Time to break out my best Marketplace announcer voice for the latest edition of the numbers from the Brewers Association.
My eye always lands first on the openings and closings numbers and this year saw another net gain 615-46 or 569 new to the fold breweries. This probably provides more fodder for the bubble crowd but each year they sound a little more like Chicken Little. I still stand by my prediction that the number of breweries to open will eventually drop but that will be a slow drop that will be offset by the growth in amount of craft beer made…..
…Which rose 18% in 2014. That is a big number and it pushed the overall volume over the magic 10% mark. If only retail had pushed over the 20% line. It “only” grew 22% to 19.3% overall.
Now if only “big” beer wouldn’t drag our numbers down.
Here is the graphic for you to peruse…
