Craft Beer Market

Craft Beer Market Share & Analysis – Industry Overview

Base Year: 2024 Historical Data: 2021-23
  • Report ID: TBI-14754
  • Published Date: May, 2025
  • Pages: 231
  • Category: Food & Beverages
  • Format: PDF
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Segment Analysis

Regional segmentation analysis

The regions analyzed for the market include North America, Europe, South America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. North America emerged as the most significant global craft beer market, with a 40% market revenue share in 2024.

In the late 20th century, the US became known as the origin of today’s craft beer movement, as more beer lovers looked for brews other than popular mainstream brands. Because it was adopted early, North America created a lively culture of craft beer, including many little breweries, lots of different types of beer and beer-lovers who admired locally made beers. North America’s strong influence is thanks in part to their vibrant entrepreneurship and helpful laws that have made it possible for thousands of craft breweries to grow in the region. Many governments have made it less challenging for small breweries to get a license and pay taxes. Moreover, drinking from small breweries at festivals, joining clubs and visiting taprooms have encouraged customers to learn and appreciate different craft beers. Having a large, well-off population is very significant as well.

North America Region Craft Beer Market Share in 2024 - 40%

 

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  • The annual craft beer celebration organized by the Brewers Association (BA), American Craft Beer Week (ACBW), marked the beginning of beer season.  American Craft Beer Week, which took place from May 12 to 18, 2025, reminded us that breweries are lively centres of community life.  In 2024, there were 9,976 operational craft breweries in the U.S. that employed a workforce of 197,000 individuals.  The majority of Americans reside within a 10-mile radius of a craft brewery.  This festivity transcends beer, mirroring consumer curiosity about novel flavour profiles and drink alternatives.  To attract a broader clientele, numerous breweries have adjusted their offerings to include an array of distinctive beer styles as well as non-beer drinks such as cider, seltzer, and alcohol-free alternatives.

Product Type Segment Analysis

The product type segment is divided into ale, lager and others. The ale segment dominated the market, with a market share of around 42% in 2024. Ale stands out globally in craft beer due to its delicious breadth, strong taste and attraction to those interested in thirst-quenching beers. Unlike lagers which give a subtle and crisp taste, ales are friendly for those enjoying a fuller taste, strong flavours and a variety of aromas. The reason for so much variety is that ale yeasts work best when exposed to warm environments. India Pale Ale, also known as IPA, is now a famous style of ale for many and often considered the main style of craft beer. Moreover, beer cultures in countries such as North America and Europe make ales particularly popular. Since creativity and quality are important in the craft beer market, ales suit it perfectly. Several types of flavour, endless new ideas and consumer liking make ales, especially IPAs, the most popular beers around the world.

  • Recently, with support from both sides of the aisle and both chambers of Congress, Representatives Darin LaHood, Steven Horsford, Suzan DelBene, and Claudia Tenney introduced the Creating Hospitality Economic Enhancement for Restaurants and Servers (CHEERS) Act (H.R.3325/S.1732), along with Senators Tim Sheehy and Maggie Hassan.  This crucial law offers focused tax relief to establishments such as bars, restaurants, taprooms, and entertainment venues equipped with draft beer systems. This support aids the hospitality industry in reinvesting in local businesses and their staff.

Packaging type Segment Analysis

The packaging type segment is divided into bottles, cans and kegs. The bottles segment dominated the market, with a market share of around 45% in 2024. Traditionally, the majority of craft beers are sold in bottles as they are considered handy and preferred by consumers. The main reason these brands are dominating is because most consumers are familiar with them and they’re convenient. It has been common for many years to drink beer from glass bottles and many people view them as a sign of quality. The transparent nature of bottles allows people to see the beer which is an appealing factor for several consumers. Shopkeepers and customers prefer bottles because they are simple to manage, store and aesthetic when put on display. Additionally, there are several sizes available, each made to suit refrigerators and beer coolers, so drinking from a bottle is easy at home as well. Limited-edition and specialty craft beers are most often bottled because the bottles are associated with premium quality. Furthermore, keeping beer in bottles can prevent light exposure, as this can cause a change in flavour. This is especially essential for beers with few hops or odd ingredients that get affected by the sun.

