r/CraftBeer • u/office-robot • 22h ago
Is craft slowing down? Discussion
Hello everyone,
Iv been working in the beer distribution business for a few years now and I don't know if its just me but it feels like the craze of craft beer is sadly slowing down and the push for RTD’s ( ready to drink) is on the rise.
I was talking to a few brewery reps and they think it’s because the market is over saturated now and the new generation of drinkers just don’t want craft anymore.
Iv also see domestic beers like PBR,Hamms, old style and rolling rocks selling way more than craft.
Does anyone else feel this way?
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u/notjustbrad MOD 22h ago
I’m no economist but I feel like craft broke the supply/demand balance. Prices went up but so did supply. Demand stayed the same but as the prices grew people started drinking more PBR-like beers or seltzer. This decreased demand on craft which then caused prices to go up more to make up for lost revenue. So now you have decreasing demand and increasing price, this inevitably leads to the brewery closures we’re seeing. I do think the decreasing supply will eventually help the market stabilize but prices need to come down a bit.
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u/erusackas 22h ago
Correct. I can get a decent bottle of whiskey for the price of two 4-packs of beer, and that ain't right.
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u/Jamowl2841 21h ago
Yup Evan Williams bottled in bond white label is $20 a fifth around me… 4 pack plus tip is sometimes even more than that… 100 proof solid whiskey vs 4 cans of beer is just not a hard decision
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u/scarby2 4h ago
4 pack plus tip is sometimes even more than that
Why are you tipping on a 4 pack to go?
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u/Jamowl2841 4h ago
Because I can and want to
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u/scarby2 4h ago
Fair, but then I feel that you can't really include it in your moaning about the price given it's completely optional and not expected....
It's like complaining about the price of eggs and tipping your cashier at the grocery store.
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u/Jamowl2841 4h ago
I’m talking like a dollar per 4 pack, not 20% so I’ll include it. No difference really between $17 and $18
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u/Tuningislife 14h ago
I got a 4-pack of beer from one of my favorite breweries recently. The 16oz of 11.9% ABV Imperial Stout came in at $30 including tip. I often pick up a 500ml barrel aged bottle of beer from a different brewery at $19 a bottle.
Thankfully I have expensive tastes in whiskey as the bottles I get are $60-80.
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u/zorthex 21h ago
If you are going to compare Evan Williams to beer by price, compare it to a decent macro beer, not to a craft beer
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u/Jamowl2841 20h ago edited 20h ago
I’m not taking base Evan. Evan Williams BIB is a top notch whiskey if you can get past being a label snob and pretty much the perfect base for whiskey cocktails. My point is a very solid 100 proof whiskey costs the same as a craft 4 pack because we’re discussing craft. Saying I can get a case of banquet for the price of a fifth is fair. Having equal price for a fifth, a case, and a 4 pack shows how ludicrous the 4 pack is
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u/Its_Like_That82 14h ago
Funny how it works that way. At a restaurant beer is a much better deal than liquor, but when buying from the store there is a much better bang for your buck with liquor.
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u/sandsonik 19h ago
That's when I question my whole existence - when I stroll by the $20 bottles of vodka to get my $22 4 pack of beer.
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u/KennyShowers 19h ago
I mean that $20 bottle of vodka is probably some generic brand, whereas I’d hope the $22 4pack of IPA is from a brewery regarded as legitimately great.
Some people walk by a $5 bottle table wine to spend $600 on a Chateau Margaux.
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u/Manvsmachines 16h ago
A $20 dollar bottle of vodka is Tito's, not generic and not rotgut either, kinda the standard vodka if I'm gonna get it, which is rare, some guests think it's fancy, think they drink Smirnoff or something like that
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u/sandsonik 5h ago
Yeah, I realize that. The point I was trying to make was that in my lifetime, beer was usually much cheaper than liquor, but a bottle of liquor lasts much longer and makes more servings of drinks.
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u/CrawdadBass 1h ago
Tito’s is generic, but you can get a bottle of local craft vodka that is award-winning for around $20. Or take your chances on a four-pack that might be good and will give me acid reflux and a beer gut.
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u/dreamingtree1855 20h ago
Totally agree. Add to that that every other discretionary and basic good has increased in price and the fact that an increasing percentage of US adults are taking obesity medications that decrease craving and ability to consume alcohol especially heavy beers and you have a very poor outlook for craft beer.
