Is this where craft beer is heading?

Heading?!!

 

Why do you think popular breweries are putting out hundreds of "new/unique" beers each year? I'll give you a hint: it's not because they're all good.

 

It sounds stupid, but I've not bought beers because the labels were stupid or boring.

Take The Brown Note, for example. I won't buy that beer no matter how highly rated it is.

 

This might sound like routine aversion from me, but the "craft" beer industry is truly embarrassing right now. So much so, for me, that my consumption has dropped dramatically in favor of wine and cider

 

When the popular beers fall into a narrow band of samey fruity citrusy juicy flavors then differentiating/marketing the product has to rely on factors other than taste. The Big Beer AAL makers have known this for decades and their advertising reflects it. Small craft brewers can't afford super bowl ads of computer generated battles between knights and dragons, but they can put a really cool label on the beer to grab the eyeballs. It's the same thing.

EDIT:
OTOH, sometimes I'm in the mood for one those samey citrusy juicy flavored beers and since they are all going to taste relatively similar, I take no shame in indulging in something with a label that amuses me:

 

After reading this...

...I respond with: "People?!"

I mean, c'mon, how many "people"? What percentage of either the total beer buyers or even "craft" beer buyers is he talking about? Even with the B.A. designed "Craft Brewers'" market share at 13.2% (plus another couple of percent of all those former "craft" brewers owned by macros) the vast majority of "people" still buy and drink macro beers, and that "Craft" percentage is still made up of millions of barrels of the "same old" flagship beers like Yuengling Lager, Shiner Bock, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Samuel Adams Boston Lager even as they lose market share.

 

I think perhaps they meant specifically people who are buying craft beer.

I honestly kind of disagree with all of you, and the guy in the article. Admittedly, I have a severe problem with being purposefully contradictory, ha ha ha. That being said, however, I have recently had the opportunity to co-host my buddy's podcast where he drives around and interviews owners/brewers at various breweries. I've interviewed maybe 8 now I think, and each one of them says the same thing: Our basic flagship IPA outsells everything. Usually by a landslide. It may seem like a lot of craft breweries are doing crazy things with their beer, but I don't think it's really something that many of them are sustaining their business on. If I'm right, then that means it isn't what most people want.

Besides, look at what you find on the shelf from larger breweries like Founders, Lagunitas, New Belgium, Brooklyn, Sierra Nevada, Bells, Terrapin, etc. Their biggest beers are all mostly standard styles, or just slight variants of them. I really do not think the craft beer industry is made up of gimmicky experimental stuff...not even close. At least, not by volume.

One other note, I also feel in my gut that in the next few years, we are going to see a trend towards simpler more traditional beers. I think it's a natural progression for most serious individual craft beer drinkers who have spent several years surviving exclusively off of explosive beers, and I think the "experience age" of craft beer drinkers as a greater general whole is going to shift in that way in the market.

 

We all know this: there are a F-ton of breweries now and they are competing for our dollars (and attention). Some are going to "innovate" as they see fit, which means they will try whatever random thing pops into their head.
Some are not going this route.

 

The overwhelming majority of craft beer sold in this country is only water, malts, hops, and yeast. This article is hyperbolic.

 

I guess he might be referring to the "long tail" of new and small breweries who apparently get much of the growth these days, while the larger breweries and larger established brands either hold their ground or are losing ground yearly. Which likely means that their younger and smaller competitors are less likely to focus on competing with brands belonging to stagnant or shrinking market segments/beer styles. So the part of the market which is growing might look, to a degree at least, like what he is describing, lots of small new brands with weird labels and even weirder recipes (along with more conventional labels and recipes of course, perhaps there are success stories among those which go unmentioned or fly under the radar?). But obviously he could have qualified his statement.

 

Okay, so to me that's a very logical theory. The guy in the article, however, really seemed to be painting with a very broad brush. Like, this is the whole story folks...people just want crazy beers now.

 

Yeah, the segment usually described as "craft" is actually made up of several smaller overlapping segments; but it's kind of hard to miss the demographic he's talking about these days .

 

Style over substance has been creeping into craft beer for a while. This is going to be a year of "market corrections" and shit beer in silly cans is not going to be enough to save some breweries.

 

As has been specifically mentioned (and not specifically) there are various segments of the craft beer market. Many of the new small, local breweries are catering to the Beer Geek segment and many (most?) of the Beer Geeks are seeking the next 'shiny new thing'. Those new small, local breweries are going to adopt strategies to excite that segment of the craft beer market:

• Add crazy ingredients to beer including add-junks
• Utilize strange and differing can artwork
• etc.

Craft beers like Boston Lager, Yuengling Lager, Fat Tire,... will take a different approach here.

Cheers!

 

I don't know that I've ever bought a beer for the label. I would buy the 3Floyds Amon Amarth collaboration only b/c they're my favorite band.

That said, I, like 95% in the craft community am not brand loyal and like to try new* things. THAT is the direction of craft beer.

*New doesn't necessarily mean bourbon barrel aged adjunct laden beer. I also get excited for a new pilsner, west coast IPA, etc.

 

Well the article is just about the importance of design in packaging your product in a super competitive market. So in that sense it would seem that the direction craft.beer is.headed is indeed one where packaging design and marketing are increasingly important for brewery success

 

I'm not so sure if that's really a new thing though. I feel like packaging and marketing has been key for centuries.