The future of the craft beer business

The craft beer business has experienced a boom in the past couple of years. Where before there were the big old brands that we all know, now there is an ever-expanding selection to chose from.

But experts are now saying that this may not last forever. Lloyd Chambers, co-founder of the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, said: “there will always be room in the market for good beer, but the explosive growth the province has seen in the last five years may not last forever.”

This is due to the high volume of crafts that may soon overwhelm the market.

With a population of around 750,000 people, New Brunswick is one of the smallest provinces of Canada. But that doesn’t mean that there are fewer breweries. In the first year of the Fredericton Craft Beer festival, only 4 breweries took part in it, this year there were around 30. There is a hope amongst the brewing community in New Brunswick to turn the province into a national beer destination. There is even a documentary filmed in 2016 that talks about the industry in NB, and what steps are needed to make this hope into a reality. Beerocracy tells the stories of brewers both big and small, drinkers, and the regulations that shape, help and hinder the popular craft alcohol industry.

Beerocracy from Alex Vietinghoff on Vimeo.

With many craft breweries around the US and Canada selling out to big corporations, many now think that that might be the best solution for their companies. Small breweries struggle to meet demand and selling out to bigger brands helps them to reach a wider market.

Mid-year figures from the Brewers Association in the US, the trade group for independent brewers, shows that American craft beer production volumes increased 5% in the first half of 2017.

That’s a little less than 2016’s mid-year increase of 8% and notably lower than the 16% mid-year production increase of 2015.

In the case of Fredericton, new breweries have been created in the past couple of years, like Maybee, that celebrated their second anniversary with a party where people from all over enjoyed freshly created brews and the music from two bands.

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Photos by Rafael Parra

Another Atlantic Province has joined the bandwagon of the craft beer industry. Newfoundland and Labrador are expecting nearly 20 new microbreweries to be opened by the end of next year.

According to brewer and beer blogger Chris Conway, NF&L is just starting to get in on a trend that’s been sweeping the U.S. and the rest of Canada for more than a decade.

“It seems like a lot in just the Newfoundland context, but if you look at the larger national context in provinces like Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, we are way, way behind,” he told the St. John’s Morning Show.

One of the most interesting facts about this craft beer renaissance in Newfoundland and Labrador is that it’s occurring on a much larger scale in rural areas, and not it St. John, as one would expect.

But this is something good, as it might attract “beer tourists” to small communities that are off the beaten track. It is going to drive tourism to towns and communities, just for people to say ‘I want to go try a new beer.’

A problem that is also common amongst the newly founded breweries in Newfoundland (pun intended) is the ability to keep up with the demand. We might see some of the most popular crafts sell out to bigger companies.

With so many options to choose from, is now up to the breweries to keep offering quality beer to compete with the bigger brands that flow the market with beers that don’t offer the possibility of a magnificent taste experience.