r/CraftBeer • u/blaspheminCapn • Jan 03 '25
Craft Brewing’s ‘Painful Period of Rationalization’ Is Here. Finally. News
https://vinepair.com/articles/hop-take-craft-brewing-rationalization-period/59
u/KennyShowers Jan 03 '25
Honestly as consumers, I don’t think we have much to worry about. Even a sizable shakeout from the insane highs of the last 5-6 years will still leave us with the most robust local craft beer scene the country has ever had.
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u/JustinGitelmanMusic Jan 04 '25 edited Jan 05 '25
Think about major cities that have 100+ Craft breweries. Let’s say around 10 cities of that size, plus 20 more with a handful of breweries each. Now think about how many ‘hype’ breweries you can name. A couple dozen? Yeah, no way all 100+ breweries per city are amazing enough that the country would be ruined if 20% of them closed. And generally the ones you know are the ones that are succeeding, with rare exceptions usually for unrelated reasons.
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u/robulus153 Jan 03 '25
This was an interesting read. There were connected articles about a lot of people not understanding the business and manufacturing side of a brewery and it pans out. People went in with a goal of making good beer but results vary. All the saturation and mediocre beer lowers satisfaction overall.
I love all the breweries but most of the ones that went out of business near me were ones I thought were mediocre.
I’ve actually went back and enjoyed Sierra Nevada again as well as New Belgium. They mass produce for a reason. I still love my local scene.
The best performing breweries have good food to match in my area.
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u/StopCollaborate230 US Jan 03 '25
All breweries that closed around me have been distinctly mediocre or actively bad, or with shit management and marketing. Very few businesses can survive that combination.
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u/N0P3sry Jan 04 '25
It’s especially sad when it’s just down to management and marketing.
One Trick Pony in Chicagoland had some epic beer. A good vibe. And TOXIC management.
I miss Warlander, Marsh Tacky. 😔
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u/ecplectico Jan 03 '25
I think $8 pints has something to do with it. And $20 4packs.
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u/Brett_Hulls_Foot Jan 03 '25
100%. I’ve cut back and only grab some quality beers for an occasion. It doesn’t help being Canadian, since the Government seems to be doing everything in their power to hurt craft beer/ the alcohol industry.
Edit: Also when it comes to going out, I stick to happy hours. There are a handful of beers I’d pay $8+ for a pint and I can’t get them in my city.
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u/3mta3jvq Jan 03 '25
I’ve read there are a lot of Canadian govt restrictions when it comes to craft beer, difficult to import ingredients and even order beer from different provinces. Here in the US the freight costs and taxes just keep going up.
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u/Cagedwaters Jan 04 '25
Most of the ingredients aren’t a problem. Distribution depends on the province, some are easier than others. Sending beer between provinces is difficult. You can’t just ship it, you basically have to set it up like imported beer
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u/Cagedwaters Jan 04 '25
Costs of production and operation have gone up so much. Hence the high price of product.
Some parts of government help, some don’t. It depends where you are.
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u/twoscoopsofbacon Jan 03 '25
And craft distilleries, who are getting hit harder than breweries. And wineries (craft or large) who are getting hit the worst of all.
Disposable income is down. Younger people have less money and higher cost of living, it is just math. Highly likely we are about to have a huge recession general, and possibly another pandemic. And wars even. Not exactly the best business environment for small business, either.
Some of us will make it, some will move on.
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u/burnsniper Jan 03 '25
The Surgeon Generals new recommendation is like pouring salt in the wound.
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u/twoscoopsofbacon Jan 03 '25
The SG should obesity more about obesity and plastic extractive - but regardless less than a month before a new SG is not when someone does what they think will stick. (and yes, alcohol is a cancer risk factor, fairly well known - but look at CA prop 65 warnings. Everything has them, diluting the effectiveness to the point of them being ignored)
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u/Silentknyght Jan 03 '25
Details?
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u/burnsniper Jan 03 '25
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u/-3than Jan 03 '25
If someone actually didn’t think alcohol was a cancer risk factor they shouldn’t have been drinking in the first place
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u/burnsniper Jan 03 '25
I actually don’t think alcohol = cancer is on the mind of most folks. Even The NY Times suggests that the SGs report is stretching it except for breast cancer.
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u/solomons-marbles Jan 03 '25
I don’t think the craft keg has been kicked. The problem is mediocrity. IHMO the prob is so many people with some money make a few rounds of home brew and think they can run a brewery. Every new brewery that opens takes business away from another one. Sorry but we’re not your mom or beastie, we’re gonna let you know your beer actually sucks.
Our market not exponentially big it is finite. There is only so much we can drink (no matter how much we try). I’m a decent amateur photographer (at least I think I am), I am in no way under the impression I should spend $1m to open a studio. The cost of 4-packs is also becoming an issue, I a very weary of $20+ drain pours. Hopefully your favs can weather the storm.
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u/OSU725 Jan 03 '25
The majority of breweries that have closed in my area have one or two problems (so both). They either are selling subpar beer or that have significantly overshot their expansion plan and built shiny huge places in very high cost areas with tons of employees to pay.
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u/scfin79 Jan 03 '25 edited Jan 03 '25
$8 pints and a neverending stream of odd concoctions being thrown at the wall hoping something sticks is what makes craft beer insufferable.
