Texas breweries face slowdown
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Fewer new breweries are opening in Texas, even as some breweries are closing, per recently released information from the Brewers Association.
Why it matters: The once-thriving industry is now struggling amid a shift away from alcohol consumption, particularly among younger people, and brewers are looking for ways to adapt.
- Meanwhile, the industry has been hit with cost increases.
By the numbers: The number of Texas breweries dropped from 440 in 2024 to 420 in 2025, per the Brewers Association.
- "A lot of attention is being paid to brewery closures, and rightfully so, because people love their local breweries," Caroline Wallace, executive director of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, a nonprofit trade association, tells Axios.
- But the real slowdown has been in new openings.
Zoom in: 2023 saw 50 new openings and 30 closures of breweries and taprooms in Texas.
- 2024 and 2025 each saw less than 25 new openings — and at least 25 closures.
- "It's a capital intensive business, and high interest rates, and the rising costs of real estate and ingredients" are contributing to the slowdown in openings, Wallace says.
- Plus, there's "a chilling effect around headlines and uncertainties — banks have seen stories about brewery closures and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy" when it comes to lending money.
- Meanwhile, brewpubs, which often have non-climate-controlled patios, have also been affected by the Texas heat and drawn-out summers, Wallace says.
Between the lines: Breweries are finding ways to make it work — the World Cup brought in customers during an otherwise slow summer period.
- The soccer field at Meanwhile Brewing, for example, in southeast Austin, is often busy with kids — as their parents grab a pint — and Oddwood in East Austin features an arcade.
What they're saying: "Operating a brewery used to be about making great beer," Wallace says. "Now it's the table stakes."
Between the lines: Even as there are fewer new openings in urban areas as real estate prices rise, more breweries are cropping up in suburbs, says Wallace, pointing to Cottonwood Creek in Hutto and Crest Brewing in Caldwell County.
- Some established Austin breweries — Austin Beerworks and Lazarus — have opened second spots.
The big picture: The national craft beer market continued its historic decline in 2025, with a 5.1% decrease in production and 2.9% contraction in U.S. breweries, a recent report shows.
Yes, but: Production in Texas actually bounced back, from 1.369 million barrels in 2024 — an 8.7% drop from 2023 — to 1.422 million barrels in 2025.
- And craft beer nationally outperformed the broader beer market, which experienced a 5.7% decline.
What's next: The Texas Craft Brewers Festival is Nov. 14 at Fiesta Gardens in Austin.
- And when the Legislature reconvenes in January, brewers will be pushing a "beers for steers" tax credit, an incentive for the mash-like boiled barley that breweries give or sell to farmers as food for livestock.