American Craft Beer Looks Back At 2014

We can’t believe that 2014 is already in the rearview mirror. What an incredible year – it flew by so fast and so much happened. Throughout this week, we’ll be reflecting on “the year that was” – all the things that we found significant – and what it all might mean, for us and the industry, going forward.

, American Craft Beer Looks Back At 2014The Growth of US Breweries Reaches Historic Levels

As of November, there were more than 3,200 operating breweries in the country and pending brewery licenses reached historic levels (4,500) in the first six months of last year. Regional breweries are now opening at the amazing rate of 1.5 per day. According to the Brewers Association, there are now thirteen states (California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio) with more than 100 breweries each. And almost 75 percent of Americans now live within ten miles of a brewery.

Craft Beer is Becoming Increasingly Commonplace and its Fans More Diverse

Craft beer continued to show double-digit growth last year and its increasingly becoming more a part of our country’s pop-cultural psyche. Thirty-eight percent of American households bought craft beer in the last year versus 29 percent in 2010. Women now consume almost 32 percent of craft beer volume, almost half of which comes from women ages 21-34. Hispanics also grew as craft beer consumers and producers in 2014. According to data provided by Technomic, two-fifths of Hispanic consumers (43 percent) order craft beer in restaurants and bars at least once a month, and three in ten (31 percent) consume craft beer at home.

Big Craft Brewers Expand Their Brewery Operations

What actually began in 2013 accelerated wildly last year, as more western-based craft beer majors staked their claims in the East and the Midwest. Lagunitas, the fifth largest craft brewer in the nation, opened its second brewery in Chicago last April. Both Sierra Nevada and Oskar Blues started brewing at their new facilities in North Carolina. New Belgium will soon be bringing its Asheville-based operation online, as will Green Flash in Norfolk, Virginia. Additionally, Stone announced in October that they will be building a new East coast-based brewery in Richmond, VA in 2015.

, American Craft Beer Looks Back At 2014American Craft Beer Goes Global

One of the biggest stories of 2014 was Stone Brewing’s announcement that they had acquired property and would be renovating a historic gasworks complex in Berlin, Germany, that will serve as a production brewery, a destination restaurant and gardens, and a new distribution base for their operations throughout Europe. This is an iconic and totally American craft beer company brewing its beers overseas with the intention of bringing their brand far beyond Germany itself. This is huge in itself – but we expect that more breweries will follow in Stone’s (and to a lesser degree, Brooklyn Brewing’s) footsteps as the American craft beer industry increasingly becomes an economic force abroad.

Craft Beer Took to the Skies

Just as craft beer’s popularity has widened across the country and spread over to Europe, it has also extended into the skies. 2014 saw Jet Blue, Delta, and Alaskan join a handful of other regional airlines now serving serious beer at 35,000 feet. And we expect to see craft beer served on Trans-Atlantic flights in the future as well.

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