Craft beer pioneer BridgePort Brewery, in Portland, Oregon, shut its doors for good this week. The owners blamed competition and profitability issues for the closure of the brewery, founded 35 years ago.
While the market for craft beer is still growing, the rate of growth has slowed considerably in recent years. Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson last year said the craft beer industry his group represents is showing signs of “deceleration.”
Some of that deceleration is beyond anyone’s control. But there’s a caveat, writes Baylen Linnekin: craft brewers also continue to face their share of outside obstacles, chiefly in the form of state laws that hinder growth and profitability.
