I think, for many of us, 2017 will be a year we never forget. The 365 days we lived the state of our world, the state of our morals and even the state of our beer seemed to be summed up into the phrase “this is not normal”.
Last year saw the craft beer industry in a place in which it hasn’t been in for a long time – struggling with growth. Every day the number of breweries went up as operations of all shapes and sizes came on, reaching from ocean to ocean and border to border. With this growth the competition in the market for tap handles and shelf space became tighter. Some national and regional brands, long thought of as the leaders of growth, struggled to find the steady growth they’d became accustomed to in previous years or for some declines for the first time in the modern beer boom. It would seem the people were saying “Why should I drink this beer made several states away when I have this great small brewery right in my town?”
But even small, local breweries with years of experience and acclaim, that you may have though could never waver, find themselves struggling to keep the drinkers they once had. More and more “neighbors” are opening up and offering something new or even something better and the once thought of veterans of the scene now find themselves playing catch up to the new kids on the block.
We saw the rise in popularity of styles that has caused as many divisions as our nation’s politics. Is the push of innovation leading to the downfall of stability? Ask Twitter and you’ll see that strong divide again.
