India Pale Ales, Session beers, Imperial Ports, Stouts, Sours and Lagers – the variety in craft beer styles can go on forever. Despite the craft beer industry being severely impacted by the covid-19 pandemic, craft beer is still proving itself to be a growth sector in the beer brewing industry as a whole. From Los Angeles to New York City, and Seattle to Miami, microbreweries are reimagining and reinventing the beers we know. Experts in the industry are speculating that the craft beer trend will continue to grow in years, and perhaps decades to come.
The impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the market
According to the definition of the Brewers Association, which is the largest craft beer trade organisation in the country, an American craft brewer is “small, independent and traditional” in their operations. Despite the devastating impacts of the coronavirus pandemic across the US economy, the total number of craft breweries amazingly reached an all-time high last year in 2020. A total of 8,764 craft breweries are now in operation across the country. In 2020, California ranked first place in the number of craft breweries per US state, with over 900 craft breweries for beer-lovers to choose from.
Even though the total number of craft breweries in the US hit an all-time high last year, the total amount of beer produced saw its first decline ever in 2020, compared with 2019. A total of 23.1 million barrels of beer were produced in 2020, which was a reduction of approximately 3.2 million barrels in 2019. With regards to specific craft beer brands, Blue Moon, Sierra Nevada, and New Belgium were the top three performers in terms of sales in 2020.
The craft beer market is small, but growing in popularity
Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage on the planet, and the craft beer scene is most certainly making every effort to capture more of a market share for beer sales overall. That being said, light beer is still by far, the most popular beer of choice in the United States, and by a huge margin. Craft beer has an established and growing audience but is yet to gain what many would consider a mainstream appeal. The share of people drinking craft beer is growing at a steady pace from year to year and all the indicators are showing this will continue to be the case in years to come.
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