Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Saw that. $1 Billion is a lot dough. Trend is going to continue. Follows along the lines of traditional capitalism. The cool thing is the little guys wanting to stay little which is what it takes to stay small. Problem is when they want to retire, or die, and someone else takes over and calls the shots. It takes passion and hard work to maintain a small brewery. Once the person with those criteria is no longer in the picture, things change.

The really scary thing is the allocation of raw materials. As more larger breweries come to fruition, they will control much of the raw materials. When (not if, these are crops) a shortage occurs, it will be really tough on the little guys. The big guys could also compete on pricing with economies of scale achieved that will be tough for the locals. I feel the best chance for locals to survive will be in the brewpub model with restaurant operations and higher margins by the pint, and not packages on the shelf, or kegs at beer bars. Luckily the bigger micros are still turning out great beers. I just hope the demand for cost efficiency does not degrade their products. I am sure we will see hints of that in the future. Consumers need to stick to their guns and continue to pay for, and drink the good stuff when that hits the shelf.

Glad I can brew my own.

One of your points will hit us homebrewers hard, too - raw material shortages. We've already seen what happens when the hop crop is down.

tony b wrote:One of your points will hit us homebrewers hard, too - raw material shortages. We've already seen what happens when the hop crop is down.

Yup, everyone brewed Belgians! Helped grow the Saison movement I believe.

The only hop I need is Magnum.