when exactly did craft beer have such an explosion?

Where's jeskidden when we needs some facts instead of random opinions?

 

Thats how I feel...probably because that was the day after I turned 21

 

Oops! I didn't notice I was on page 3 when I posted that.

 

Now that is an enlightening graph cbeer. Would love to see what it would be like if they could chart it back to 82.

 

For me it happened last night when I left a Torpedo can in my freezer for too long.

 

Case in point, Evans Lager

 

Yes. This is the correct answer.

 

A number of folks have discussed the 1990's bust/crash of the craft industry in the above thread. I always think "Was it really all that bad?" (Of course, if YOUR favorite beer or brewery disappeared, it seemed worse than it was.)

Went poking around my old files and info available on the net. Came across two different graphs - number of breweries* (BLUE LINE below) and total craft barrelage (ORANGE BARS) - and combined them.

The "bust" was more of a multi-year stagnation, in which total craft beer production plateaued. The brewery totals themselves are somewhat deceptive since while a larger number of breweries closed, the openings of new establishments makes that number look more constant than it was.


* Yeah, not sure about slight dip in brewery numbers in '08-'09 since it doesn't agree with the current B.A. graph but it's not reverent to this discussion of the '90's.

 

Ah crap I actually had the sixth episode of Brew Masters booked marked, but I will have to find it! It was of course when Sam went to Italy, once again proving that Italian craft WILL be a force in L'America!

 

Over the last 5 years it has gotten harder and harder to get ahold of smaller batch brews from the best brewers. Almost seems like we will be buying tickets or standing in huge lines to get SNPA or SABL in a few years.

 

For the most part, craft brewers have kep up with demand. The majority of their beer sold and profits comes from their year around lines. I don't see a craft beer bubble bursting and a bunch of good craft brewers going out of business cause they over extended. Its the demand for limited release stuff that has grown exponentially. In 06-08, each year my local store would get a case of BCBS and I would buy 4 to 5 of the 4 packs over a 3 to 4 month period. In 09/10 I noticed the beer was starting to disapear a lot quicker.

Limited released beers have been getting crazy. IMO, DL in 09 (the year before they started selling tickets) and 10 were both crazy and were the start of the exponential growth. I think ebay was part of it, but the growth in people interested in craft beer and cellaring and trading was bigger. People are driving around to get multiple bottles of the local limited release to send off to other parts of the country for their limited releases. This is a big reason why nothing sits on the shelf.