2015 is here and things couldn't look any brighter for the craft beer industry this year.
The big names in beer continue to lose ground to craft beer as craft beer sales increased again going into 2015. Craft beer sales, showed an increase of 17.2% or 15 million barrels over the past year due to the continuing increase or shift of beer drinkers drinking craft beer. It's slowly becoming better known that craft brewers use better ingredients, which in turn results in a tastier beer. The craft beer community is also growing by word of mouth and with help from sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram just to name a few.
A photo from the Great American Beer Festival
Craft beer drinkers are also becoming better educated and are realizing craft beer provides a better drinking experience due to the exciting and flavorful options that are offered. Craft beer production has grown almost 11% (compounded annually) for a decade, according to the National Beer Association. Though make no mistake craft beer sales overall are only a small percentage compared to the big names in beer, but small breweries are gaining ground slowly but surely. In November, the United States passed the mark of 3,200 brewers in the country, and the number of brewery licenses reached its highest mark ever, coming in at 4,500 in the first sixth months of 2013. Thirteen states (CA, CO, WA, OR, MI, NY, PA, TX, FL, WI, IL, NC and OH way to go Ohio sorry have to rep my state here for a second ) now have more than 100 breweries each.
Breweries are opening at a rate of 1.5 per day. In addition, there are more than 2,000 breweries in the works. Through June 2014, craft brewers enjoyed an 18% growth by volume and others are reporting double digit growth numbers as well. Of course it isn't just us craft beer drinkers taking notice of all this growth as AB InBev did as well and acquired 10 Barrel Brewing Co. This spawned some pretty ugly comments from loyal craft beer drinkers but shows that the big names in beer are taking notice of craft beer's popularity. Even celebrities are getting in on the craft beer movement such as craft beer drinker and brewer Will Wheaton and his pretty hilarious Newcastle Commercial and work with Stone Brewing and Northern Brewer.
A pretty interesting piece of data actually comes from AB InBev that around 45% of 21 to 27-year-olds say they have never tried Budweiser which says a lot about the growth of craft beer and its reach. Another big tool that start up craft breweries are using is Kickstarter a site some use to crowd fund their business when a traditional loan isn't enough. This has really shown the strength of the craft beer community and how passionate they are about craft beer.
Image courtesy of BeerForum.com
The year 2015 could be the biggest year for craft beer to date and who knows what new beer will be created and what new brewery will open its doors and bless us with great craft beer. It's up to each and every one of us to keep supporting craft beer and spread the word as much as possible. The craft beer community overall is a loyal community that speak loudly with the beer they drink so raise up a craft beer glass to the hope of continued growth and success of craft beer in 2015! As always you can catch me on Beer Advocate and Ratebeer under name Ohiobeer29 or on twitter at @ohiobeer29, or here on HomebrewTalk as Ohiobeer29, to trade beer stories, reviews and thoughts on the next great beer to look out for.
The big names in beer continue to lose ground to craft beer as craft beer sales increased again going into 2015. Craft beer sales, showed an increase of 17.2% or 15 million barrels over the past year due to the continuing increase or shift of beer drinkers drinking craft beer. It's slowly becoming better known that craft brewers use better ingredients, which in turn results in a tastier beer. The craft beer community is also growing by word of mouth and with help from sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram just to name a few.
A photo from the Great American Beer Festival
Craft beer drinkers are also becoming better educated and are realizing craft beer provides a better drinking experience due to the exciting and flavorful options that are offered. Craft beer production has grown almost 11% (compounded annually) for a decade, according to the National Beer Association. Though make no mistake craft beer sales overall are only a small percentage compared to the big names in beer, but small breweries are gaining ground slowly but surely. In November, the United States passed the mark of 3,200 brewers in the country, and the number of brewery licenses reached its highest mark ever, coming in at 4,500 in the first sixth months of 2013. Thirteen states (CA, CO, WA, OR, MI, NY, PA, TX, FL, WI, IL, NC and OH way to go Ohio sorry have to rep my state here for a second ) now have more than 100 breweries each.
Breweries are opening at a rate of 1.5 per day. In addition, there are more than 2,000 breweries in the works. Through June 2014, craft brewers enjoyed an 18% growth by volume and others are reporting double digit growth numbers as well. Of course it isn't just us craft beer drinkers taking notice of all this growth as AB InBev did as well and acquired 10 Barrel Brewing Co. This spawned some pretty ugly comments from loyal craft beer drinkers but shows that the big names in beer are taking notice of craft beer's popularity. Even celebrities are getting in on the craft beer movement such as craft beer drinker and brewer Will Wheaton and his pretty hilarious Newcastle Commercial and work with Stone Brewing and Northern Brewer.
A pretty interesting piece of data actually comes from AB InBev that around 45% of 21 to 27-year-olds say they have never tried Budweiser which says a lot about the growth of craft beer and its reach. Another big tool that start up craft breweries are using is Kickstarter a site some use to crowd fund their business when a traditional loan isn't enough. This has really shown the strength of the craft beer community and how passionate they are about craft beer.
Image courtesy of BeerForum.com
The year 2015 could be the biggest year for craft beer to date and who knows what new beer will be created and what new brewery will open its doors and bless us with great craft beer. It's up to each and every one of us to keep supporting craft beer and spread the word as much as possible. The craft beer community overall is a loyal community that speak loudly with the beer they drink so raise up a craft beer glass to the hope of continued growth and success of craft beer in 2015! As always you can catch me on Beer Advocate and Ratebeer under name Ohiobeer29 or on twitter at @ohiobeer29, or here on HomebrewTalk as Ohiobeer29, to trade beer stories, reviews and thoughts on the next great beer to look out for.
