Explore the world of craft beer, from performance reports and innovation tactics to the state of the industry and breaking news.
Anyone looking for an answer to when craft’s current era of compounding hurdles and declines will come to an end received a reality check Wednesday during Brewers Association (BA) president and CEO Bart Watson’s state of the industry address, held at the start of Day 2 of the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Indianapolis.
Around 10,000 industry members are expected to make the trip to Indianapolis for the 2025 Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America (April 28 to May 1). The gathering takes place against a backdrop of growing headwinds for craft breweries and an overhaul of CBC’s host organization, the Brewers Association.
Craft’s rolling four-week losses improved to start 2025, according to the most recent report from market research firm Circana. The segment’s off-premise dollar sales declined -3.1% and volume, measured in case sales, declined -4.6% in the four-week period ending January 26 (L4W) at multi-outlet grocery, mass retail and convenience stores (MULO+C). That marked an improvement over the prior four-week period (through December 29, 2024), when craft dollars declined -5.1% and volume declined -6.5%.
Although still in decline, craft beer’s dollar sales and volume losses eased up in May, according to the most recent off-premise report from market research firm Circana.
Since April 2023, Ohio fans of Hi-Wire Brewing could get a taste of North Carolina by visiting the brewery’s Cincinnati taproom. But as of this week, the location is now in the hands of Kentucky-based Braxton Brewing.
In Brewbound’s final feature coverage of the Brewers Association’s (BA) 2024 craft production numbers, we dove into trends amongst some of the smaller subsets: microbreweries, taprooms and brewpubs.
Three East Coast craft breweries have teamed up to launch a new multi-facility contract brewing platform. B3 Beverage Company is a joint venture from Stratford, Connecticut-based Two Roads Brewing, Philadelphia-based Yards Brewing and Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania-based Bald Birds Brewing.
Nearly two months after the sale of its distribution business and future taproom rights, Great Divide Brewing is shuttering its Denver locations.
Nearly three-fifths of Brewers Association (BA) defined regional craft breweries (57.02%) beyond the top 50 recorded production volume declines in 2024, according to annual data shared by the trade association in the May/June issue of the New Brewer magazine.
Highland Brewing founder Oscar P. Wong, known as the “Godfather of Asheville Craft Beer,” has died at age 84, the Asheville craft brewery shared today.
Volume at craft breweries outside of the Brewers Association’s (BA) definition of small and independent declined 4% on a comparable basis, to 6.752 million barrels, in 2024, the trade group reported in the May/June edition of The New Brewer magazine.
More than half of the Brewers Association’s (BA) top 50 craft breweries recorded year-over-year (YoY) production volume gains in 2024, in a positive shift from 2023 trends, according to annual production data shared by the trade group today.
Six of the 10 largest Brewers Association-defined (BA) craft breweries recorded volume declines in 2024, according to data from the trade group’s May/June edition of The New Brewer magazine.
In this episode of the Brewbound Podcast, leaders from Sierra Nevada and New Trail discuss their craft portfolios, innovation, packaging and recent wins during the 2025 Craft Brewers Conference.
Craft Brewers Conference conversations continue on the Brewbound Podcast with a pair of interviews featuring Right Proper Brewing co-owner and Brewers Association board chairwoman Leah Cheston and Hi-Wire Brewing co-owner Adam Charnack.
It started with a simple bag of grain. Later, that grain was processed into chips. But the fun really ramped up when West African food company Yolélé turned fonio, a niche “miracle grain” that the brand has made its hero ingredient, into a limited-edition beer.
Despite recent headwinds, craft beer continues to have the largest share of beer sales at Total Wine & More stores. But “it won’t stay that way” if industry trends continue, according to the chain retailer’s senior director, merchandising, Andrea Starr.
