2014 and 2015 were banner years for craft beer growth. According to some metrics that growth might be slowing down. Craft Brewing Business just posted some interesting metrics from the company Kinnek. They show a slight decrease in the number of “brewhouses” purchased in 2015, compared to 2014. A nearly 1% dip in brewhouses might mean a slight plateauing in craft beer growth. We shall see!

There was also a massive dip in growler purchases, not to mention a drop in keg purchases. So let’s speculate, why the drop in growlers? Does it have to do with our suggestions that growlers are on the way out? Are we right? What about these other products? What do these metrics say about the industry? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Kinnek also provided a map that showed a “heat map” of existing breweries and new breweries as it relates to population density. Montana (unsurprisingly) was near the top of the heap, as was Alaska. From these maps we can see the most growth was occurring around Vermont, Alaska and in the southwest.