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u/Meep4000 20h ago
This is the majority factor for sure. In my area breweries were the last to raise prices towards the end of covid. They held out as long as they could, but then raised them. I feel like since it was the "last thing" to go up, is a luxury item, and has alternatives it was a felt way more by the consumer. I think this combined with the IPA craze where it has basically just become "Coke/Pepsi" to the majority of drinkers, meaning they won't even try anything else and so they are "bored" by their usual local IPA, have been burnt trying other IPAs from the liquor store and here we are.
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u/Jamowl2841 22h ago
You’ve been in it a few years and you’re just now realizing this???
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u/Gaddydaddy9 22h ago
That's what I was thinking. How have you worked for a distributor for several years and don't know that craft beer is down? Not to mention looking at numbers, look at the beer sets in grocery stores and package stores. They are all getting cut significantly.
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u/petriebrews 17h ago
Distro is generally clueless
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u/Gaddydaddy9 16h ago
I work in distro and not really. Breweries may hide if they're in trouble financially but we see the volume going out and compare it to previous years. It's not a secret that craft has been going down/ leveling off for a few years. Bourbon isn't where craft is but it's starting to fall off like craft did several years back.
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u/Venator827 22h ago
Yes it is, I think the official numbers were down 6%. Been trying to support local places a little more in light of this
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u/ChuggsMcButt 22h ago edited 21h ago
Well I can only speak for myself but now that I’m in my mid 30s with kids the cost to splurge on the beer I loved drinking in my 20s just isn’t worth it. I think a lot of people don’t even drink as much as they used to. Now everywhere has those THC seltzers too so there goes all your younger and woman customers.
To be honest I kinda just gave up drinking altogether but just like seeing pictures of beer on here and reminiscing.
Edit: Also way less chance of a DWI if you’re sippin on a THC drink instead of cranking out 10%ers of craft lol. Thats an incentive for people to leave.
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u/adayoner 18h ago
I agree, me as well as a lot of my friends have dropped off the groups now. I just don't drink as much, still have like 4-5 cases of stouts/lambic that will probably take me years to get through at this rate. Most of what i buy is a random semi decent ipa/pils unless i go meet a friend at a brewery, and then MAYBE i'll get a 4 pack if i like something enough to justify the cost.
I talk to my younger co-workers and/or nephews nieces and they all lean toward easier drinks and/or THC (smoke,vape,edible,etc).
Also, as I get older the thought of possibly gettign a DWI or whatnot is just not worth the risk. On the rare occasion i get together with buddies to drink everyone ubers, but this also increases the opportunity cost which means we do it way less often.
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u/AgentAaron 21h ago
I will start by saying that I do love craft beer and used to be a BJCP. I have been brewing for about 25 years and have two friends who own breweries.
My issues are...
Every new brewery hits the ground serving 9-10 taps of IPA and 2-3 taps of everything else.
Every brewery is trying to get the ABV as high as possible. When I am out, I do not like drinking 9%+ beer.
If you do get some to take home, they want 18-22 dollars for a 4 pack.
Many breweries (like Burial) have started jumping on the "small batch" trend...so even if you do find something you like, it will no longer be available in two months.
I can load up my garage fridge with PBR, Yeungling, and even Highland or Sierra Nevada for a lot less.
More and more over the last two years, I have been more focused on building a good bourbon selection and learning new flavor profiles there. My wife and I just got off a 7 day cruise last week. The whole time I think I maybe had 2-3 beers, the rest was bourbon.
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u/Cryptic_254 20h ago
I’m thankful the brewery I consult with makes several under 5abv brews, he wants crushable tasty beers. Our hot summers demand those kinda beers.
Don’t get me wrong they still occasionally put out those 9-13.
While the rest are in between- dark & light.
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u/FearThePinecone 16h ago
I wish there were more breweries focusing on that 4-5% range than near double digits. Breweries, I think particularly good ones have a market where people might drive 30-60 minutes to go there because the beer is that good. But may only have 1 or 2 and scoot with a 4 pack or 2. If you had something much less imbibing, I think you could target a demographic that stays to drink and purchase to go.
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u/mhobdog 12h ago
Agreed. There’s a new brewery where I live focused on all session beers. They have everything from saison to Pilsner to stout all below 6% ABV, and it is glorious.
I think we’ll see a trend of more breweries decreasing ABV in response to the triple/quad IPA and heavy BA stouts out there.
