Brewers Affiliation – The 2024 Yr in Beer

Boulder, Colo. — As 2024 involves a detailed, the Brewers Affiliation (BA)—the not-for-profit commerce affiliation devoted to small and impartial American craft brewers—recaps a yr of decelerated progress and continued honing of choices.

Within the BA’s midyear survey, craft noticed a barely extra important estimated decline in manufacturing (-2%) in comparison with the complete yr 2023 information (-1%). There have been no important year-over-year (YOY) variations in gross sales quantity share by channel, and one distributed channel didn’t overtake one other, suggesting a stability between the place shoppers are buying and the place breweries are supplying.

Within the second half of the yr, Q3 scan information instructed weaker efficiency than the primary half of the yr, although there was some deceleration of declines in current intervals. This means a full-year quantity that could be weaker than the midyear estimate.

“Craft has been going by way of a painful interval of rationalization as demand progress has slowed and retailers and distributors look to simplify their choices or add choices for taste and selection outdoors of the craft class,” mentioned Bart Watson, vice chairman of technique and membership, Brewers Affiliation. “That mentioned, breweries have reacted to those modifications by specializing in distribution, persevering with to innovate of their taprooms and brewpubs, creating teams and partnerships, and providing a wider vary of drinks of their portfolios.”

Right here’s a take a look at the highlights defining the Yr in Beer.

Craft Beer by the Numbers

• Rely: The variety of small and impartial breweries in operation within the U.S. in 2024 totaled 9,736.
• Openings and Closings: All year long, the BA has tracked 335 new brewery openings and 399 closings. Regardless of the slight decline within the variety of breweries in operation, closings stay a low proportion of whole working breweries.
• Employment: The craft beer business supported practically 460,000 jobs nationwide, fostering native economies and creating alternatives.
• Financial Impression: Craft beer’s contribution to the U.S. financial system reached a powerful $77.1 billion, demonstrating its important position within the broader beverage market.

2024’s Hottest Market Traits

• Non-Alcohol Beer Growth: With the rising demand for conscious consuming, non-alcohol beer gross sales soared (scan {dollars} up 30%+ year-over-year from January by way of October) as brewers refined their methods to ship flavor-packed choices.
• Focus: After years of unfettered innovation ruling the business, brewers are focusing extra on constructing off of merchandise and fashions the place they’ve discovered success.
• Hospitality: Breweries embraced new methods to emphasise the client expertise, from providing various eating choices, cocktails, and conscious consuming choices to family-friendly actions akin to menus for youths to paint.

Main Occasions of 2024

• Nice American Beer Pageant®Opens in new window (GABF®): October’s GABF welcomed greater than 40,000 attendees and featured 2,500+ beers from 500+ breweries, highlighting the perfect American craft beer, ciders, ready-to-drink cocktails, exhausting teas, and kombuchas. 
• World Beer Cup®Opens in new window (WBC): Often known as “The Olympics of Beer,” the 2024 WBC evaluated 9,300 entries with breweries from 37 international locations vying for international recognition.
• Beer Weeks: Communities throughout the U.S. celebrated American Craft Beer Week®Opens in new window in Might, strengthening the bond between breweries and their followers.

Trying Forward

Because the craft beer panorama evolves, the business is poised for one more difficult yr in 2025, with extra uncertainty, potential tariffs and rising prices, retailers and distributors seeking to simplify choices, and potential new dietary pointers for beverage alcohol. Market pressures will probably result in continued consolidation and alliances to chop prices and make the most of extra capability.

“Brewers are experiencing essential challenges on the crossroads of a high-cost atmosphere paired with slowing progress,” mentioned Watson. “To develop in 2025, brewers should do what they do finest: adapt. In addition they might want to proceed to do the exhausting work to search out methods to inform their story and differentiate their manufacturers towards the competitors.”

For a deeper dive into 2024 and predictions for 2025, BA members are invited to attend the “Ten Factors and Predictions for 2025” webinar on Thursday, December 19 at 11:00 a.m. MT with Vice President of Technique and Membership Bart Watson and Workers Economist Matt Gacioch. Register right here.

In regards to the Brewers Affiliation

The Brewers Affiliation (BA) is the not-for-profit commerce affiliation devoted to small and independentOpens in new window American brewers, their beers, and the group of brewing fanatics. The BA represents 5,600-plus U.S. breweries. The BA’s impartial craft brewer seal is a broadly adopted image that differentiates beers by small and impartial craft brewers. The Brewers Affiliation organizes occasions, together with the World Beer Cup^®, Nice American Beer FestivalOpens in new window^®, Craft Brewers ConferenceOpens in new window^® & BrewExpo America^®, Nationwide Homebrew CompetitionOpens in new window, and American Craft Beer WeekOpens in new window^®. The BA publishes The New BrewerOpens in new window^® and Zymurgy^® magazines, and Brewers Publications^® is the main writer of brewing literature within the U.S. Beer lovers are invited to be taught extra in regards to the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.comOpens in new window^® and about homebrewing through the American Homebrewers AssociationOpens in new window^®. Comply with us on Fb, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

The Brewers Affiliation is an equal alternative employer and doesn’t discriminate on the idea of race, colour, nationwide origin, gender, faith, age, incapacity, political opinions, sexual orientation, or marital/familial standing. The BA complies with provisions of Government Order 13672 and the foundations, laws, and related orders of the Secretary of Labor.