Dave Marliave of Flat Tail Brewing Co. was at the Great American Beer Festival when he learned his brewery had just won a gold medal. “I would say I was speechless,” Marliave recalled. “But the reaction was quite the opposite. I jumped out of my chair and tried to stop crying before I got to the stage.”

At this year’s Craft Beer Conference, Bart Watson’s message to attendees was clear: The craft beer industry is entering a maturation period. Growth in the craft sector, while still present, has slowed, and the industry’s“new normal,” is setting in.