While the age of craft beer cults, highly flavorful brews and the hazy IPA craze is decidedly over, craft brewers are working in a new normal: keeping the bold beers the category became known for while building out the basics.
Local craft breweries have been hit hard by a changing industry that has more consumers opting out of alcohol or exploring other options, including ready-to-drink cocktails. In 2025, the craft brewing industry reported a 4% production slide, with 60% of breweries experiencing declines, according to the Brewers’ Association.
Younger generations' perception of the category has played a major part, with many consumers who missed out on craft beer's heyday finding themselves confused with an abundance of niche and complex flavor profiles. Many Gen Zers have instead turned to ready-to-drink cocktails, which offer convenient and more simple flavor combinations.
“If craft is perceived as too bitter, too heavy, too complicated, or too niche, it’s up to the industry to reframe those expectations.”
Matt Gacioch
Staff Economist, The Brewers Association
A little over half of adults who drink alcohol but avoid craft beer say they do so because they don’t like the flavor, according to a consumer survey from the Brewers Association, but 32% of non-craft drinkers can’t identify the flavor profiles of craft beer they don’t like. Younger legal drinkers (21 to 34 year olds) were more likely to say they don’t drink more craft beer because their friends don’t, or because they avoid ingredients like gluten.
“If craft is perceived as too bitter, too heavy, too complicated, or too niche, it’s up to the industry to reframe those expectations,” Matt Gacioch, staff economist at the Brewers Association, said in the report.
Spencer Guy, co-owner and director of brewing operations at Atrium Brewing in Louisville, Kentucky, has noticed a shift in craft beer preferences during the last decade.
When he started in the craft beer industry in the late 2010s, heavy, hoppy and flavor-forward beer was all the rage. While these brews still sell in his taproom, he is seeing a revival in crispy, refreshing beer.
“I think that we're seeing a lot more of the younger crowd come back around and get excited about all of these like old classic and traditional styles that used to be really popular before the American palate got their hands on it and turn[ed] it into this fruit festival,” Guy said. “English mild ale or Czech-style pilsner, are some of these old styles that we love as brewers, but it's new to [the younger generation], which is really funny.”
However, Guy is quick to say that there is still demand for what he calls “novelty beers,” or flavor-forward and high-alcohol brews. About 40% of Atrium’s production remains fruit-forward sours.
“Those are kind of conversation pieces,” Guy said of novelty beers. “Whereas a German lager is more of a conversation piece in a different way. That’s [a beer] where you talk about life with each other. The peanut butter and jelly sour you’re sitting down to share with a friend, all you’ll be able to talk about is how ridiculous and stupid this thing in your glass is.”
Vince Tursi, owner and CEO of Asheville, North Carolina-based Dssolvr, said the pendulum began swinging back to classic beer styles between 2022 and 2023. Despite this, Dssolvr, like Atrium, has seen success with gluten free sours, which make up about 35% of its production.
Experience is everything
A glut of craft beer brands in the mid 2010s essentially led to a “de-branding” of the category, according to IWSR. Now, instead of buying based on brand, consumers are focusing more on expressions, flavors and the community aspect of beer.
Customers aren’t just paying for a beer but also an experience or atmosphere. Younger consumers are more price conscious and less willing to spend $8 on a pint they might not enjoy, Guy said, making it an imperative for breweries to tap into the experiential portion of a brewery.
The stakes to create an experiential beer or atmosphere are high. Because there are so many craft options, Guy said, there are more opportunities for consumers to have a craft beer they don’t like, which leads them to dislike the category as a whole.
“If you go to a brewery that makes mediocre beer and you’re new to this, you might just make a decision that you don’t like craft beer based on that one experience,” Guy said.
The Brewers Association noted in its April report that it may be premature to call this the “new normal” for craft beer, however it might be heading there.
“What’s nearly guaranteed is that success going forward will come down to creating something meaningful and memorable for consumers. Breweries that deliver consistent quality, human connection, and unique experiences will stand out,” the Brewers association noted.
Leaning into latest trends
Craft brewers are also leaning into emerging trends within alcohol overall, offering options with a variety of ABVs and bringing new drinks beyond beer into the rotation.
Craft beers have a reputation for having high alcohol content, though data suggests that both high- and low-alcohol beers are performing well in the craft segment. The Brewers Association found that about 66% of craft beer consumers seek high-alcohol products, up 6 percentage points from last year. Those that seek lower alcohol content also grew last year to 44%, up 5 percentage points year over year.
Beers with alcohol content between 5% and 6.5% are more approachable to most of the population overall, Tursi said. What he calls “the age of excess,” isn’t a piece of the puzzle anymore.
Tursi also emphasized that in addition to becoming a third space for consumers, craft breweries should cast a wider net, by appealing to trends in nonalcoholic beer and THC beverages.
“Even during a recession, people aren’t going to stop drinking alcohol. That’s as old as time,” Tursi said. “I’m not saying ditch your beer for nonalcoholic production, but like thinking about having those options is going to keep you reliable and at the top of the pack.”
