Are this the Craft Beer Rocket Ride Fizzling Out?

Craft beer is growing as a component of the overall beer industry. Similar to wineries, there's craft beer breweries across the 50 states. Craft beer, as a term in the world of alcohol-related beverages has been in existence for a few decades; but there is no specific date to establish an official beginning point for the industry. In 1859, the Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco began to brew. However, up to 1965, Anchor Brewing Company had a shady past of financial problems in the production of fine beers. But, since 1965, it has had a record of achievement and is acknowledged as the first American craft beer brewery.

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Despite the increase in brewery production, the craft beer industry is facing significant challenges. Examples include: continuously changing consumer preferences as well as rapid expansion in the industry increase in the variety of products available (this is a case of innovative products like hard cider) and distribution restrictions responses to market trends and imports. However, in December , the new tax law went into effect and will allow capital to finance expansion and marketing plans without requiring debt. "CMBTRA (Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act-2017) as part of the new tax bill is cutting the excise tax bill in half for the nations small brewers," Bart Watson, Chief Economist of the Brewers Association. This is a significant amount of capital that can be reinvested. "There are benefits for wine/spirits producers as well."
The consumption of beer per capita within the U.S. has been flat for the past decade. But it is worth mentioning that, as one of the most important points, "craft beer" appears to have increased by 5percent in the year 2017. The main issue for"the "here-and-now" is the loss in the volume of shipments during 2017 in the entire industry as a whole. Beer Institute economist Michael Uhrich states, "the 2.2 percent decline in shipments (through November 2017) is the largest percentage decrease in annual domestic beer shipment volume since 1954." This raises the question: Could this be a sign of shifts within the industry? Sales of beers are measured in terms of barrels shipped. The 2017 numbers show 3.8 million fewer barrels sold. In 2017, U.S. brewers produced 170 million barrels with each one equals 248 glasses of beers. The beer barrel weighs 30 gallons in comparison to wine's 60 barrels that weigh 60 gallons. In addition the craft spirit industry has seen an increase of 4 percent and wine is expected to record an increase of 2% in production.
Mr. Bart Watson, attributes the decline in domestic sales in 2017 to the fact that consumers are trading in their domestic lagers and lighter lagers from their domestic brands to import brands. Furthermore, issues related to branding/marketing distribution, shifts in demographics and so on. have a direct impact on the industry as well. "I would expect this trend to continue for the medium term," Watson writes. "In addition, wine and spirits growth in market penetration are two other reasons." Craft brewers lead the trend in the battle against new niches like in-style and marketing.
U.S. households who consume spirits, wine and beer (26 percentage of household households as well as 55 percent sales spent on adult beverages) are now more numerous than those who drink only two or three of them in accordance with Nielsen Homescan figures. The results of a Harris Poll conducted Jan. 16-18, 2017 revealed that 39 percent prefer beer first while 29 percent go to wine, 27 go to spirits, and 4 percent in hard cider. It's an increase for wine by 21 percent, who claimed that it was their preferred choice in the past, but lower for beer from 45 percent and spirits, from 32 percent. This indicates a shift to wine as millennials become older.