The Rise of Lifestyle Beers
A crosscurrent is developing among craft beer consumers: a demand for simpler more refreshing beers that increasingly complement a healthier lifestyle.
You are using an outdated browser not supported by The Brewers Association.
Please consider upgrading!
No brewery works in a silo. Brewers Association staff, including Chief Economist Bart Watson, keep close tabs on the statistics and trends that affect the entire craft brewing community. Keep up with the latest numbers to ensure the success and growth of your business using the resources in this category.
A crosscurrent is developing among craft beer consumers: a demand for simpler more refreshing beers that increasingly complement a healthier lifestyle.
As the growth of craft beer as a category has tapered off, some observers have lamented that frewer craft brewers seem to truly innovate, with many now following trends.
Several breweries are finding new ways to get customers engaged and involved, including taste testing and rating experimental beers and recipes.
The craft brewing industry has reached a new level of competitiveness, with increasing competition within craft and more than two brewery openings per day.
Brewpubs were up nearly 15 percent in 2016, and this strong performance is welcome news since the segment is at the very heart of the craft beer industry.
Microbreweries are now the primary engine in craft growth. Seventy-eight percent of craft beer growth in 2016 came from breweries that sold fewer than 15,000 barrels.
Craft beer volume grew 6 percent last year, but those gains weren’t spread around evenly. Fifteen of the top 25 craft breweries saw their volumes drop over 2015.
The rise in craft beer has, for the most part, masked the slow deterioration of what is still the largest segment of the U.S. beer business.
Microbreweries are once again the primary engine in craft growth, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the category’s total growth in 2017.
How do you react when your backyard is becoming ever more crowded and competitive, and you’re in danger of getting elbowed off your own turf? You adapt.