Has the Craft Beer Industry’s Keg Finally Kicked?

After decades of meteoric success, this year marked the first time since 2005 that more breweries closed than opened.

In 1989, Phil Bannatyne opened Cambridge Brewing Company in Cambridge, Mass., with a monumental mission “to teach people what craft beer could be,” he said.

Over the next three decades, Cambridge Brewing introduced patrons to spiced pumpkin ales and robust barley wines. Regulars filled seats from lunch to last call, sometimes visiting four times per week.

But as the brewpub grew older, its clientele dwindled and wasn’t replaced by younger drinkers. That, compounded by declining foot traffic, fewer office happy hours and growing competition, spelled the end for Cambridge Brewing. On Dec. 20, Mr. Ballantyne, 68, closed the business and retired. After a 35-year run, “we accomplished our mission,” he said.

The creativity and proliferation of craft breweries has permanently expanded America’s beer fridge, from bland lagers to bold I.P.A.s and barrel-aged stouts. Today, the majority of Americans live within 10 miles of a brewery, according to the Brewers Association trade group, with the number of producers ballooning from just 89, in 1978, to 9,906, in 2023. As a result, the craft brewing industry employs around 460,000 people nationwide.

“What better story of the American dream is there than all these breweries?” said Josh Deth, who founded Revolution Brewing in Chicago in 2010.