BOULDER, CO — As 2024 winds down, the Brewers Association (BA) has summed up the year for America’s small and independent craft brewers: slower growth, tighter belts, and a lot of strategic pivoting.
Craft beer production is now tracking toward a roughly 2% full-year decline—noticeably steeper than the 1% dip seen in 2023. Where people are buying beer (grocery, liquor stores, bars, taprooms) hasn’t shifted dramatically year-over-year, and no single sales channel has stolen share from another. In other words, the pie isn’t moving; it’s just getting a little smaller.
The second half of the year felt heavier than the first. Early scanner data from Q3 showed sales softening further, though the bleeding has slowed in the most recent months. Bottom line: the final 2024 numbers will likely land a bit south of the midyear -2% estimate.
“Craft is in the middle of a tough but necessary correction,” said Bart Watson, the BA’s chief economist. “With overall demand growth stalled, retailers and distributors are pruning SKUs and reaching for flavored malt beverages, hard seltzers, imports, or domestic premiums to fill the variety void. Breweries are responding the only way they can: tightening distribution footprints, doubling down on the taproom experience, forming alliances, and broadening their lineups to include lagers, light beers, NA options, seltzers, and whatever else keeps the lights on.”
That’s the 2024 craft beer story in a nutshell: less volume, more hustle, and a whole lot of adaptation.
Craft Beer by the Numbers
Count: The number of small and independent breweries in operation in the U.S. in 2024 totaled 9,736.
Openings and Closings: Throughout the year, the BA has tracked 335 new brewery openings and 399 closings. Despite the slight decline in the number of breweries in operation, closings remain a low percentage of total operating breweries.
Employment: The craft beer industry supported nearly 460,000 jobs nationwide, fostering local economies and creating opportunities.
Economic Impact: Craft beer’s contribution to the U.S. economy reached an impressive $77.1 billion, demonstrating its vital role in the broader beverage market.
2024’s Hottest Market Trends
Non-Alcohol Beer Boom: With the growing demand for mindful drinking, non-alcohol beer sales soared (scan dollars up 30%+ year-over-year from January through October) as brewers refined their techniques to deliver flavor-packed options.
Focus: After years of unfettered innovation ruling the industry, brewers are focusing more on building off of products and models where they’ve found success.
Hospitality: Breweries embraced new ways to emphasize the customer experience, from offering diverse dining options, cocktails, and mindful drinking options to family-friendly activities such as menus for kids to color.
Major Events of 2024
Great American Beer Festival (GABF®): October’s GABF welcomed more than 40,000 attendees and featured 2,500+ beers from 500+ breweries, highlighting the best American craft beer, ciders, ready-to-drink cocktails, hard teas, and kombuchas.
World Beer Cup (WBC): Known as “The Olympics of Beer,” the 2024 WBC evaluated 9,300 entries with breweries from 37 countries vying for global recognition.
Beer Weeks: Communities across the U.S. celebrated American Craft Beer Week in May, strengthening the bond between breweries and their fans.
Looking Ahead
Heading into 2025, craft beer is staring down another tough year: flat or shrinking demand, rising costs, possible new tariffs, jittery retailers still trimming shelf sets, and the looming specter of stricter federal dietary guidelines on alcohol. Expect more brewery closures, mergers, creative alliances, and co-packing deals as everyone scrambles to share overhead and soak up excess tank space.
“Brewers are caught between skyrocketing costs and a market that’s stopped growing,” says Bart Watson, chief economist at the Brewers Association. “The ones who make it will be the ones who adapt fastest—brewing what actually sells, leaning harder into their taprooms, and finding fresh ways to remind drinkers why a local craft beer is worth a couple extra bucks when the macro lagers and flavored vodka seltzers are screaming for attention.”
In short: survive by out-hustling, out-storytelling, and out-brewing the competition. Same as it ever was—only the margin for error just got razor-thin.
For Brewing fun facts, trivia, movies and more, Click Here.
Boulder, Colorado — The Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade group representing small and independent American craft brewers, reflects on a tough 2023 marked by a competitive, mature market. A midyear survey revealed a production decline, the first outside of 2020, driven by slow growth across the beer industry. Factors like pricing, demographics, and marketing challenges contributed to beer’s ongoing loss of share within the beverage alcohol sector. Despite these hurdles, craft beer remains a powerhouse, with independent brewers accounting for one in eight beers sold in the U.S. and capturing one in four beer dollars, while supporting jobs and communities nationwide, according to Bart Watson, chief economist at the Brewers Association.