New breweries are popping up nationwide almost every week now. But the real news in this wave of recent growth may actually be that the “old breweries” are getting bigger.

During the late 1990s, when craft beer growth slowed to single digits, many breweries who branched out into distant territories now find that they overextended themselves.

It isn’t too great a leap to wonder whether contracts could prove to be the lifeblood of the next wave of craft growth, or at least play a more significant role going forward.

Given the continuing economic doldrums and persistently high unemployment since 2009, it might be easy to start thinking of craft beer as “recession-proof.” But is it?

Two hundred and fifty breweries opened in the United States in 2011, providing one of many bright spots in a year in which craft brewer volumes grew 13%.