Are Beer Geeks headed for the Endangered List?

It is too hard to tell how popular craft beer will be at any point in time. I remember years ago I could walk into a beer store almost any time of year and purchase Bourbon County Stout. Before I knew it, Bourbon County Stout would sell out in stores in a few hours or less. Now I can find it year round again.

One of the key factors is how many casual fans will find craft beer cool, and jump on the bandwagon? Casual fans and bandwagon jumpers are an unpredictable lot.

 

I refuse to believe we're an endangered species until I hear David Attenborough narrating one of my brewery trips.

 

I also didn’t like the crazy hype. And I’m glad it’s calmed down - not a bad thing.

 

I’m not sure BCS is a good indicator. Goose Island was bought by a big bad macro brewer and I suspect that is behind its increased availability.
I remember when everyone waited for releases but these days it seems very available. I was at the Delta lounge in JFK and I could have as many small BCS. Bottles as I wanted - both going to Chile and on the way back

 

I’m older, so I must be a Neanderthal
And I’m still crazy about beer
Not so much hazy IPAs pr fruited sours

 

It's funny, going out in Chicago (and suburbs), NYC, Toronto, Atlanta, Montreal, Milwaukee, all in the last year have consistently had packed breweries and tap rooms. Maybe it is the spots I chose to go to, but I'm not seeing a lot of decline and plenty of people younger than I or at least my age.

 

I'm an outlier on BA. I have never lived in an urban setting, though I often spent time in places like Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston, Denver and Ok City. I've never lived in an area with more than one brewpub, and I never lived within range of a first class beer store. So like many of my friends, I took up homebrewing in the early 90s so I could have good beer on hand. Pretty much all of my homebrewing friends have aged out of the hobby-2025 is the first year since 1992 I haven't brewed at least one batch and 26 may be the 2nd year. But this is actually the result of a propane burner issue more than lack of desire.
As a homebrewer my beers got better and stronger as the years went by, until the strength peaked around 2015. After that I brewed more in the 5-8% ABV range. Now as I get ready to hit 70 years old, Imperial anything is totally uninteresting. Same with the strong Belgians. While I live in France I drink them because oddly the Trappist beer is cheaper than the microbrewery beer of this area, and the bottles are bigger. But they are strong so I rarely drink 2. These days I'm very happy with a good, commercial German hefe or helles.
When I live in the US a simple SN Pale Ale, or Deschutes Obsidian Stout works great. I always have Santa Fe Happy Camper on hand, but I find myself looking in the fridge for something a little less aggressive more often than not. I feel no need whatsoever to chase the newest fad in craft beer.
Maybe my taste buds are just worn out, along with the rest of me. But I also don't want to spend my evenings half drunk like I did even 10 years ago.

 

Jumping in here. My first time so please be gentle.

The 20-something crowd is swayed by social media, and those great pics of beer flights are just what they need to go down to their local brewery and see what the fuss is all about. No better way to explore than with a few options lined up side by side. Good way to figure out what they like.