Key takeaways:
- The US craft beer sector saw volumes decline 4.1% in the first half of the year, mirroring overall beer market trends
- Despite the decline in volumes, the number of craft beer consumers has increased
- Many brewers are diversifying beyond beer production to adapt to consumer trends and stabilize revenue streams.
The craft beer industry once enjoyed meteoric growth rates in the US: but the picture has been less rosy over the last few years.
Already a maturing category – with a slowdown in growth rates as a result – the craft beer industry took a big hit from the pandemic and associated shut down of on-trade venues.
Since then, it’s been a picture of mixed recovery (2024 was, according to the craft beer industry association the Brewers Association, a ‘painful period of rationalization’).
So how are things shaping up in 2025? The latest stats from the Brewers Association reveal how the craft beer market is faring.
Again, 2025 is shaping up to be a mixed picture.
Volumes declined 4.1% in the first half of 2025. While not a positive figure, this is actually in line with the beer market overall and, in fact, slightly better (industry volumes down 4.2%).
On the other hand, craft beer hasn’t lost its touch. There are more craft beer drinkers than ever before: 2024 data from Scarborough show that 9.8% of legal drinking age adults consumed craft beer in the past 30 days, up 6.6% from 2013.
The frequency at which craft beer is consumed has declined, although this is in line with the overall industry trends of ‘drinking less but better’.
Another explanation for volume decline is diversification. Many brewers are expanding beyond beer production to neighboring categories, finding a way to diversify revenue and keep up with consumer trends.
In terms of brewery numbers, closings continuing to outpace openings.
The number of craft breweries operating in June 2025 (9,269) was down 1% from the number operating in June 2024 (9,352).
Smaller, distribution-focused microbreweries saw the biggest declines: down 3%.
But there are still positives for the industry. In the survey, slightly more brewers reported growth in production than those who face declines (49% of respondents compared to 47%, the remainder staying flat).
Although taprooms and brewpubs make up just a small percentage of the overall volume in the industry (15% in 2024), they represent an outsized 73% of craft businesses.
“Overall, the results of this midyear survey indicate that for many breweries, the challenges they’ve faced over the past few years have either continued or accelerated,” said Matt Gacioch, staff economist at the Brewers Association.
“Some breweries that found marginal growth in 2024 experienced slight decreases in the first six months of this year.”
| Number of craft breweries | Production growth (volume) | Craft beer market share | Overall beer market growth | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 8.419 | 4% | 13.6% | -2% | Maturing market |
| 2020 | 8,921 | -9% | 12.3% | -3% | Pandemic hit |
| 2021 | 9,210 | 8% | 13.1% | 1% | Pandemic rebound |
| 2022 | 9,675 | -2% | 13.2% | -3% | Normalization |
| 2023 | 9,761 | -1% | 13.6% | -5% | Craft beer declines less severe than overall beer |
| 2024 | 9,861 | -3.9% | 13.3% | -1.2% | Craft beer declines more pronounced than overall beer |
