Beer Industry in Major Trouble + Shrinking Fast: Here’s Why

No matter what is going on in this world or your life, you can always come home and crack open a cold one and sip the day away.

But it’s becoming harder and harder for us Americans to go out to an establishment and enjoy a craft beer, or any kind of beer, other than the major brand ones we all know like Bud Light and Coors.

This is because for the first time in American history, more craft breweries are shutting down than opening up.

Fox Business spoke with Bart Watson, who’s the president and CEO of the Brewers Association, and he had this statement to offer:

“The pandemic obviously also had secondary ripples for the economy, for supply chains and it changed consumer patterns overall. We are seeing people certainly spend as much at bars and restaurants as they did before, but they are doing so in different ways — more to go and delivery.”

By the look of the numbers, it might not be just a craft beer decline. Beer sales in America in general were down two percent last year overall, as well.

One craft brewery owner says part of the reason the craft breweries are shutting down is that the prices of the raw goods it takes to create the one-of-a-kind craft beers are getting too high.

The only craft breweries that are surviving are those that have found creative ways to stay afloat. One of those is the surprising increase of non-alcoholic beverages at local craft breweries. Distill Ventures takes a deep dive into why non-alcoholic cocktails are increasing in popularity lately.

If you have a local craft brewery that you love, make sure you visit it often to help it stay open and thriving, because they need your help right now.