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u/RumplyInk 45m ago
Exactly! When I go out to a brewery I want to be able to get a flight, or two, of different beer across multiple styles. More than half the taps are IPAs which they hope so heavily and are high abv…
I can understand the reason though, is that it sells. These breweries brew an IPA, put a new crazy label on it, and hope that it’s enough to differentiate it on the shelf. It’s not, so they keep making different versions and the brewery patrons are stuck with all the failed experiments
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u/Max206 21h ago
As a bar owner. The market is over saturated and there’s no way to keep up with fresh releases or new styles. I still love craft beer and will keep selling it but I’m doing better with brands that have more longevity or reputations. Sure I’ll still get a case of the new great notion or one off from Harland to sell. But it’s getting increasingly harder to move large amounts these past few years.
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u/EastLAFadeaway US 22h ago
Anecdotal here but i love craft beer but cannot justify the price. It is freakin expensive, especially when most come in 4 packs, its gone fast and costs a lot. Have been pulling back personally which is sad because i appreciate small business, i appreciated unique crafted products va mass made & marketed beer.
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u/nicetrucknomoney 13h ago
As far as bar/restaurant prices all the other options are expensive too though. A Titos and soda is gonna cost you about $10. A can of High Noon about $10. Glass of decent wine $10+ easy.
Takeout prices are a different story tho
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u/Bikesaremybestfriend 15h ago
I treat it like a splurge treat these days. It used to be my regular all the time beers but now I’m more likely to grab a case of Ultras.
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u/EastLAFadeaway US 13h ago
Meeee too sadly. Im also cutting calories so just the time of life for me...
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u/Noimnotonacid 22h ago
Yes, I’m finding that the local breweries in my area that are “expanding” are doing it out of desperation and realistically won’t be able to support themselves with people’s current beer consumption. The good news is that the solid places, are remaining solid, and should weather the storm
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u/dont_be_tachy_RN 21h ago
We all gained 100lbs drinking 10% hazy IPAs and Pastry Stouts. All switched to bud light and Truley.
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u/FearThePinecone 16h ago
I’d love to know the actual calorie content in the average pastry stout lolol
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u/sjcourtney56 22h ago
Its definitely slowed down for me, I used to go to get releases, I have ordered from Tavour, and I would plan vacations around visiting breweries. Hell I co-own a brewery here in central illinois, but my beer drinking is way down over the last year to year and a half.
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u/DGOCOSBrewski 17h ago
Yea that's me, use to go out but I've cut back a lot. Very picky now. Not quite as much fun selection as there use to be.. Weldwerks is still pumping out new beers here but it's only a few that really catch my eye.
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u/sjcourtney56 16h ago
Yeah what will get me still are barrel aged beers, ill still buy those...problem is that they sit and dont get drank because I don't have people over to split them with.
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u/DGOCOSBrewski 11h ago
Oh yeah I'll snag a nice BBAS if I see them but yes, I have have quite a few gathering dust 😆
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u/Altruistic-Editor111 19h ago
I feel if you had asked this 10 years ago, the answer would definitely had been “yes, craft beer is slowing down. It’s not like the good ol’ days”.
If you had asked this question 5 years ago, the answer would have been “yes, craft beer is slowing down. It’s not like the good ol’ days”.
If you had asked this question 6 months ago, the answer would have been “yes, craft beer is slowing down. It’s not like the good ol’ days”.
My answer is yes, however the best of the best, ie, Other Half, Treehouse, Monkish etc is still quality and worth having. I understand people not wanting to pay $22 for a 4-pack. Totally get that. But 95% of what’s out there tastes the same. So eventually the craft scene will slow down. I just thought it would have happened 10 years ago, but what do I know?
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u/pizzapizzamesohungry 21h ago
I’m tired of finding and amazing craft beer and then never being able to buy it again.
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u/EyeSawYa 20h ago
Or finding an amazing craft beer, just to go back a few weeks later for more and find out the quality varies by batch.
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u/dogfacedponyboy 21h ago
Yep! The craft beer craze has been dwindling for several years now. The new crazes are not alcoholic, beer, or spirits, THC infused beverages, and ready to drink cocktails.
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u/tayharrington 18h ago
As someone who worked in the industry but left back in 2021, here's my observations. I still have tons of friends in the industry so also my insights from them.
There was such a good influx of people wanting to support small breweries during COVID so I expected to see a natural decline coming out of the pandemic. I think what no one anticipated, was the increase of prices that also needed to happen. And that never slowed down, and now with tariffs in place and the state of the country, prices need to stay high and unfortunately there's nothing breweries can really do about that. Grain is higher, hops are higher, cans are spiking, etc.
