How long can the boom last?

Boom is over for sure.

Change happens in everything , for better or worse.

Learn to brew your own and you will always have fresh beer if you have the time.

 

I really don't see how any of this matters; just be an aware and informed shopper like any other niche customer. I can get everything I want now, always could, and forseeably always will be able to.

What happens in the more dominant portion of the market plays by different rules, and never concerned me unless it crossed over into my interests.

 

One of the classic IPAs, the version from Bass, was aged for 12 months before it even got on the ship. By the time it was drunk in India it was a minimum of 18 months old.

 

Total Wine is brutal right now. Tons of beer, much of it not fresh, much of it honestly not beer I'd be that interested in even if it was fresh. I'm really missing a lot of the old Belgian classics/staples I used to be able to find easily in 750s, too - I've come to appreciate just how much enjoyment I got from those bottles....I'd pick them up to pair with cheeses, special meals, etc. The endless sea of NEIPAs and adjunct stouts isn't doing it for me.

 

You'd have to be blind to not see what is coming, and who put it here. Beer geeks and hobbyists are ruining beer. It;s no fucking wonder why horrible ideas such as hard seltzer are making suck strides

 

Any idea if there is anyone out there still making that style of IPA? Kind of surprised if someone hasn't given it a shot

What does this even mean? How has beer been ruined? And who is leaving the "ruined" beer scene to get into that dope hard selzer scene?

 

The boom has slowed, but where is the bust?

Michigan may have led the way in places closing last year, but opening still exceeded closings. Our local beer report says there are now 400 licsenced breweries making beer.

 

I lol'd because I can have one really hoppy beer and feel like I drank the whole pack. I've been wondering for a while if there is a limit to how much of this stuff I should be consuming.

 

Consumers are fed up with the FOMO silver can swindle on taste and are happily spending money elsewhere, while craft brewing longstays have had to reinvent their portfolios to reflect the narrow view that now represents beer in America.

Ruined? Have you been to the beer shop lately. It's embarrassing sea of juicy this, hazy that...breweries with no history plunking down criminal 4-packs, and no shortage of morons to lap it up, while craft classics fall from view/distro.

 

Well I feel bad for you if that is what your beer stores are like. That is not the case out here by a long shot

 

You're in Cali, so perhaps less vulnerable to the Cuntitude that haze has brought to the industry

 

Jeff, you are indeed correct here. The boom has slowed but no bust as yet. Have you by any chance read anything from Bart Watson on this topic? Has it made any projections on when the beer industry may reach an 'equilibrium' as regards beer production (e.g., barrels per year)?

Cheers!

 

The boom will continue several more years imho. According to Fortune.com and Brewersassociation.org, the U.S. has averaged about 1,000 new breweries each year since 2014-2019. At what point will the data show that the boom is over? I feel there is still room for more breweries per capita. There are many small cities and towns that can certainly use a good brewery. It will slow at some point, when the sub-par breweries start to close (like Stoudt's? I've never been so can't judge) due to the fierce competition, but I assure you there will be a new brewer who will take a shot at those openings!

 

What I have discussed with beer store owners recently is that they are condensing their inventory. They have realized that can't offer everything anymore, as too much sits on the shelf. They are focusing on the top-sellers only, and perhaps several local offerings. This may start to slow things down on the brewers side..

 

I can easily find fall variety packs from several breweries.
That's the big issue here.
IMO the retailers and distributors share the blame. Order too much and end up with a formerly hot beer that no one will buy because it's now several months old and get a reputation for selling old beer. Don't order enough and you have empty shelves and get a reputation for not stocking the latest beers.
Distributors don't help the matter by refusing to take back or credit unsold/out of date beer or by delivering almost out of date beer to the retailer. In August I saw that Ayinger had been restocked, then saw that all of them were over six months old; the manager said it had been delivered the day before. Those beers are now better than a year old and still sitting on the shelf.

I don't know if I'm out of the ordinary, but +90% of my beer comes from groceries or beer stores. There are four local breweries; they don't can and distribute locally so I'm not going to see, let alone buy, their beer. The problem is that the local managers of the two largest chains, Weis & Wegmans, don't have the authority to say “sure, we'll carry your beers”.

If only there was a website where you could read reviews and opinions, from people who advocate for beer, in order to get informed opinions about those breweries you've never heard of.

 

And I have seen that with a very popular nationwide distributed craft brewery. I brought this issue to the attention of an employee of that brewery in a BA thread and the response was essentially "I do not believe you unless you provide proof". Old beer is indeed coming directly from the Wholesale Distributors but it sure seems like the beer industry prefers to be like the three monkeys:



The larger, distributing breweries can either 'wake up' and address the issue of too much old stock on retailers shelves who suffer lost sales, their choice here.

On a related matted this past weekend I purchased a 6-pack from a small, local brewery: Sterling Pig Shoat Pilsner. This 6-pack was $7.99 (total price) and the beer was canned on 1/20/20 (less than a month old).

I am sorry to heat that for you purchasing packaged (e.g., canned) beer from small, local breweries is that readily available to you. IMO this is the ultimate solution (or motivator to distributing breweries?) for providing fresh beer to consumers.

Cheers!

 

Sure, new breweries go in every year, but how many go out of buisness, especially the ones that don't make the news.

Last I heard, there is all kinds of used, almost new, equiptment available. If things were indeed booming, I'd bet there would be little available.

 

I am sure the Brewers Association (Bart Watson) is tracking this. I am confident that at some point this will be reported upon.

Cheers!

 

You mean Untappd? Because the ratings here for lesser-known breweries are minuscule. In addition, I don't trust the opinions of the vast majority of people who rate these days on any site, given their terrible taste as revealed by the top-rated beers, their obvious susceptibility to hive-mind thinking, and their remarkable inability to appreciate beer outside of a limited range of presently sexy styles.

 

Haze pay the bills so get use to it