In yet another sign that the craft beer biz may be plateauing, the number of different craft beer options on store shelves has decreased 5.7 percent from their national peak.

In a May 31^st report from Consumer Edge Research, Brett Cooper indicated that one of the beer industry’s most defining aspects in recent years, its explosion of new brands, flavors and line extensions, is slowing down significantly.

And that this proliferation of choices, that has given beer lovers more drinking options than ever before, could be coming to an end, furthering worries that craft beer’s growth may soon be hitting a wall.

These concerns are based in the declining number of SKU’s, that’s industry geek-speak for stock keeping unit, an inventory management term for a distinct beer in this case.

 At retail Victory’s Summer Love has its own SKU, as does Firestone Walker’s Union Jack IPA ….and so on…and so on.

And now after at least five years of consistent growth driven primarily by an explosion in craft, the report is signaling that the active number of individual beer items sold at U.S. retailers is in decline.

The report also noted that these declines weren’t just limited to the craft segment, where volume and dollar sales growth are now slowing, they extend across all segments of the industry, “as non-productive SKUs are getting deleted out of retail shelf sets.”

So part of this decline is a culling process…slow-performing beer titles are being eliminated from retail shelves. But brewers are also reportedly “releasing new products at a slower clip.”

Call it, as they do “high-end fatigue” or whatever…something significant is happening.

Consumer Edge Research cites undeniable data that more than hints at beer oversaturation and at an intimidating abundance of options that may be hindering brand sell-through. And their declining beer SKU numbers for 2017 are beginning to bear that out.

So yes, the number of beer options appears to be in retreat for the first time in five years…

And if you think that’s not an important ‘tell’ as to where the craft beer biz might be heading, you’re kidding yourself.