Pappers_

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+1 on the comment above about cider. The former owner/brewmaster at Goose Island is developing a cidery in Michigan, I think, with big aspirations.

Cider is the most Americana of beverages. It goes back to when farms along the seacoast and in New England didn't grow barley, but everyone had apple trees. I would love to see a growing and thriving American cider movement.

I also hope that, in urban areas at least, with the huge increase breweries and brew pubs, that there is a greater emphasis on drinking local beers and developing a local beer culture.

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Skyforger

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I think the next big move in the craft beer market will be increased local production and consumption. More and more places are reaching a threshold where you can drink a great variety of beers without having to buy anything made more than an hour away. This dovetails nicely with a growing local food movement. Partially in response to this, and partially because everyone and his brother wants to get into brewing nowadays, we should see a great increase in the number of tiny regional breweries whose emphasis isn't to get bottles in stores nationwide, but merely to supply their own restaurant and maybe get some kegs in a few other joints.

Drinking craft beer then becomes a much more community-based and casual affair, and the beers brewed will reflect this. Expect a greater number of lighter, session-able beers to become popular, and expect the downfall of the IIIPA (or anything 'Triple Imperial') as a consistently-brewed style. This is already happening to a degree; in my hometown, even larger breweries such as Founders have brewpub-only lines of session beers for the hordes of blue collar workers that show up every evening. They are of very good quality, but drink easily.

Additionally, when breweries are more locally-focused they can more readily release one-off or annual 'event' beers. Another brewery near me recently had a sort of Autumn-fest. They had ten beers they had made just for the occasion - some oak-aged or soured versions of ordinary beers, some entirely original. They were served almost in their entirety just that night. I expect some to return on a yearly basis. And that sort of thing - congruence with local seasons and events, and very limited celebratory brews - I expect to see more of.

Basically, much of America may finally gain a bit of old-world feel: each region with its own distinctive flourishes, styles, and traditions.

That's a bit rose-tinted, to be sure. There will be downfalls, losses and aggravations we can't yet expect. But overall, this is a great time and place to be a brewer.

andysim

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I like the way you think Skyforger.

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Trip Queens Brewery
Clayton, NC
Brewing better than average beer since February 2009

Bottled - News Years Day Belgian Barley Wine, Bugs in The Light Milk Stout, Value Place BIAB Belgian Pale Ale, Value Place BIAB Cream Ale
Kegged -Rummy Ruski Imperial Stout

two_hearted

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I agree. New Zealand's cider market has really boomed in the past two years. I lead student trips down there and we usually stop at a Monteith's brewery for a tour. A few years back their original brewery switched to only producing cider. People love it. All of the women on my trips love it. I can see it being a huge untapped market here in the US.

stanzela

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I've done a bit of thinking about an answer to this very interesting question. In the end, I think the comments made by Pappers and Skyforger are pretty bang on. There does seem to be a bit of a reflexive trend occurring in the consumption of both food and drink. Locally produced options are more and more in abundance, and I think the whole "quantity over quality" thing has finally started to wear off. When people are on the brink of bankruptcy and stressed about money due to their purchase of a poorly-constructed home with a poorly-constructed mortgage (the product of a poorly-constructed regulatory system), they don't look to more poorly-constructed goods from faceless strangers as the solution.

Instead, quality and trust/assurance are sought out. The turn towards the consumption of locally produced goods is a perfect reflection of this: whereas local production leads to freshness and the procedural attention to detail afforded by smaller-scale operations (contributing to enhanced quality), consuming local goods also provides a (more) direct link to the point of production, allowing for direct consumer feedback, and relationship building with the producer (building trust/assurance).

As a direct example, I was watching the 'Brew Nation' podcast today and was amazed at the number of American craft brewers I was unfamiliar with. Even the segments of the show exploring Northern New York state showcased dozens of beers I'd never seen (I'm from Eastern/Southern Ontario...not too far away). I lived in Ottawa (where beer sale is controlled and limited to two retailers...and on-site at breweries) for a long time and remember the first time I stepped into a beer-friendly, high-scale grocery store in Quebec (literally minutes away but where beer sale is not nearly as regulated)...the number and range of beers was astounding! That is kind of an unfair comparison, as Quebec has a world-class beer culture, and is, in my opinion, one of those places that is almost its own little continent.

In any case, here in Toronto, tons of locally brewed beer is sold every day. The range has grown substantially in the few years that
I've been a beer drinker.

I really do think that the trend towards the local will continue as we've somehow soaked up a communal lesson about the consequences of poor construction, and separation from the point of production. You get too far from the heart, and you barely feel the pulse...

McHaven

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Many breweries are moving towards growing their own hops or grains, or at least sourcing these items locally. I think we're going to see breweries become identified regionally again, and playing a large part in the local food scene. It'll be great to see an America like pre-prohibition where beer came from your town or the town over. Not Milwaukee or St. Louis.

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Primary: Pumpkin Ale, Spiced Holiday Ale, Cider
Secondary: Empty
Bottles: Cream Ale, Dubbel, Black Ale

headbanger

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I like the way he sounds...

jamboparty

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Took the words right out of my mouth.


Which is a good thing, because now there's more room for beer.

Skyforger

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stanzela: thanks for your comment. I found your thoughts on the socioeconomic forces driving the changes I forsee most interesting. And I do like me some Quebecois beers; let's not get rid of non-locals entirely!

headbanger - nice. I like this even better: