The growth of craft beers in the last ten years has been exponential, compared to the flat revenues of the major brewing companies. Companies such as Molson-Coors, AB-Inbev, and SAB-Miller are seeing declining sales of major brands and increases in niche market beers, or what they term '"imports." This, for many, is a step away from major domestic beers toward more "craft"-oriented styles.
In the U.S., craft beer is growing every year, and made up 7.2 percent of the industry output and 4.3 percent of sales in 2009. These growth rates are helping with the emergence of some bigger names in the craft beer market. Companies like Stone, Rogue, Dogfish Head, Sierra Nevada, and Sam Adams are all impacting the craft brewing market.
Nano- and Micro-Breweries
"The nanobrewer isn’t going to quit his day job. They are brewing because they love the process and want to share the results with the people in their neighborhoods." --Top Fermented
Home brewers are creating what they now call nanobreweries, which are small brewers that do not distribute their beers beyond a small group of friends. The term was one I first read about in a magazine, then started appearing in stories about some local Seattle brewers. Nanobrewing is also associated with restaurants or bars that want to serve some of their own brewed beer, but are not classified as a brewpub for licensing rules.
Sour Beers
This is a trend that is not necessarily new, but there are now more beer drinkers who are accepting these styles of beer. Beer does not always have to be sweet; it can be induced with fruit to provide a sourness on the palate. The variety originated in Belgium and is now catching on in the U.S. Many brewers are creating sour styles as an alternative to their regular line-up of beers.
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Article comments
1 - Jake
Dogfish Head is definetly going to make an impact with their reality show being so popular.