US craft beers — brewed in steel, canned in aluminum — could get crushed by tariffs

I hope this means that will we see more bottles. The entire industry shift to cans was a very poor choice. I don’t want your stupid, overpriced 16oz four packs, but they’re my only option usually. I’d much rather get a four/six pack of 12oz bottles. Brown glass protects from light just as well as aluminum, and is better for aging beer in.

If glass wasn’t cheaper already, it certainly is now.

 

I don’t know if we’ll see more bottles, but we will see a lot of brewers struggling to get by close shop once they have the added expenses consumers will be less likely to absorb…perhaps shrinkflation in the form of a comeback by bombers and 750ml is on the horizon.

 

a brewery here just switched their annual BBA Imperial Stout to shitty ass cans. Their response:

" our bottling machine was only used 2-3 times a year took up a lot of space in our facility"

wonder who will have the last laugh


""bRiNg bAcK aMeRiCaN jObs""(


LOL

 

Glass is sexier, but that’s about it. Whatever one ends up being the cheapest is fine with me. That said, 10+ years ago when glass was still in vogue, the market was dominated by overpriced bombers. I don’t miss that. What I like about cans is the pint format. I don’t like drinking the same beer after another. So after I crush one sixteen ounce can, I’m onto the next (or even a Pliny because they are basically pint sized). It’s not cost effective, but because I like to switch up beers during a session, I generally buy various single cans at any of my shops. Again, that said, 3 singles the other day ended up being $17. And that actually seems pretty fair right now when certain beers cost even more than $4.99 a single. Ghost Town, everywhere, There Does Not Exist, Anchorage… just to name a few.

 

... wondering if we're gonna see everything move to 22oz/40oz plastic bottles a la Olde English or whatever

 

I’m shocked, SHOCKED I say, that implementing broad, wide sweeping tariffs might have a negative impact on pricing for consumers. I mean honestly who would have thought that; other than any reasonably objective economist and most everyone with at least two functioning neurons.

 

The auctioneer.

 

We should be fine as we switch to cans made from rare earth minerals from Ukraine and steel salvaged from the cleanup and redevelopment of Gaza.

 

Comments from industry execs.

"In general, “The thing that keeps me up at night right now is the health of the end consumer in North America,” said Ball CEO Dan Fisher on Tuesday.

Regarding a planned 25% tariff against Mexico, the concern there could be “a pretty stressed end consumer,” impacts from which “would certainly dampen our current outlook,” he said."


"Crown CEO Tim Donahue echoed that sentiment on Thursday. “From where we sit on tariffs, it feels like it’s an indirect exposure that we have if the consumer feels the pinch from inflation further and dials back their purchasing habits,” he said.

Donahue also said that, even if aluminum imports aren’t a concern, given that almost all of the aluminum that Crown buys in the U.S. is domestically sourced, there are other materials that cross borders, such as coatings, “and we’ll have to work through that.”"


https://www.packagingdive.com/news/packaging-ceos-tariffs-amcor-ball-crown-gpi-oi/739482/

 

The stable or shrinking market for craft beer should allow startups or expansions to buy used excess equipment. Bottles are generally made in the US. Tariffs on cans or caps can't be too high, and might depend on where the final fabrication takes place. Tariffs on materials might be a few cents a can or up, with imported finished cans, lids, and caps possibly higher than sheet aluminum or steel. A complaint above referenced the cost of glass bombers. Higher prices for those were often due to hand-bottling. I think this will be a much bigger issue for larger brewers, with at least some lower priced products. Maybe an emphasis on bottles for them? The auto industry will be a disaster area, though.

 

Yup. "Switch to bottles" is short-sighted.

Even one of the quotations from the article you posted indicates this:

'The implementation of “25% tariffs could have a broad impact on aluminum prices across the world, and a direct impact on US manufacturing companies that make a variety of steel products, including kegs, steel tanks, brewhouses and building materials,” Katie Marisic, the Brewers Association’s senior director of federal affairs, wrote in the notice.'

 

Gotta get into using much less single use packaging.

 

Maybe we could learn from the Chinese in terms of beer packaging!?!



With the positive that plastic straws are back!

Cheers!

 

The auctioneers market is pretty open with the down-sizing and market corrections in place already.
Tariffs will impact smaller breweries pretty much IMMEDIATELY. Because they have spinning plate game of available cashflow and available space to keep up with while these prices adjust towards fucking them, and also you, the consumer who balks at the actual cost this beer will cost now because of this dipstick. They have the most to lose here. As such. This fall will likely be a bloodbath for the auctioneer to stick into available storage.

 

Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama, Trump and Biden all imposed steel and/or aluminum tariffs. They become an issue under Trump because his bluster and bravado draw attention to them.

FWIW, these are some of the most strategic tariffs out there. The steel and aluminum industries have become dominated by highly-subsidized actors from one country, and those actors today own plants and dump product on countries throughout the world. Counteracting that monopolization keeps prices affordable in the long run and enables supply diversification, which is crucial for preventing shortages from climate disruptions, pandemics, foreign policy disputes and other reasons.

 

I don't see the major impact of tariffs on small brewers. Quality domestic (oops, US) sourced malt and hops are readily available. Cans might be an issue, but the value of aluminum sheet is a minor component of the fabricated can cost. Small scale brewing is an expensive proposition to begin with. There has to be a lot of excess capacity in the business. Covering the shortfalls from uncovered fixed costs are a much bigger worry.

 

Counteracting cheaper monopolized steel by making it 25% more expensive makes it cheaper? Your math doesn’t math.

 

Monopolies raise prices after stamping out their competition. They’re also extremely vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. Counteracting monopolies — yes, sometimes with tariffs; better still with additional industrial policies — prevents that.