Brewers Association Infographic The business of craft beer continues to grow both in barrels of beer, and in dollars. The Brewer's Association just published headline data from their annual assessment of industry trends. It's teasing out a more detailed presentation at the Craft Brewer's Conference at the end of April. Here are a few key take aways from the data shared so far. Craft beer prices went up by about 1% in real dollars. There was an 8% Increase in retail sales. Inflation was 1.8% in 2017. Breweries are opening faster than the market grows. There was a 16% increase in brewers. The report does not discuss changes in craft brewing capacity, which I think is the an interesting part of the story. However a follow up analysis by Bart Watson, BA's resident economist, indicated that the revenue growth was limited to the microbrewers and brewpubs, while the larger so-called regional brewers (>15,000 bbl/yr)...
Enjoyed simply, or thoughtfully, beer is a complete refreshment.