San Diego breweries squeezed as costs outpace prices
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San Diego brewery bills are going up just like local residents', making it tougher to brew and sell beer.
Why it matters: The financial strain from higher costs, more competition and less demand is creating a crisis for the once-booming craft beer industry that's leading to closures.
- Consumers are also feeling the squeeze as beer gets more expensive on draft lists.
By the numbers: The cost of a pint at San Diego breweries varies based on ABV and hop levels, with IPAs typically more expensive than lagers or blondes. Our review of brewery menus shows that:
- Stone Brewing draft beer currently costs $7.50-$9 per pint. That's after raising prices $.50 in 2023 and again at the end of 2025, per spokesperson Lizzie Younkin.
- Most local Ballast Point taproom pints range from $8-$10, compared to $6.50-$8.25 in 2023.
- Ketch Brewing beers cost $7-$8 per pint, up from $6-$7 in 2021.
- The Roadies Brewing Co. increased its prices by $1 this year to $8-$10 for a pint, owners Diane and Sean Hilz said.
- AleSmith pints have stayed steady at about $8 since 2023.
Zoom in: Local breweries say the price adjustments come alongside the higher costs to make that frothy pint. That includes increases in ingredient prices (water, malt, hops), rent, utility rates, labor and minimum wages, packaging, freight and tariffs on imports like aluminum cans.
- "It's death by a thousand paper cuts," said Chad Heath, COO of the beer division at Karl Strauss Brewing.
- The cost of goods to make a beer has gone up 40-45% since 2020 for Karl Strauss, but the price increase percentages their customers are seeing remain in the mid-teens, he said.
- "Everyone in the beer space has just had significantly compressed margins, and the price elasticity just isn't there anymore," Heath said, adding that there is a ceiling to what people will pay.
Between the lines: Annual price hikes are "how you grow your business, and if your product is worth it, then customers don't have a problem with it," Roadies Brewing CEO Diane Hilz said.
- For Ketch Brewing, growth has also made utilities, raw materials, and labor more expensive, but those underlying costs aren't heavily affecting prices of pints, according to head brewer Sam Billheimer.
- That's because production is more efficient, they're buying in bulk and the beer is cheaper to make if they sell more kegs, he said.
Some are finding solace in lower-ABV beers, which is "where the market's going" and "where the cost of goods can be in a place that you can actually make money," Heath said.
- Breweries are also adjusting happy hours to keep prices palatable and get more people in the door.
State of play: The craft beer bubble has burst, with production down 5% year-over-year and brewery closings outpacing openings, according to a 2025 Brewers Association report.
- San Diego County's craft brewery industry has been shrinking for years, as beer sales drop and less Americans are drinking alcohol.
- A dozen local breweries closed last year, while only five new ones opened and several others expanded, the Union-Tribune reported.
- Smaller, locally-focused breweries with low headcounts and expenses are finding success by avoiding the uncertainties of mass manufacturing and distribution.
The bottom line: "The amount of money it takes to keep a brewery running is exorbitant and if you don't have unique, creative ways to pivot … then you'll be out of business," Ballast Point's director of brand experience Jeff Lozano told Axios.
- And you can't charge $18 for a pint of Sculpin IPA to keep the lights on, he said.