Distribution channel Segment Analysis

The distribution channel segment is divided into on-trade and off-trade. The on-trade segment dominated the market, with a market share of around 58% in 2024. People enjoy drinking craft beer at bars, pubs, restaurants and breweries’ taprooms, giving the on-trade distribution channel an advantage in sales due to its friendly and engaging environment. Enjoying craft beer means also being part of a movement that emphasizes trying new things, socializing and enjoying diversity. On-trade places give consumers an opportunity to enjoy a range of craft beers, with the help of staff who can suggest the best ones to try and what to pair them with. Many people are attracted to craft beer due to the chance to taste new varieties on tap, as these are rarely available at stores. Many small breweries support the on-trade by raising taprooms or brewpubs, where they can interact with clients and promote their products. They help create a link between the brewery and the audience by hosting community events, beer celebrations and gatherings. While it is now simpler for many to buy craft beer at home or online, enjoying them in bars still appeals to people since the on-trade offers a special opportunity to drink fresh and uncommon beers while sharing and discussing them with others.

  • Red Rhino, a prominent player in India's craft beer market, has unveiled its new commercial brewery in Malur, representing a major advance in its foray into kegging operations.  This achievement puts Red Rhino in a leading position for craft beer distribution, enhancing the availability of its premium beverages at top venues throughout Bangalore.  The Malur facility will start by distributing Red Rhino’s best-selling products, such as its Signature Lager and Hefeweizen, along with fresh releases and seasonal offerings.

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This study forecasts revenue at global, regional, and country levels from 2021 to 2034. The Brainy Insights has segmented the global craft beer market based on below mentioned segments:

Global Craft Beer Market by Product Type:

  • Ale
  • Lager
  • Others

Global Craft Beer Market by Packaging Type:

  • Bottles
  • Cans
  • Kegs

Global Craft Beer Market by Distribution Channel:

  • On-trade
  • Off-trade

Global Craft Beer Market by Region:

  • North America
    • U.S.
    • Canada
    • Mexico
  • Europe
    • Germany
    • France
    • U.K.
    • Italy
    • Spain
  • Asia-Pacific
    • Japan
    • China
    • India
  • South America
    • Brazil
  • Middle East and Africa  
    • UAE
    • South Africa

Methodology

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Our research reports feature both; quantitative and qualitative aspects for any market. Qualitative information for any market research process are fundamental because they reveal the customer needs and wants, usage and consumption for any product/service related to a specific industry. This in turn aids the marketers/investors in knowing certain perceptions of the customers. Qualitative research can enlighten about the different product concepts and designs along with unique service offering that in turn, helps define marketing problems and generate opportunities. On the other hand, quantitative research engages with the data collection process through interviews, e-mail interactions, surveys and pilot studies. Quantitative aspects for the market research are useful to validate the hypotheses generated during qualitative research method, explore empirical patterns in the data with the help of statistical tools, and finally make the market estimations.

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Our research methodology encompasses an idyllic combination of primary and secondary initiatives. Key phases involved in this process are listed below:

MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS

Data Procurement:

The phase involves the gathering and collecting of market data and its related information with the help of different sources & research procedures.

The data procurement stage involves in data gathering and collecting through various data sources.

This stage involves in extensive research. These data sources includes:

Purchased Database: Purchased databases play a crucial role in estimating the market sizes irrespective of the domain. Our purchased database includes:

  • The organizational databases such as D&B Hoovers, and Bloomberg that helps us to identify the competitive scenario of the key market players/organizations along with the financial information.
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Primary Research: The Brainy Insights interacts with leading companies and experts of the concerned domain to develop the analyst team’s market understanding and expertise. It improves and substantiates every single data presented in the market reports. Primary research mainly involves in telephonic interviews, E-mail interactions and face-to-face interviews with the raw material providers, manufacturers/producers, distributors, & independent consultants. The interviews that we conduct provides valuable data on market size and industry growth trends prevailing in the market. Our organization also conducts surveys with the various industry experts in order to gain overall insights of the industry/market. For instance, in healthcare industry we conduct surveys with the pharmacists, doctors, surgeons and nurses in order to gain insights and key information of a medical product/device/equipment which the customers are going to usage. Surveys are conducted in the form of questionnaire designed by our own analyst team. Surveys plays an important role in primary research because surveys helps us to identify the key target audiences of the market. Additionally, surveys helps to identify the key target audience engaged with the market. Our survey team conducts the survey by targeting the key audience, thus gaining insights from them. Based on the perspectives of the customers, this information is utilized to formulate market strategies. Moreover, market surveys helps us to understand the current competitive situation of the industry. To be precise, our survey process typically involve with the 360 analysis of the market. This analytical process begins by identifying the prospective customers for a product or service related to the market/industry to obtain data on how a product/service could fit into customers’ lives.

