels in 2022, according to an annual report released Tuesday from the Brewers Association, the industry's trade group.
The number of new breweries opening decreased for the second consecutive year, while the closings rate increased to 3%.
Why it matters:
Outside of the pandemic slump, this is the first time in history the industry didn't see year-over-year production percentage growth, Axios has learned.
The association has tracked production since the mid-1980s and the previous low point was 0.7% growth in 2000, the association's chief economist Bart Watson told us.
What's happening:
The latest numbers leave major questions about the industry's future as craft beer's core demographic gets older and drinks less full-flavored beer and younger consumers move toward new beverages, such as seltzers and canned cocktails.
"Craft is going to have to do what it's always done — reinvent itself for a new generation of drinkers," Watson told us.
Yes, but: A year ago the industry saw an 8% growth pandemic rebound. And this year, craft still fared better than the overall beer market, which saw production volume decline 3% in 2022.
Craft also slid slightly forward with 13.2% of overall market share, up from 13.1% the year before.
And the number of breweries climbed to an all-time high of 9,552. What they're saying: "This is not a bubble bursting, this is a maturing market," Watson said.
Between the lines:
One reason for the lack of growth is the departure of the largest brewers — most recently Bell's in Michigan and previously New Belgium in Colorado — from the independent beer market. Their growth helped the broader craft industry continue climbing in terms of production.
Both companies — and many others, including Goose Island and Lagunitas — were purchased by international mega brewers and are no longer considered "craft" by the association's definition. The intrigue: Only two craft beer makers landed in the top 50 breweries overall, a list dominated by Anheuser-Busch and Molson Coors.
The five largest craft breweries in terms of production were Yuengling; Boston Beer; Sierra Nevada; Duvel Moortgat, which includes Firestone Walker and Boulevard; and Gambrinus, which owns the Shiner brand.
A lot of craft brewers are lefties. They seem oblivious to the fact that beer falls under “discretionary spending,” and craft brews ain’t cheap.
Also, there’s so damn may of them. Seems like every bar, saloon and watering hole has their ‘Own Craft Brewery’ out back.....................
Yep.
call dylan
stat
1) The market is saturated
2) Most craft brews are overpriced
Didn’t know that about Bell’s. Their Two Hearted Ale and Escanaba Black Beer from sister brewery Upper Hand are excellent.
Also, while unique beers are interesting, there is only so many "Choco-coconut-jalapeno IPAs" you can tolerate before yearning for a more classic style.
“Independent brewery production remained flat at 24.3 million barrels in 2022, according to an annual report released Tuesday from the Brewers Association, the industry’s trade group.”
Most of it is dog piss IPA. As bitter as formaldehyde...with hints of burnt rubber.
Those brewers sufficiently skilled to brew good lagers and a few “clean” ales are expanding.
The sooner we get the dog piss off the market, the better real brewers will do.
Have you noticed dog piss gets as much shelf space, if not more, than well done brews? Pay attention.
There used to be a bar near here that advertised “50 different kinds of beer.”
They went out of business...................
A lot of younger folks are just going for hard soda pop instead.
Yes, they want sweet taste and alcohol..................
Yup. Many of them are friends in the community, but their is fierce competition for the consumer dollar. A local brewery business publicly came out in favor of Oregon’s proposed ban on diesel fuel. Hello? Hops farming would likely have been ruined. To say nothing of the loggers in the area. I guess they expect the blue-haired tranny freaks to pick up the slack.
I predict they are going u0..
Yeah because there are just too many of them.
40 years ago we had ONE here in our town.
Now we have one in practically every bar...................
A lot of these craft brewers put out overly hoppy IPA’s and other unbalanced beers. What happened to crafting a well balanced, Belgian or German style lager has all of the flavor notes, not just hops?
They equate Hoppy taste with quality.
Like European hoppy beers, Heineken and Becks...................
Try crafting real beer instead of all that IPA crap.
On one of my last trips to the Seattle area I found a craft brewery run by a guy who spent three years in Germany studying to become a brew master. Having spent some time in Bavaria, his were some of the most authentic tasting beers I’ve had in a long while.
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