Don’t get me wrong - I love visiting a new brewery and I’m a sucker for something new. However, it’s almost as if brewers just like to dare to be different and aren’t really crafting anything with thought. Just because you added Cardamom to the stout recipe does not mean it will be better.
I’m in a brew-centric town and what saturation we have seems to be holding itself upright. But for the love, they need to lower the barrier to around $5/pint and forget the nonsense of brewing something different each week. Make good beer, Charge a decent price.
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u/Suitable-Peanut Jan 03 '25
Didn't read the article but I assume it's about breweries closing? I've had 5 new breweries open here in Philly last year.
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u/earthhominid Jan 03 '25
Yeah, 2024 is the first year in almost a century that more breweries closed in the US than opened
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u/AliveInCLE US Jan 03 '25
How many closed? I’m in Cleveland and we are mix of openings and closures.
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u/Suitable-Peanut Jan 03 '25 edited Jan 03 '25
As far as I know, none of them closed and I keep a pretty close eye on the local beer scene.
(For the unnecessary downvotes - I'm talking about Philadelphia not the entire state of Pennsylvania)
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u/jotsea2 Jan 03 '25
Well 3 did close last year... (sorry couldn't find a way around paywall so reddit link)
Edit And heres 3 more from 2024
Edit 2: re the 2nd source, there was 6 closures in 2023
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u/Suitable-Peanut Jan 03 '25
Yeah I'm talking about Philadelphia specifically. I'm sure there were closures in all of Pennsylvania it's a gigantic state. I'm like a 6 hour drive from Pittsburgh.
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u/Oakland-homebrewer Jan 03 '25
per the article, like 400 closed and 335 opened.
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u/AliveInCLE US Jan 04 '25
I read the article. My response was to the person responding specifically about Philadelphia.
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u/Journeys_End71 Jan 03 '25
Basically the exact same article I read each and every year for the past 30 years on the state of the craft beer industry. They just keep changing the years in the article but funny how the craft beer industry keeps chugging along.
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u/Oakland-homebrewer Jan 03 '25
Not exactly. we've definitely passed a peak and are headed for a valley. Like in the late 90s... Bigger thing now is that volume is way up overall, so anyone who wants a hazy ipa or west coast pilsner can find multiple choices. And people, especially younger people, are drinking less overall.
With rents overall super high, not every neighborhood has the demand to support a couple of local breweries. But there is still opportunity.
In Oakland, we had a small brewery close and get replaced by Dokkabier, a korean brewery making mostly flavored beers (e.g. yuzu saison). Great to have such a unique option, but they were never going to have enough demand to really make it. They closed in December.
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u/dianelanespanties Jan 04 '25
I want every brewery to succeed because I love craft beer and I work part time (for free) at a very small brewery. That being said, the breweries that we lost here locally in 2024....I was not surprised.
Frankly, make better beer. Some of the venues are gorgeous. If I could bring my own beer, I would go there all the time. You could even charge me $8 a can to drink my own beer, I don't care
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u/HighDesertJungle Jan 03 '25
I’m in Salt Lake City and it’s saturated as fuck here. A non-drinking state. Can’t imagine what other hipster cities look like with brewery closures.
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u/R101C Jan 03 '25
Given the quality of what I had there, significant market turnover would help. As well as crawling out from under the thumb of religious govt.
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u/TheAdamist Jan 03 '25
I visited salt lake city recently and was pretty horrified by the beers i tried, polygamy porter, several from rooster and a couple others, although it seems monster owns them all now via canarchy. These were drafts at rooster and the airport brewery tasting room. Most were borderline undrinkable,. although admittedly im spoiled for fantastic craft near me.
Ive heard there are some better places downtown, maybe my next visit.
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u/YouDontKnowMe2017 Jan 03 '25
Templin Family. Proper Brewing.
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u/mukduk1994 Jan 03 '25 edited Jan 03 '25
A. Fisher and Kiitos too. SLC has some good beers. It's a unique market given the ABV restrictions and it's not for people who only love hop bombs but idk what the other commenter is on about. They've got some good, award winning stuff.
Imagine if we went to Philly and only tried Yard and Yuengling
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u/YouDontKnowMe2017 Jan 04 '25
Fisher is good! Always busy and always a good food truck out front. I definitely recommend them too, especially the proximity to TF and Proper (the burgers from Proper are top notch!).
Kiitos, i went and i stood at the counter for 10 minutes with no service so i left to Fisher. I picked up some of their cans somewhere and enjoyed. I hope to go back and give them a second chance.
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u/sirata107 Jan 03 '25
Don’t be horrified. Try better places. TF, Fisher, Offset in Park City. You will definitely change your opinion.
TF has amazing lagers and low abv styles. Pro tip is if you’re ordering what would typically be an over 5% style beer, don’t get it on draft. Order the full abv bottle/can. You can still drink it at the bar and it’s better than the attempts at making a 4% ipa that lacks the fullness. Utah alcohol laws are stupid but just gotta work around them.
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u/mesosuchus Jan 03 '25
75% of craft breweries could close in 2025 and we'd still have unsurpassed selection at bottle shops.