Secondary Research: The secondary data sources includes information published by the on-profit organizations such as World bank, WHO, company fillings, investor presentations, annual reports, national government documents, statistical databases, blogs, articles, white papers and others. From the annual report, we analyse a company’s revenue to understand the key segment and market share of that organization in a particular region. We analyse the company websites and adopt the product mapping technique which is important for deriving the segment revenue. In the product mapping method, we select and categorize the products offered by the companies catering to domain specific market, deduce the product revenue for each of the companies so as to get overall estimation of the market size. We also source data and analyses trends based on information received from supply side and demand side intermediaries in the value chain. The supply side denotes the data gathered from supplier, distributor, wholesaler and the demand side illustrates the data gathered from the end customers for respective market domain.

The supply side for a domain specific market is analysed by:

  • Estimating and projecting penetration rates through analysing product attributes, availability of internal and external substitutes, followed by pricing analysis of the product.
  • Experiential assessment of year-on-year sales of the product by conducting interviews.

The demand side for the market is estimated through:

  • Evaluating the penetration level and usage rates of the product.
  • Referring to the historical data to determine the growth rate and evaluate the industry trends

In-house Library: Apart from these third-party sources, we have our in-house library of qualitative and quantitative information. Our in-house database includes market data for various industry and domains. These data are updated on regular basis as per the changing market scenario. Our library includes, historic databases, internal audit reports and archives.

Sometimes there are instances where there is no metadata or raw data available for any domain specific market. For those cases, we use our expertise to forecast and estimate the market size in order to generate comprehensive data sets. Our analyst team adopt a robust research technique in order to produce the estimates:

  • Applying demographic along with psychographic segmentation for market evaluation
  • Determining the Micro and Macro-economic indicators for each region 
  • Examining the industry indicators prevailing in the market. 

Data Synthesis: This stage involves the analysis & mapping of all the information obtained from the previous step. It also involves in scrutinizing the data for any discrepancy observed while data gathering related to the market. The data is collected with consideration to the heterogeneity of sources. Robust scientific techniques are in place for synthesizing disparate data sets and provide the essential contextual information that can orient market strategies. The Brainy Insights has extensive experience in data synthesis where the data passes through various stages:

  • Data Screening: Data screening is the process of scrutinising data/information collected from primary research for errors and amending those collected data before data integration method. The screening involves in examining raw data, identifying errors and dealing with missing data. The purpose of the data screening is to ensure data is correctly entered or not. The Brainy Insights employs objective and systematic data screening grades involving repeated cycles of quality checks, screening and suspect analysis.
  • Data Integration: Integrating multiple data streams is necessary to produce research studies that provide in-depth picture to the clients. These data streams come from multiple research studies and our in house database. After screening of the data, our analysts conduct creative integration of data sets, optimizing connections between integrated surveys and syndicated data sources. There are mainly 2 research approaches that we follow in order to integrate our data; top down approach and bottom up approach.

Market Deduction & Formulation: The final stage comprises of assigning data points at appropriate market spaces so as to deduce feasible conclusions. Analyst perspective & subject matter expert based holistic form of market sizing coupled with industry analysis also plays a crucial role in this stage.

This stage involves in finalization of the market size and numbers that we have collected from data integration step. With data interpolation, it is made sure that there is no gap in the market data. Successful trend analysis is done by our analysts using extrapolation techniques, which provide the best possible forecasts for the market.

Data Validation & Market Feedback: Validation is the most important step in the process. Validation & re-validation via an intricately designed process helps us finalize data-points to be used for final calculations.

The Brainy Insights interacts with leading companies and experts of the concerned domain to develop the analyst team’s market understanding and expertise. It improves and substantiates every single data presented in the market reports. The data validation interview and discussion panels are typically composed of the most experienced industry members. The participants include, however, are not limited to:

  • CXOs and VPs of leading companies’ specific to sector
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  • Key opinion leaders such as investment bankers, and industry consultants

Moreover, we always validate our data and findings through primary respondents from all the major regions we are working on.

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