Tavour Charts Craft Beer Trends For May

Tavour, an industry leader in beer e-commerce, just released its May trending report with insights into what people are drinking…

The online retailer works with more than 600 independent breweries and based on their inventory findings, here are the top trends of May 2021…

Hoppy & Juicy: the style for summer — Moving into the summer months, Hoppy & Juicy beers remain in the lead for the largest style category.

Craft Ciders are growing — Between April and May, the Cider category joined the best-selling styles on Tavour.

Hard Seltzer Smoothies became more popular — Among the top 5 best-selling beers were two were Hard Seltzer Smoothies.

New Breweries make waves — 7 new breweries joined Tavour in May, one of which became one of the month’s best-selling beers.

Hoppy & Juicy: the Style for Summer

To more accurately reflect the diversity of craft beer options currently available, Tavour organizes the beers they receive into the following specific style categories:

• Hoppy & Juicy – IPAs, Pale Ales, aggressively hopped styles
• Dark & Intense – Stouts, Porters, Barleywines, certain Meads, other dark and high ABV styles
• Sour & Funky – Sour Ales, Wild Ales, Farmhouse styles
• Light & Crisp – Pilsners, Lagers, Golden Ales, Kölsch, Hard Seltzers, other light styles
• Cider – Hard Ciders

Throughout the month of May, the Hoppy & Juicy category maintained its place as the most popular style category available on Tavour.

Of all beers offered during the month 32.7% were Hoppy & Juicy beers, with IPAs accounting for 32.5% of the best-selling beers. This suggests that IPAs and other aggressively hopped styles will continue to hold the spotlight during the coming summer months

Below is a breakdown of beer styles available on Tavour by category from May:

New Breweries Make Waves

In May, seven new breweries began sharing their beers nationally through Tavour:

• Meiers Creek Brewing Company – Cazenovia, New York
• Hoosier Brewing Company – Greenwood, Indiana
• Liquid Love Brewing Company – Buffalo Grove, Illinois
• Cushwa Brewing Company – Williamsport, Maryland
• Montclair Brewery – Montclair, New Jersey
• By All Means Brewing – Billings, Montana
• Old Irving Brewing Company – Chicago, Illinois

In a surprising turn of events, Old Irving Brewing Co. came out as one of the best-selling breweries in May with their Beezer New England IPA. It marks a rare occasion where a brand-new brewery takes a top spot in Tavour members’ favorites-list.

What’s Next?

Tavour’s May data points to several continuing trends that could ride out the rest of summer 2021:

• Hoppy & Juicy beer styles will likely remain in the lead as the most popular beers moving into the summer months.
• “Beyond Beer” styles, such as craft Ciders and Hard Seltzer Smoothies, will continue to be a favorite for craft drinkers heading into warmer weather.
• With many breweries releasing new Fruited Beers every day, the rise in their popularity seen in April could start to plateau as the market becomes more and more saturated.
• Craft brewers still prefer to package their beers in 16oz cans more than any other type of container, however data from May suggests that this trend is shifting downward. Since February, the amount of beers on Tavour in 16oz cans has dropped from 72.5% to a mere 55.3%.