Are Big Craft Breweries Viable Anymore?

*Asterisks indicate companies not included in the Brewers Association definition of “craft breweries.”

Behold this table. I am going to do something fairly rare and not offer any analysis. These Brewers Association numbers, which I think are correct (there’s some question), show the performance of a number of larger, stand-alone breweries, The list excludes companies like Tilray, with many brands and breweries. The “Change” column on the right-hand side measures the breweries’ five-year performance. An asterisk indicates a brewery the BA does not designate as “craft.”

As you can see, one-third of these larger breweries grew, while two thirds shrank. If you remove Athletic, which actually produces a different product, the overall performance of these big breweries worsens considerably. It’s a collective loss of around 2.2 million barrels, an overall decline of 16%.

Consider the title of this post a provocation and discuss among yourselves.