The Bubble
Council Brewing in San Diego… now defunct sadly…
The Bubble… I wonder if you know what I’m talking about. I think you may… but I will give you a quick run down. I am specifically talking about the Craft Beer Industry… surprise surprise… and the over-saturation of Craft Breweries in it.
The proliferation of Craft Breweries has been insane and why not? People are tired of the same old thing from ‘Big Beer’ and they want something exciting to drink… along with an experience to pair with it.
Enter Craft Breweries.
Hypothetically there can only be a max number of Craft Breweries that can exist. And I think we are there. The Pandemic certainly has accelerated the timeline but we all knew that this was going to happen someday. There is only so much space on the shelves at Beer stores and Grocery stores after all.
This time right now is incredibly important because we need to make to help as many small breweries that we can - so that a good deal of them can survive this. Which means patronage across the board. It actually means more than that… It means talking to Bars and Restaurants and maybe requesting more Craft Beer from local Craft Breweries to be served there.
This also means trying to help them in other ways… like Untappd for instance. I know this may be polarizing but this app is extremely popular and is used to measure how ‘good’ a brewery is. Whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing is neither here nor there… This is how it is right now. Maybe check in a tiny bit more often to help these smaller breweries with ‘the numbers’. Every little bit helps, eh?
Finally and this is the biggest ‘duh’ of the whole thing… patron these places and their beer! I know it is extremely easy to order your ‘go-to’ beer when out and about but take a minute and really take a look at the beer list! You may be surprised by what you find! Grab a six pack from a mystery brewery when shopping at the store! And lastly… actually going to the brewery itself and grabbing a pint or two.
I know that I have been extremely fortunate enough to be in my prime drinking age when this rise of Craft Breweries has happened. I really hope that this ‘Bubble’ doesn’t burst too hard and maybe we can ease how it happens. Having options for fun new beers is always a blast and I sincerely hope that going forward… This can continue. It may be different but… I know we can at least help. Even if it is in the smallest ways possible.