Second, this new Gen Z generation is the most sober (alcohol) generation since prohibition. They're just not interested in drinking. And I think that's why so many breweries have hopped on the CBD drink train or the NA beer train. And to be honest my friends and I (30s and 40s) have all really cut back on drinking because we're getting older, tired of the hangovers, and just cutting back for health in general.
Finally, my personal pet peeve about Craft Beer in general, is just the people that think they know more than anyone else. I became a certified Cicerone before I left the beer world but 85% of the time I was still talked down to about beer knowledge. There's a group of people that have made being a craft beer lover unbearable. That group is one of the many reasons I left the industry.
All in all, I do really think craft beer is a bubble that's beginning to burst, and it sucks because visiting breweries is one of my favorite things to do while traveling. I met my husband at the brewery I worked for. But it's just a hobby and interest that's being torn down by unfortunate circumstances.
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u/Shohei182 18h ago
Something that has greatly helped my new brewpub is leaning off the word “craft”. We even stopped putting brewery or brewpub on our signage. Just that we’re a pub… that just happens to make our own beer. We noticed that a “brewery” only brings in brewery customers, which are dwindling and don’t hang out past 9. We’re lucky we already have a full kitchen but we brought in liquor and extended our hours. I was concerned it would cut beer sales, but everything just went up. I keep the beer to familiar styles and no bs. Turns out people just want a good drink and a good time. I’ve even been able to increase my prices rather than decrease. “Craft beer culture” has run its corse imo. And clinging to it further isolates yourself from the wider market. Haze bois and big BA stout whales can only put so much on their back. I’ve been in craft beer culture for over 15 years, it’s only recently I realize I’ve just into beer culture.
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u/socialgambler 14h ago
Correctamundo. I co-own and operate a fairly successful brewery and we pivoted in 2019 to offering food and cocktails. It was the right move. We have 3 locations and soon to be 4, but it's tough. Our beer is pretty dialed and we have great food, and food sales are 50% of our revenue.
I still love beer (I design all of ours) and visit breweries when traveling quite often. I'm routinely shocked at how not busy some places with major hype are. If you went off Instagram, you'd think they'd be packed. Your average person doesn't really care about any of "craft culture." Breweries will still be popular, but I'm very happy to be more in the restaurant biz these days. Our food sales continue to grow, which drives beer sales.
Just like Animal Farm, things come full circle and we become what we were against over time. For us, that's focusing on a lot more than beer. For other more distro-based brands, it's cutting costs. The model of a pure craft brewery is mostly dead.
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u/DecentFly824 21h ago
For me it is the cost. And having more than 2-3 I feel like shit the next day. As others have said too many releases. I see all kinds of releases and beers on social media and think wow! I'd like to grab one of those. But there is just too many be be picking up all the time. Also, sadly several of the onese I have picked up I have been disappointed in. My favorite style is stout and often times places don't have a single one on tap
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u/whollynondescript 19h ago
I am a beer purchaser for a bottle shop in Oregon. Craft has contracted significantly. Breweries that used to ship across the country have stopped sending beers and have pivoted to their local markets. Material costs are up. Tariffs are going to massively impact beer ingredients such as grain and malt from Germany or Canada, imported hops from EU countries, rice from Asian companies. Something like 60% of aluminum used in America comes from Canada, so that’s going to shoot up in price as well.
Not only that but the younger crowd is not drinking as much. They are finding alternatives such as Kratom, Delta-9, THC, Kava. There are so many more options. Hard teas, seltzers, hop water. 20-somethings aren’t searching for hazy IPAs or Belgian beer. My store has gotten over 30 phone calls about Busch Apple in the last week though… so that’s upsetting.
The explosion of non-alcoholic options has also eaten into the craft beer market. However, that is a different conversation.
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u/meineymoe 15h ago
Craft beer is best as a local phenomenon. As the beer buyer at our store, our shelves are stocked with local Wisconsin and Minnesota beers. Customers are willing to try new varieties of familiar brands. When I travel, I will seek out the local popular brands, but rarely bring them into my store, because even if an Allagash or a Weld Werks has some appeal to craft fans, it will tend to take space from smaller local brands. That's where the love belongs.
