Farewell, Unicorns & Rainbows

We had the privilege of attending the recent Craft Brewers Conference in Washington DC, and took away three messages from the opening talks, the keynote and discussions with various industry colleagues.

Craft Up. Beer Down.
While craft beer growth is up, overall beer growth is down by roughly 10 million barrels. That’s almost the total number of barrels sold by all US craft brewers last year. We shouldn’t be celebrating fewer people drinking beer, even if it’s large brewers taking the hit.

Quality.
Brew quality beer or find another profession. Seriously. Consumers have an insane amount of choices today. You have one shot to impress them, or they’ll simply move on.

Closures.
With roughly 2,400 breweries in the US and over a thousand in planning, expect the number of closures to increase in coming years. More competition will put a higher demand on resources, lead to less originality and breed mediocrity. Add the growing number of breweries being run by people who have absolutely no experience running a company, and the market becomes ripe for failures.

Basically, the days of unicorns and rainbows are over for craft beer. Its culture has finally matured, accepted that it’s an actual business and demands more.

Respect Beer. ■