When it comes to identifying trends in the beer world, the last few years have been unusually unpredictable. Few breweries, if any, have fully recovered from the long-term effects of the lockdowns. Many people’s drinking patterns changed then and have not really returned to pre-pandemic patterns. At this point, the inescapable conclusion is that overall drinking patterns have been permanently reset to a new normal.
What that means for breweries and beer lovers is that many people are drinking less in general and choosing beer less often when they do drink. Younger adults are having craft beer far less than often than their parents did at the same age. Many craft breweries are still holding on, but one gets the sense that it won’t take much for them throw in the proverbial towel, if more and more people choose not to drink beer.
Notwithstanding these challenges, here are a few predictions for beer trends I think we’ll see in 2025.
Craft lagers are here to stay
For many years, few breweries made a lager and instead stuck to ales. For a variety of reasons, they were easier, quicker and cheaper to brew, but nowadays you’d be hard-pressed to find a brewery that does not make at least one lager, and most offer a variety. While pilsners are the most popular, simple lagers, Helles, Vienna lager, Kölsch, Mexican lager, amber lager, and Oktoberfest beers are becoming more common.
Hyper local to stay afloat
One way many smaller breweries may be able to keep the lights on and the beer flowing is by focusing on their local markets. Many breweries I’ve talked to this past year are concentrating on making their beer available across the street and around the corner and worrying less about the next state over or even the next county. This allows them to keep expenses down, too, and — hopefully — remain profitable. I can see this being a very good thing for beer lovers, especially if it leads to a proliferation of breweries making beers just for their locals. Imagine if every brewery had their own Pliny the Younger, something you could only get in one place. That could make small breweries a lot of fun.
Candy-flavored beers
While this one hasn’t quite made it to the West Coast yet, it’s only a matter of time. This novelty style is growing in other parts of the country, with brewers infusing their beer with flavors like cotton candy, gummy bears and saltwater taffy. In many ways, it’s the logical progression from fruited sours and the numerous sherbet, pastry and slushy beers that many newer breweries have been experimenting with lately, not to mention chocolate and peanut butter beers. Can a collaboration with See’s Candies be in some brewery’s future?
Functional beer
Functional beer is an emerging sub-category that’s aiming at the same consumer who’s looking for session, low-alcohol or non-alcoholic beers, because they believe it’s a healthier alternative. Functional beers go a step farther, adding things like electrolytes, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and even spirulina (which gives beer a blue tint). Thanks to prohibitionists’ involvement in writing new laws after repealed in 1933, brewers are forbidden from calling their beer “healthy” or advertising its positive qualities. But consumers are arguably smarter, or at least more well-informed, these days and can decide for themselves what they consider healthy. Increasingly, they’re choosing functional beers.
Lighter styles
Most breweries generally have at least one lighter style beer. For a long time, that beer was typically an amber ale or a wheat beer, sometimes just a general light ale or lager. But there are few lighter styles being brewed to fit this niche. These have history and tradition, and are generally more distinctive and flavorful than some of their counterparts. Many are lagers like Kölsch, Helles and Mexican lagers. Breweries who offer these tell me they’ve become incredibly popular in a short time. On the ale side, cream ales, which were popular in the mid-20th century, have recently started growing again in popularity. The way they are brewed gives them a taste profile closer to lighter lagers, crisp and clean.
More beers we’ll probably see in 2025
One emergent pattern I’ve seen — I won’t call it a full-fledged trend yet — is beer with lime added, in part to simulate mixed drinks like a Chelada. I’m seeing many more pickle beers: Beer made with pickle juice or exhibiting a strong pickle flavor — and the few I’ve tried were better than expected. West Coast IPAs will continue to gain ground on the more popular Hazy IPA, so I’m hoping to see a resurgence.
Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.