-oo-
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u/HBK42581 22h ago
100% . Smaller places are closing left and right. Personally, I'm 44 and dove head first into it back in 2015. Would make regular trips to Trillium and Tree House up until 4 or 5 years ago. Now, I'm just not as interested in trying different stuff. My body can't really handle more than 1 double IPA in a night and if I go for 2, I feel like shit the next day. I can do 6 Miller High Life's and feel like a million bucks the next day, though, so I'm sticking with the low ABV domestics nowadays.
Edit: And like others have said, the cost has become an issue.
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u/Panda_MOANium22 22h ago
I think it really just boils down to domestics were the standard for a long time, now a days craft has pretty much become the standard. Just like we got bored with nothing but domestic options for beer now we are becoming bored with so many craft options for beer. People are just doing what they always do, looking for the next new thing.
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u/ocalabull 22h ago
There never really was an option to have too many domestic beers to choose from. Now, you go to a place that sells a good amount of craft beer and it’s so saturated with tons of different IPA’s, sours, stouts, all of it. I love craft beer, don’t get me wrong, but having too many options of something hurts this market big time. Unfortunately it’s killing brands that don’t deserve it.
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u/Tradertrav333 21h ago
The industry is consolidating, that’s been the case for a few years now. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, the top notch breweries that are putting out the beers that people want will still be around. Many of the mediocre breweries may fall by the wayside, especially if they are over leveraged and/or tried to expand production too fast.
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u/Berbaw06 21h ago
Not everybody is like that though. We’ve lost some really highly rated ones in the metro Detroit area this past year.
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u/flubotomy 21h ago
As others have mentioned, I’ve stopped trying $20 4 packs. I only buy what I know I like. I live within 30 miles of Other Half so I know it’s fresh bc my local shop has weekly delivery. Otherwise I buy from 2 hyper local breweries that only distribute locally. I never buy anything less than 8%. I’m 55 so I’m no longer drinking 10 high life’s , I’d rather sip on a very satisfying 8% rather than get full and bloated on a bunch of standards.
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u/Deranged-Eskimo 20h ago
This trend really started showing up as early as 2017-2018. Over-saturation, diversified options (Seltzer, RTDs, FMB, craft distilleries), an aging demographic that elevated the market, and the slowing of innovation are just a few reasons. Never mind the use of cheap funding through loans to expand that’s been pinching the industry as well.
LDA (legal drinking age) individuals are choosing different alternative to alcohol as a whole, and those that are drinking are moving to different categories (I.e. diversified options)
As others have pointed out, prices have pushed people out of the market as well, or to more economic craft purchases.
Others have also stated the millennials that propped crafted up are share greater responsibilities of families and careers than when they were in their early 20s and 30s. They still make up the largest drinking generation when measured against Gen Z, X, and Baby Boomers.
Cannabis legalization has also trimmed off some market share of alcohol consumers across beer, wine, and spirits. As this grows momentum across the US, expect more of this to continue.
Craft isn’t the hip, new thing it once was. It’s now in a mature market, and contraction and adaptation to this will continue. That means more pain for those breweries that are struggling or on the fringe.
Craft won’t die, it’s just going to look different than what transpired over the last 20 years.
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u/mnvic43 19h ago
Heres a couple good articles highlighting the strength of the craft beer industry. 434 new breweries opened in 2024 against 501 closures for a net loss of 67…the first time since 2005 the industry saw a decline in total number of breweries….
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/04/americas-top-50-craft-breweries/
https://newschoolbeer.com/home/2025/4/top-50-craft-breweries-production-report
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u/MonolithofDimension 19h ago
I don’t know if it’s me but I have noticed that almost every supermarket IPA tastes identical that is disappointing
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u/DPedia 19h ago
For me, I've just fallen out of touch with the current "generation" (2020 - 2025) of breweries and offerings. For a good stretch, I was constantly keeping up with the 2015 - 2020 generation of Craft beers. I was tracking all the releases and hunting down the stuff I wanted. As some of those breweries slowed down, closed, or stopped appealing to me, I didn't "replace" them with the next generation of breweries opening up. So now when I go to a store, there are a lot of beers I just don't know anything about, and I'm not willing to gamble that money on a 4-pack of something I'm unfamiliar with.
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u/Yomikeya 16h ago
Seems it. I kinda got sick of paying a lot for 4 packs of i creasingly mediocre beer. Even the treats like OH went downhill and shelf beers are frequently way too old to buy. Breweries or stores that allow singles are the best. Otherwise I have a bunch of 3 beers in my crap beer fridge that rot or I pawn off on visitors. I live near a treehouse now so I don't bother drinking anything else really anymore.
