My Current State of Craft Beer

When I first started in the craft beer industry, I was working as an associate at a craft beer and wine carryout store. This was a time when craft beer was at its height. It was a time of bottle allocations and sometimes having to sell a case of Zombie dust from 3 Floyds by the bottle so everyone could get one. It is now 2026, and I am employed as an assistant brewer in central Ohio. The state of the industry is changing, not just on the state level but on the national level, with craft beer sales dropping about 4% from 2024 to 2025, and more breweries closing in 2024 than opening for the first year ever. 

Just recently, although I am not a fan of them, Brewdog closed both of their taprooms in the Columbus Market, with their only open location being their main taproom and Doghouse Hotel. With Brewdog being a huge player in the Columbus market, despite their predatory behaviors, this has been a shock to the community. 

  Rogue was one of the breweries that got me into craft beer, a closure that hit a little too close to home, somewhere I believed would be around forever. They were true pioneers of the industry and were a bottle shop staple for years. 

With the younger generations drinking less, powerhouses like those mentioned above closing, and drinking trends changing in the country, adaptation is essential. This has caused a new rise in beverages, with people turning to ready to drink cocktails, and businesses utilizing THC to create something more inventive. Breweries have leaned on these sales to cover the gap. However, in the state of Ohio, recent legislation has pretty much made THC illegal to manufacture and sell, which puts breweries and bottle shops in an even more damaging position. 

I am very fortunate where I work. We are the only brewery in town and our competition is very different from what other breweries have. While we do not distribute in cans, we create an inviting atmosphere, collaborating with smaller food businesses that invite patrons into the establishment.  Our cans aren’t dying on already choked out shelves.

In the current economy, people have less time and money, and it’s more challenging than ever to decide where you want to spend it. The option of choice has to be more deliberate for customers when everything is more expensive, and while breweries in the past could spread the wealth, the already oversaturated industry is now far more competitive.

You’ll likely ask yourself what that means for the future of craft beer, and as much as I would love to give you a definite answer, it’s still up in the air. If I had to guess where the industry is leading, I’d probably tell you that it’s not looking good for microbreweries, and that there will be far more closing in the years to come. Remember to support local when possible, visit the breweries you don’t see on shelves when you can, and diversify where you frequent. We may not be able to eradicate the inevitable, but we can prolong it.