How is 2024 shaping up for the US craft beer industry?

The US craft beer industry once enjoyed meteoric growth rates: but the picture has been less rosy over the last few years. In 2023, the industry produced 23.4 million barrels of beer, a decline of 1% from 2022. However, this volume loss has to be taken in context of the overall beer industry, which declined 5.1%: meaning craft beer effectively increased its market share to 13.3%. So how is the picture shaping up for 2024? Craft beer enjoyed impressive growth throughout the 90s and 2000s (at times boasting double-digit growth rates). But by 2019 it was already turning into a more mature market with steadier growth rates (4% volume growth in 2019, against a backdrop of industry declines of 2%). The pandemic, however, hit the sector hard. Being small businesses by definition, craft brewers were among the most vulnerable companies. Many rely on taprooms and the on-trade, which had to close during the peak of the pandemic (as a result, craft beer production dropped 9% in 2020.​)​ The ...