Greetings - this is my article on The State of Craft Beer 2025+.  I am a journalist writing about Beer | Food | Fun as The Katonah Beer Man for the last 6+ years in print and electronic (25k readers):

 

The State of Craft Beer

 

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"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" - Mark Twain

 

I kick off this column with industry analysis regarding recent (exaggerated) reports of Craft Beers Demise. 

 

State of Craft Beer

Fellow Beer Journalist Dave Infante writes in Vinepair “The country went from around 1,500 breweries in 2010 to around 9,500 in 2020, an astonishing uptick well north of 500 percent”. Unsustainable. Then this past year, those stats changed direction: 355 openings and 399 closings.

 

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I connected with Hutch Kugeman, Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Head Brewer & Instructor and President of the New York State Brewers Association “This is mostly a sign of an industry that has reached maturity. The fact that our exponential growth lasted this long is a testament to the hard work of the people in our industry!”

 

Changes are afoot and here are some drivers of those changes:

 

Economic factors, like lower interest rates a decade ago, made opening a brewery easier and lessened the pressure to brew exceptional beer.

 

Canned cocktails & seltzers: the breadth of alcohol consumption mediums greatly expanded leading to more drinking at home and not in a brewery.

 

TOO MANY CHOICES:  Even KBM gets befuddled in the beer aisles with hundreds of options to choose from and I sense that drives folks, myself included, to default to simplicity. I’ve been on a kick for Lagers (aka Beer That Tastes Like Beer) for awhile now.  While I still love experimenting with new styles and flavors, my go-to is a crisp, well-made lager.

 

Cutting Back: In today’s world there are myriad non-alcoholic choices paving the way to flavorful alternatives.

 

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So where does the industry go from here?

 

Existing Breweries, Hutch: “I encourage breweries to focus on the things that made them successful in the first place: quality, innovation, providing an amazing customer experience.”

 

New breweries: “It’s a challenging business… be passionate about beer but good business practices, great hospitality, and meeting your customer’s needs are equally important.”

 

Stay tuned, I vow to keep my finger on the pulse (pint?) of this transitional period.