Craft beer is going through an identity crisis

Craft beer is in the throes of an identity crisis: is it mainstream or underground'It started out as the cool teenager who listens to alternative bands like Pavementand fights against the proverbial powers that berailing against the world of the corporate beer giants.The US brewingindustry was stagnant followingthe postProhibition boom, with the number of breweries slowly declining as mergers and acquisitions by the big companies thinned the ranks.According to the Brewers Association, by 1978 there were a mere 89 breweries operating in theUS: rock bottom was reached. But that year wasan inflection point.The numbers slowly rosethrough the 80s, and by 1990, the brewery business exploded. From 1990 to 1999, the number of breweriesmostly craftjumped from 284 to 1,564a 450% leap.And even now, the number of breweries is skyrocketing: the Brewers Association reports an 18.6% jump between 2013 and 2014 to a grand total of 3,464, of which a mere46 were non-craft.This begs the question: is microbrewing getting too big for its micro britches'The short answer is no.While craft beer's growth is exploding, domestic largescale brewing still holds a large majority of sales. Craft beer has a modest 11% market share, despite a 17% growth in 2014. The beer industryis so consolidated that the top four beer producers in the country control nearly 90% of production.This puts the craft beer explosion into perspective. While it may seem like de rigueur among the younger drinking population insophisticated urban markets, the lion's share of beer production and consumption goes to noncraft.But as the millennial population ascends to itsplace asthe nation's taste maker, craft beer's sharewillonly grow more. Millennials show a distinct preference for local brews, which for the most part are inherently craft.Anthony Accardi, the owner of Queens, New Yorkbased Transmitter Brewing, says staying local is important to his business."The customers are pretty loyal," Accardi told Business Insider.And Big Beer has taken notice of the generational shift in preference, barreling intothe craft brew arena. Anheuser-Busch InBev, who recently reached an agreement to merge with rival beer giant SABMiller, owns portions of several craft brew labels including Shock Top, Goose Island, and Kona. And the extremely popular Blue Moon label is in fact owned by MillerCoorsfar from craft.So with Big Beer hedging their bets and slipping into the craft beer market as quietly as possible, it would seem that the industry expects craft beer to growfor quite some time.But as a consequence of its continuing growth,the staying power of craft's cool cachet remains to be seen.Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Is draft beer better than bottled beer
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