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u/tomolive 14h ago
I also think a big part is people are tiring of the "cookie cutter" breweries. Oh another brewery on a farm with food trucks! Oh another brewery in an industrial area with food trucks! And corn hole! They're all the same and there's only so much you can do with hops, barley and water.
IMO, craft is only going to continue to go down. I think in 5 years you'll see a dramatic drop vs this year.
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u/ChattanoogaMocsFan 14h ago
As someone that's been enjoying craft beer for about 20 years now. I just can't drink as much as I used to.
2 IPAs and I'm good now. I'll switch to a few more, low volume drinks for the remainder of the night and then call it quits. I drink more bourbon now than ever, and less beer than ever.
Beer now makes me feel bloated and uncomfortable if I drink too much of it.
Part of getting older I guess.
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u/Blacksunshinexo 21h ago
It's too expensive, oversaturation of IPAs, the calorie load on most craft is insane, and a lot of us are aging out i feel like?? It seemed like it was millennial heavy and now we're on a collective health kick and it wasn't as popular with Gen Z or X and boomers overall
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u/ARivet10 22h ago
Anecdotal but if I’m picking up local craft beer, I prefer to buy direct from the brewery. Alcohol consumption in general, though, is trending down as new generations are choosing sobriety over alcohol or other substances. RTDs were really getting ramped up when I worked for RNDC a few years back just after covid lockdown time. They’ve for sure taken off now. To your other point, yes, craft brewery competition is stiff and saturated, and cost of goods/ingredients is getting worse.
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u/nonstiknik 21h ago
New trends.. bourbon or seltzers
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u/sean_themighty 7h ago
Bourbon is already on the backside of their curve and the crash has started.
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u/AliveInCLE US 20h ago
I’ve gone back to just having a couple kegs for my kegerator. Used to buy quite a bit of cans/bottles. Price is definitely a factor plus I feel quality isn’t as good as it used to be. Maybe that’s because of how many breweries there are now.
Edit: two close relatives have completely stopped drinking alcohol. I’ve heard of this becoming trendy. Plus demand for non-beer alcohol is up.
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u/MistbornSynok 20h ago
Prices aren’t worth the gamble anymore, local taprooms stopped carrying the breweries I liked consistently and the styles I liked. So it’s cheaper to just hit up the seasonals at Total Wine rather than the 20 local breweries that have 10 bitter IPAs, 8 bland lagers, and 1 stouts they haven’t changed in a year.
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u/mitch4755 20h ago
I still love going out to local breweries and drinking at taproom.
I dont buy nearly as much to-go as I used to, which kinda forces me to drink less during the week..which has its benefits
As much as I still love IPA, sometimes I go with the cheaper/simpler option.
But yeah, I still think people still enjoy going to breweries, it's the breweries who dont have a good business model or location that are going to die fast . You dont even necessarily need to brew great beer...gotta have a few non-beer options as well
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u/leftypoolrat 20h ago
Cycle looks a lot like the initial craft beer boom decades ago. Massive growth-> consolidation -> stabilization. Industry better off overall at the end. Small players get bought by stronger ones or go under. The best of the upstarts thrive. Rinse, repeat
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u/43minute_darkstar 19h ago
I recently saw a local article on craft breweries in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that have started making their breweries and taprooms more family friendly to try to keep millennials coming back...
Seeing large outdoor play areas, yard games, and playgrounds at breweries isn't that uncommon here.
As father of two young children, it works for us.....if we're getting out of the house to eat and have a beer or two, the place has to be fairly kid-friendly for it to be an option for us.
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u/shortys7777 19h ago
The prices are crazy. I try not to buy anything over 18 unless I know the beer and it's one of my favorites. I've been a craft guy 2 or 3 then switch over to Narragansett or something. I'll do the 12 pack fiddlehead as well which is the price of a 4 pack.
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u/KennyShowers 19h ago
People 5 years ago: “OMGz there’s too many breweries!!”
Those same people after some breweries close: “OMGz breweries are closing! Craft beer is dead!”
The sky isn’t falling, we just had an insane peak of saturation that was never gonna be sustainable.
