In the history of humankind, trends have never moved faster, and the world of beer is no exception.
Craft beer culture exploded in the 2010s, with longtime brewers like Founders and Bell’s suddenly taking off like a rocket ship after more than a decade of struggling to get much attention outside of true aficionados.
Meanwhile, smaller breweries popped up around Grand Rapids and in just about every town across West Michigan, leading residents here to claim the title of Beer City, USA in 2012. The scene only grew after that, arguably peaking around 2016 or so.
Since then, we’ve seen a number of breweries either close up shop or merge with others. You may remember Elk Brewing, Arcadia Brewing, and even the recently shuttered Brewery Nyx.
Certainly, some of this can be attributed to Covid, but the shift began prior to the pandemic. As far as I can tell, people eventually just got tired of drinking so many 9% double IPAs and 12% barrel-aged stouts. And it didn’t help when hard seltzers came in and swept the nation.
And yet, craft beer is by no means dead. Those breweries that set up in small towns are now firmly established as part of the community. They’re just as much event spaces and restaurants as they are breweries. I don’t believe craft beer is going anywhere, and I fully expect it to see a resurgence at some point, just like vinyl and CDs have.
In the meantime, we are going to see breweries doing things differently than they did 10, or even 5, years ago. That’s what we discuss in this issue, especially with our Brewers Roundtable, which brought together local experts who’ve been in the industry for years to look at what’s changed, what challenges they’re facing, and what’s next.
You’ll also find our annual brewery guide, shining a spotlight on all the other things there are to enjoy at your local taproom, whether it’s events, games, food, patio, comedy or music—on top of great beer, of course.
This month, you can also read interviews with Dashboard Confessional, Neko Case, Jim Jefferies and more. Plus, it’s October, so check out our guide of Halloween haunts and parties around West Michigan! If you get too scared, you can always wind down with a round of brews.
'Til next time,
Josh Veal, Managing Editor