What’s driving the growth markets? A few factors show up consistently: new brewery openings filling underserved suburban and rural areas, a strong taproom culture that survived the pandemic shakeout, and a younger drinking-age demographic in Sun Belt cities that’s showing a stronger preference for craft over macro than analysts expected.The harder number is closure rates. Brewery closures are running about 15% higher than openings in the coastal markets, a sign that the maturation — some would say consolidation — of those markets is ongoing. The breweries closing aren’t failing because craft beer is fading. They’re closing because competition is fierce and the margins for an average taproom are thinner than they’ve ever been.The overall picture: craft beer is healthy, but its geography is shifting. The next decade’s growth story probably gets written in places you wouldn’t have expected ten years ago.
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