Craft Beer market trend analysis

There’s nothing we like more at Hopulist than the opportunity to paw through some stats and online craft distributor, EeBriaTrade, have provided just that with the release of their in-depth statistics outlining beer sales over the past 12 months whilst looking into beer trends for 2018. In just a 12 month period EeBriaTrade sold over 3,385 unique products from 400 different breweries. As a result they have compiled an array of stats from these sales on their website in a bid to push through the complexity and give some clear insight into what beers are on the rise and what styles are falling by the wayside as the craft beer market continues to adapt.

Below are some of the statistics that stand out for us from the last 12 months. 60% Unsurprisingly, Pale Ales and IPAs still remain king and even saw growth in sales of 5 percentage points over the previous year to 60% of total sales, however there has been a significant shift in purchasing elsewhere showing the maturation of the market and the desire for consumers to keep up with the new and exciting beers that the UK brewers are turning out. 11% Over 11% of total craft beer sales are of beers 7% ABV or more. This stat was a mere 5.3% of total sales this time last year and as more and more venues begin to offer one third and two-third pint measures, publicans can now afford to buy in higher ABV beers and still retain a profitable margin. 7.3% The sales of Double IPAs coincidentally have nearly doubled from 4.3% to 7.3% in a 12 month period. Highlighting that consumers are looking for those hard-hitting, hoppy, juicy and chewy double IPAs.

6.4% 

It’s been well-documented that as the craft beer market grows so does the popularity of more ‘challenging’ styles and sour beer styles are at the forefront of this growth. With that in mind EeBriaTrade saw an increase of sour beer sales almost double from 3.4% to 6.4% in just a year's time. 3.3% There has been a steady growth of darker beers being sold on the EeBriaTrade website and most notably within this style - Imperial Stouts - standout as their sales have more than doubled from 1.2% to 3.3% of our total sales over the past year. The term ‘craft beer’ brings connotations of innovation, modernisation and pushing boundaries when it comes to the UK beer scene and the traditional beer styles that lie within it. Notably, there has been a substantial decrease in popularity of styles that would be considered ‘traditional’ in the realms of UK beer as over the past year golden, brown, red and amber ales as well as milds and bitters have seen their sales share drop by almost half (14.2% to 7.6%). All statistics were compiled over a 12 month period based on sales at the craft beer marketplace www.eebriatrade.com. If you are not a trade buyer? Visit www.eebria.com to get great beers delivered to your home, direct from the brewery.