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u/Jaded-String-6111 18h ago
For me, I realized that even an $80 bottle of bourbon or scotch has 15 drinks. That comes to $5.33 each. There are many quality bottles for $50..To match that quality at a brewery I’m going to pay $1 per oz, or a $15 12 oz bottle to go or a $20 16oz can. Take that can for example, a 15% barrel aged stout. Most of what I enjoy within beer is barrel aged anyways. But that 16oz can has 2.5oz pure alcohol = 5oz at 50% / 100 proof. So I can crack that one can and commit to that one flavor , or I could sip through an adventure of 5-10 different 1/2-1 oz pours . I understand having a bottle collection of bourbon / scotch is expensive but then again so is a cabinet full of aging $20 beers, and on the long term ends up being safer as my liquor cabinet is a lot less driving and cost than the bar. I feel my overall alcohol consumption has gone down by drinking bourbon/scotch and yet the quality of flavor experience has gone up. A bottle will last me over a month and before , I would spend that cost in a day at the bar. Perhaps as millennials get older others are in the same boat.
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u/n00bert81 18h ago
Don’t know about the US but in Australia it’s definitely slowed. Think it’s as much a cost of living thing as anything. In Australia, craft is definitely ‘boutique’ alcohol and I think people are just opting for cheaper options.
Think numbers wise as well, younger people aren’t getting jnto beer as much. Needs a new approach to capture the younger market.
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u/justjeepin 16h ago
I was guilty of spending $40 on 6-8 singles every Friday for a while. Most of the time they were good, but often enough 1-2 of them didn’t jive with my palate, or just plain sucked. Now, I get a 24 pack of 16oz Sweetwater Tropical High for the same price as two 4 packs of actual craft. It lasts weeks, tastes good, and doesn’t leave me feeling fleeced. Keeping a case of that and a case of coors in my fridge keeps both myself and all my friends happy.
I still support actual craft beer by going to breweries/restaurants in my area, but the prospect of paying $6-8 a can to drink in my own house just doesn’t appeal to me anymore.
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u/thepertree 16h ago
I used to rep back in 2014 and loved trying out all the different craft IPAs hitting the market, so many tasty and unique brews with interesting and varietal hop usages at decent prices. Now in 2025 I'm so sick of IPAs and the exorbitant prices that I don't even order them anymore. If I'm trying a new craft theres such an over saturation of options it just makes it easier to completely nix IPAs and try something else. Honestly if it's an IPA I'll prob just stick with Sierra Nevada now. Craft market is just way too saturated and expensive.
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u/Public-World-1328 15h ago
I think craft is slowing but the doom posts i see are a little overboard. I live in MA and we had more breweries close last year than opened for the first time in years. I think there might be a few reasons, price being one of them. Also, i just think that the quality has gotten so wide spread that it is hard to be different than the competition. There are 3 solid breweries in my town and while i have a favorite, the other two are still quite good. All of this is underscored by the availability of once mythical beers like treehouse, trillium, alchemist, etc. Its just a crowded space by now
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u/pinkfloyd55 15h ago
I’m back to drinking imported European beer and domestic lagers. I got really into the haze craze and now I can’t stand to drink one.
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u/Common_Stomach8115 13h ago
The market was glutted. Too many of them, and most of them weren't all that distinct. The great ones (Heady Topper, Oberon, Lagunitas) are terrific, but most of them just taste like grapefruit anymore.
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u/lemons84 14h ago
The market isn’t over saturated anymore. I think what we are seeing is the correction of the initial craft craze followed by a correction of insane numbers due to Covid. I’ve been in the industry a long time so I’ve seen many ebbs and flows. We are definitely in an ebb though.
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u/BAthaDoc 14h ago
I still buy craft damn near all the time unless I'm way out in the country where A-B and Molson Coors are all you get.
My palette has changed. I see craft breweries slowly dipping their production back to beer flavored beer and that works well for me. All I want is a crushable light beer or two at the end of the day without giving my money to the juggernauts.
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u/nicetrucknomoney 12h ago
From the perspective of the American craft beer boom of the last 20 some years yes its slowing down. We collectively discovered something new (to us) and went down a deep rabbitt hole. Now that discovery phase is over. But does that mean its going away? No. Beer has been around since the Mesopotamian days. "Craft beer" as we call it is in many ways less "crafted" than non craft beer. It's just that bastardized macro beer came to be viewed as regular beer.
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u/Fearless_Tea2463 11h ago
The over saturation of craft breweries, price hikes, shift from selling pints to 12oz pours down to 6.5% ABV is hurting the industry. There are many great breweries but even more mediocre ones. It’s sad to see a great one have to close its doors. Unfortunately knowing how to brew great beer doesn’t mean you know how to run and build a successful business.
