gregkeller

Recipes 

I see it as more of a paradigm shift in all things. People are going back to locally made products, more artisanal products. It seems like people might, might, have seen the downside of industrialized food and are looking for alternatives. People who are into food are embracing their local farmers markets where they can talk to the person who plucked their carrots out of the ground. People who drink great beer want to talk to the brewmaster and know what malts are in the beer they are drinking at that moment, what was the hop schedule on the IPA they just enjoyed. I see people becoming more aware of what they are purchasing/consuming. With the amount of information out there on the interwebs, people are becoming a little better versed in the products they use everyday and we are seeing that by the increase in the number of things like microbrewies, farmers markets, restaurants who celebrate farm to table, etc. Hopefully it's here to stay.

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BierKeller Brewery
Keg #1 - Blondie (Blonde Ale)
Keg #2 - Dunkelwiezen
Keg #3 - Oops IPA
Primary #1 - Dusseldorf Alt
Primary #2 - British Mild

aiptasia

Recipes 

^ +1 to that. Florida is really virgin territory when it comes to craft breweries. We're just now starting to see a surge in brewing growth in our area. That being said, there's an equal amount of brew pubs popping up producing "blah" beers as well as ones producing some really good stuff.

Quality and a simple bit of business sense is going to keep a lot of the good craft breweries in business. Tap rooms of the good craft brewers are always overflowing, and the better brew pubs are doing well.

****, if buffalo wild wings can survive serving up crap wings and cheap BMC, craft is going to continue to grow here at a 30% rate.

Tex

Recipes 

Where are all these brew pubs in DFW? I'm over in ft worth and besides Rahr I'm unaware of any new breweries/brew pubs coming up on our side of the metroplex. My roommate works at BJ's and he told me they can't legally brew and sell on the same property in Tarrant county. He is an idiot though and may be completely wrong...sorry to thread jack.

Homercidal

Recipes 

I don't see a bubble yet. At the start of the craft beer movement there were plenty of wannabees and not a lot of great brewing.

These days, not only are there more qualified brewers, but a population gaining in craft beer acceptance.

As the number of microbreweries grows you will continue to hear stories of some of them going out of business. It happens. I don't think there is going to be a massive exodus from craft beer any time soon.

If I lived near a good brewpub I'd spend a considerable amount of time there, drinking, hanging out, helping.

Matter of fact, there is a place only 15 minutes away adding on and I see they have windows installed and are now working on the interior. Only taking 1/5 years longer to get going than originally planned!

I foresee a homebrew club forming in the area with meetings held there.

HollisBT

Recipes 

There is really only a pretty small percentage of the population that knows how to make beer. There is an even smaller percentage of the population that knows how to make GOOD beer. I encourage anyone that wants to take it to the next step, if you think your brews are as good or better than what's available, then share it with the people .

Airborneguy

Recipes 

Nah, definitely not for me, too much work. I have a nice retirement coming at 43 years old. I plan on spending it brewing for myself .

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Fermentor(s): Retribution Brown Ale
Lagering: Oktoberfest
Kegged: Test SMaSH
Bottled: Mr. Beer Pale Ale, Brown Sugar Mead
Tapped: Dystopian Saison
Up Next: 100% Wheat Beer, Dopplebock

IPAfreek

Recipes 

+1 I do notice in my area of Virginia that we see more of the local brewery's beers on the shelves than more of the bigger craft brewery's beers. I see more Gordon Bierch, Red Star, Old Dominion than I do DFH and stone. I think people are really starting to boost their own local economy by getting a better product locally produced or grown. I think if there were a "bubble", it would be in areas or states that have an almost overabundance of craft breweries, i.e. San Diego. My 2 cents

TexasSpartan

Recipes 

37. At least according to a tweet from the TABC a week or so ago.

There's the Zio Carlo Magolia Brewpub in Fort Worth. Not sure what the status of it is, I'm in Dallas, so I don't make it over to Cowtown very often. I do know the owner isn't a fan of the President. The only brewpubs I know if in Dallas are the chains.

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Dead Felon Brewing

peaktopview

Recipes 

one thing to also consider is that estimated overall beer sales were down about 1% toward the end of 2010, while craft beer sales were up 15% in the beginning of 2011. this has been the trend the past few years also from what i have read. my understanding also is that craft brewing is just under 5% of total beer sales. so the trend might also be changing taste and there is plenty of room for that.

of course, on a local level i do believe in what has also been said about a market and what can be sustained, that is just business. living in in a city with many breweries, i am quite glad for the selection and support who i can. plus i can't wait for one of denver's newest breweries, crooked stave, to open its doors down here (they are brewing out of funkwerks up in fort collins right now).

b

PoorBoy

Recipes 

It seems like every time I turn around, someone is opening a brewery or brewpub. SWMBO is pushing me to do something with mine, to somehow incorporate it into my retirement plan (which is still at least 4 years away), but I'm just not sure of the return on the investment with the market becoming increasingly saturated. It's true that even in hard economic times, alcohol sales remain strong, but I can see cost to income ratios becoming problematic in the future. If you aren't First, you'd better be Best.

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Feed my woman
Follow my woman

Old Goat Brewing