American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
While some see the craft beer biz as peaking…these infographics provided by C+R research certainly paint a much more promising future….
Bart Watson, Chief Economist for the Brewers Association (BA) recently shared with American Craft Beer that as of July 2019 the number of small and independent breweries operating in the US was 7,550.
That’s a record number of American breweries, but when you look at that number on a per capita basis it’s clear that some states rule!
According to data provided by the BA, Vermont is the current the craft beer capital of the US with 11.5 breweries per 100,000 people. That’s equal to 151 pints of beer produced per drinking-age adult.
But when it comes craft beer’s state-wide economic impact C+R Research notes that Colorado comes in at #1 with an economic impact of $764 per person.
Vermont falls to the #2 spot, despite having a higher concentration of breweries per capita, with an economic impact of $667 per person.
So yes, craft beer’s once double digit momentum has slowed to 3.9% but as these C+R Research infographics clearly show, on a state-wide level craft beer remains incredibly vital. Especially in comparison to the overall beer market.
Bart Watson: Photo © Brewers Association
According to 2018 data, total U.S. beer sales (which is indicative of the health of large brewing conglomerates like Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors, as well as craft brewers) was down by almost 1 percent in 2018. A trend that according to Watson, was reflective of the decline in alcohol consumption by younger consumers in general….
“Craft and imports continue to be the things that are driving the beer market forward even in a very challenging market for overall beer.”
“Companies need to think about how they can still be relevant in a market where we are going to see thousands of new breweries open…This is a trend. It isn’t going away.”
Craft beer in the US is currently a 27.6 billion industry. And although its economic impact varies from state to state, it is holding its own with a 13.2% share of the market.
And we’ll raise a glass to that.