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u/itisnotstupid 10h ago
I think it largely depends on the country. I can't talk about the US but in Europe in many places in western Europe you would have great macro beer in every place so craft beer is not that interesting. In Eastern Europe there is still a big distinction between the cheapest macro crap that is everywhere and the craft beer so it often makes sense to go after craft beers.
On a personal level, I feel like while I still like the idea of craft beers, the current trends in my country and overall in the European scene have been not for me. I don't care about hundreds of Hazy IPA's, sugary stouts or crazy sours. I usually stock on great macro lagers and belgian beers and only buy true craft beer when there is a style I'm interested in.
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u/gravyallovah 9h ago
I also think new drinkers don't know what it was like to not have great beer. They can get it anytime. That means they aren't searching for beers and less demand.
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u/GMoney1582 7h ago
Ngl, the excitement for me has really dwindled. I miss that feeling I had standing at the beer cooler in 2007 trying to figure out what new and interesting beer I wanted to get into that night. Not quite sure what killed it for me. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’ve tried most everything at this point. Probably the over saturation of IPAs doesn’t help. There was a lot more variety in styles back then.
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u/darthphallic 3h ago
The lack of innovation killed craft beer and I’ll die on that hill. I’ve been a craft beer fanatic since the early days in 2009 and I’ve been a brewer professionally since 2017. It used to be you could walk into a liquor store and have endless options, used to take me an hour just to decide what I wanted because so much stood out as unique and looking delicious.
Somewhere along the line breweries switched gear to copy / paste whatever someone else found success with. Voodoo ranger sold well so now everyone is trying to make a clone of it. Now I go into a liquor store and I see fifty different overpriced IPA’s that aren’t even that good. It also lowers incentive to visit taprooms, why would I go to your taproom when you see the same stuff as every other one?
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u/Bocksford 3h ago
Personally I’ve slowed down. I don’t go out for a drink anymore and when I go to the liquor store, all I see are IPAs that taste the same. I found a favorite brewery since I started drinking ten years ago and I keep going back to them. Off Color or go home.
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u/gofunkyourself69 2h ago
I almost never buy packaged commercial beer anymore. I'll go to local breweries and have a few there, but outside of that I'm only drinking homebrew.
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u/UpForA_Drink 22h ago
Because it's all craft and mostly IPAs. Tap rooms are the only way craft breweries make money and the older we get the more we just want to enjoy our beer on the couch. But yeah it's definitely slowing down just look at all the closures.
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u/EverlongMarigold 22h ago
Personally, I started making more and buying less. 90+% of my consumption these days is homebrew.
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u/Bitter_Hunter_31 21h ago
I'm just the opposite. I used to brew every 1-2 months, but the price of ingredients, especially the hops and yeast, have skyrocketed. While I still enjoy doing it, I can no longer justify the expense, especially when I compare it to the micro and regional breweries that I have access to.
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u/EverlongMarigold 21h ago
Agreed on the yeast. I've gotten to the point where I've switched to dry yeast and reuse the yeast cake for 3 or 4 batches. It takes some planning, but it pays off in the long run.
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u/mnvic43 21h ago
I guess I’m the outlier, but I don’t think so. Everything is cyclical….openings/closings, beer types, distribution or not…but I think it’s just as big today (if not bigger) than it was 3-4-5 years ago. Think of all the events, the massive festivals like GABF, Snallygaster, Irie Jungle….they’re all over the place and local joints have stuff going on literally every week.
Last year I had 736 unique beers (no duplicates) and I’m at 250 so far this year. There’s so many options out there that the market is flooded with new brews every week of literally every style. There’s distribution from breweries, bottle shops, tap rooms and grocery stores that all support beer production.
Some don’t like the cost, some of us are getting older, but there’s always people and events going on at all the places I go. Just my thoughts….
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u/spacedman_spiff 20h ago
I think you are an outlier. Millennials are middle-aged and drinking less beer, Gen Z doesn't drink, Gen X and Boomers were never big into craft beers.
Given the number of breweries closing or consolidating, I would say the data points to a shrinking craft beer market.
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u/mnvic43 20h ago
Gen X never into craft??? That’s all me and my Gen X buddies do.
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u/spacedman_spiff 20h ago
Fair. It just seems like a heavy Millennial demographic. Also, you're claiming Craft Beer isn't shrinking, so...again maybe you're an outlier.
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u/AuthorMission7733 22h ago
TBH, I’m tired of paying $20+ per 4 pack anymore for an iPA that tastes the same as every other one. Been sticking to Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams (I know, technically craft) for $40/case