Houston brewery closures add to Texas craft beer decline
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Texas' craft brewing market is on the decline, as closures outpaced openings last year and production slipped.
Why it matters: The once-thriving industry is now struggling amid shifts in alcohol consumption, particularly among younger people, and brewers are looking for ways to adapt.
By the numbers: Texas craft beer production reached 1.34 million barrels in 2024, an 8.7% drop from 2023, according to new data from the Brewers Association.
- With less production comes a smaller economic impact for Texas — about $4.7 billion in 2024, a 10.6% drop from 2023.
What's happening: Texas saw 29 craft breweries close and just 22 open in 2024, per the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, mirroring national trends. Openings in Texas slowed by more than half since 2023.
- Greater Houston lost several craft breweries to closures or mergers in the last couple of years, including Buffalo Bayou Brewing, Ingenious Brewing and Twisted Acre Brewery.
Yes, but: Saint Arnold Brewing, the Bayou City's oldest craft brewer, sold 5.2% more barrels in 2024 than 2023, per Chron.
Zoom out: Nationally, craft beer production hit 23.1 million barrels in 2024 — a 4% decline from the previous year and the largest drop in industry history outside the pandemic.
- The number of small independent breweries operating in the U.S. decreased for the first time in nearly 20 years, with 529 closures compared to 430 openings.
What they're saying: Consumers have a lot of beverage options to choose from these days — like seltzers, CBD and THC beverages and nonalcoholic brews — Caroline Wallace, executive director of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, tells Axios.
- That leads some breweries to pull back on limited seasonal releases and focus on flagship beers and best-sellers, which can lower production, Wallace says. Some are even ramping up production on their own line of seltzers instead.
What we're watching: The 2025 outlook for the craft beer industry doesn't favor a rebound. Small brewers are being hit especially hard by tariffs on equipment, kegs, aluminum cans and ingredients, such as hops and grain.
- The combination of factors is leading breweries to delay expansion plans, raise prices and absorb losses, Gacioch says.