Has American craft beer hit its peek?

No it hasn't peaked yet.

The absolute number of breweries is larger than ever, but on a per capita basis we're not even close to what once existed.

Also the market for flavorful beers continues to grow as more and more people have the chance to explore such beers.

There ain't no such thing as a craft beer bubble but there may well be a shake out as people's tastes mature and more and more breweries become consolidated with others.

But it seems unlikely that business failures of breweries will exceed what is the norm for all small business start ups.

 

Peek-a-boo. But seriously, no, craft beer has been experiencing double digit growth for over a decade now, with no signs of slowing down.

OP, is your avatar at Cantillon?

 

can't see it peaking for quite some time..so many good breweries with cutting edge styles and experimentation..outside the box brewing...still plenty more to come..

 

I'm betting on "yes."

 

I wish it would slow down in terms of total number of breweries. Yes you can have too many options, if too many options are crowding out better beer.

Also in the article:

"Data shows that “locally made” is important to over half of craft beer buyers."

 

More handwringing. We are living in a golden age.

 

Markets growing at this rate have time. Especially when market penetration is as low as it is. The growth may slow but the peak of the market is a ways off IMHO.

 

All one has to do is take a peek at the numbers to see that it's not slowing down

 

I agree with this 100%.

Cheers!

 

How many beer drinkers were there in this country in 1873, the year whose number of breweries is just now being surpassed?

 

Hit its peek? No. Jumped the shark? Yes. When there is a Carhartt Woodsman beer out there (and there is) American craft beer has officially jumped the shark.

 

OH, Jumped the Shark, sweet name for a beer!

 

No. Theres still many styles not even known. Like grodziske (spelling) and petersbier something or other idk. I think it will hit its peak eventually though. And more so often, people hit their peak. Like myself who stopped ticking and started enjoying instead of just anything ive never had.

 

I can see the label now. An overweight neckbeard riding a great white (what else) with a pack of American Spirits in the front pocket of his flannel shirt.

 

Hit it's peek how? I doubt craft beer has it it's peek in market share. It may hit it's peek in innovation soon. It's has to be hard to keep brewing if you have to dream up a new beer every 30 days.

 

If you would have asked this question 5 years ago, and whoever said yes, well, the answer was a definitely NO! More than 2000 new breweries have come along since then, that is huge. I'm sure most are not that great, but I've heard most are pretty respectable. Still, I will say, no we are not close to the peak.

Cheers!