
The Road Now Taken
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.
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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.
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.
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%.
The big brewers in 2011 seem to have woken up and at least have recognized the challenges posed by craft beer, spirits, wine, and non-alcoholic energy drinks.
Almost every regional craft brewery seems to have either undergone a major expansion or has drawn up blueprints for a build-out. Also, 11 more breweries joined the category.
In 2011, the headlines were about new local breweries, ongoing growth, and the hundreds of breweries in planning. The sheer number has become a conversation itself.
Craft brewpubs turned out 768,536 barrels of beer in 2011, a 5.6% increase over the 727,547 barrels produced in 2010.
With solid support lined up, expectations increase for a tipping point where craft brewers grow capacity, production, and sales and emerge from their niche origins to broad appeal.
Craft beer is part of a much larger phenomenon, rooted in a long-term evolution of American society and culture that’s still progressing.
Most breweries lack a data-driven infrastructure offering the information needed for decision-making in an environment experiencing exponential growth.