A couple of the data points I kept noticing: more homebrewers are brewing all-grain (often from the first or an early batch) and are brewing less frequently. Also, homebrewing store sales are down (that makes sense, if brewing happens less frequently).
The AHA has over 46,000 members. Also, over one million people brew beer at home. (That’s an interesting delta.) If every AHA member added an extract brew to his or her brew calendar every year, that would be a nice bump in sales. Just a thought. I’ve read Gary Glass arguing for more extract brewing, but I didn’t put it together with the larger homebrewing ecology.
I’ve recently tried doing this on my lagers in lieu of a starter. I’ve brewed a 1G extract batch (actually fermented it in my 5L Erlenmeyer) and then stepped that yeast up into a smaller “vitality” starter before moving on to the 5G all grain batch.
I also brewed a 2.5 gallon extract Hefeweisen (my wife wanted it and I was being lazy).
Both turned out quite nicely and saved me a fair amount of time.
One of these days I’d like to brew an all grain and comparable extract batch at roughly the same time just to do some side by side tasting.
I recently needed to buy a keg and NB happened to have a deal where you got an extract kit with a reconditioned keg so I ended up with a free Irish Red extract kit. It was great to whip it up fast and increase my supply and variety. It wasn’t outstanding but it was good. Im also doing an extract batch as my challenge beer for our beer swap on this forum.
When I first started homebrewing I was an extract brewer. I was living in an apartment so that was really the only way I could brew. Now I do AG. But I tell all my friends who want to start brewing to start with extract. Learn the basics, start with a few specialty grain and get your techniques down before making the jump. I feel learning with extract helped me be a better AG brewer.
Last year I tried switching back to extract in an attempt to pump out more beer in less time. I was busy with school and didn’t have the time to brew all grain.
The end result? I learned how much I enjoy mashing. It’s my favorite part of brewing, and I ended up sick of extract fast. IMO, better a rare brew day that you really enjoy than having lots of beer via extract brewing.
I agree. The market will have to sort itself out. If more brewers really are brewing AG exclusively, maybe retailers need to carry less extract in their inventories. I’m all for LHBS with a bigger selection of grains and less extract. As for brewing less often, that’s a brewer’s preference. Life is busy. The good shops and retailers should be able to survive if they flex with the times.
Maybe homebrew shop sales are down as people are brewing more and buying bulk supplies. As much as I want to support LHBS, I would be brewing less with the differences in cost.
I also wonder is the homebrew shop sales are including the sales online or are they just brick and mortar sales?
I brewed an extract batch back in December, but it was a hard root beer.
The sales are down all over, at least per the interview. It didn’t sound alarmist, just an observation. AHA does do some very good surveys of brewer behavior. I understand the hypothesis (all-grain brewing takes time, therefore people brew less, more brewers start out with AG or move to it earlier in their brewing experience, and brewing less = fewer sales overall), though there could be other drivers, such as an overall “craft beer bubble” that is softening. Gary Glass noted a significant number of homebrew stores closing last year. Whether or not you agree in tinkering with market forces it’s a really interesting interview.
I personally think homebrew sales are down because there are MORE homebrew stores. When I started we had one and then a few supplies were available to members at a Co-op. Now I count at least seven stores in the same area and there may be a couple more lurking out there. I know homebrewing increased with the last drop in the economy, but a sevenfold increase in stores means unless the number of homebrewers increased by 7X sales had to drop for the single store.
I brew AG and the “significant other” factor should be considered too. Lately, I’ve been getting a lot more “are you brewing again?” from the wife. She just doesn’t get it.
Extract has a higher margin, so less extract hurts the bottom line. All grain is popular now, and combined with the rise of brew in a bag, less extract and fancy all grain equipment sales is a double whammy. Some are brewing less, but the AHA also knows that 4200+ breweries is having an influence on that. As Mike pointed out, more stores in an area dilutes the sales per store. There are the bigger internet stores that are growing and taking some business from the mom and pop Local store. The AHA membership is strong, but the hobby is not seeing double digit growth like in a string of previous years, just single digit growth. Then there are all of those guys Homebrewing like crazy to nail the recipes down, then they go pro and don’t Homebrew (much). No one single answer, is there?
The market may just be approaching its cap for the traditional methods of sales with the number of shops currently in the market. You can only sell so many starter kits to so many new brewers before you have to find new ways to generate new customers and sell more products to existing customers.
We saw years of organic growth to homebrewing and that’s probably hit its limit as well. The market downturn drove a lot of people to DIY options like homebrewing. With the economy rebounding people are giving that up. The growth in craft beer got a lot of people to try out brewing at home only to find out they hate all the cleaning. The wide availability of good craft beer also deters people from feeling like they need to take up a hobby and wait a month to drink a beer when there’s a six pack waiting at the store.
Here we have at least one brewery that will sell grain and hops cheap. We have several beer stores and a health food store that moon light in homebrew supplies. No dedicated stores. None of the local options is compelling.
One of the local beer stores is promising a full scale LHBS. They used to have a decent selection of supplies. But, they sold off their stock of homebrew supplies a few months ago and don’t plan to open the new stand alone LHBS until late summer. I don’t like that lack of commitment to the market and customers. They are making me go elsewhere for 6+ months. I may not come back.
Firstly, I brew all grain because its fun, and extract is more expensive. Second, I wonder what the sales are like at Morebeer? I’m almost an exclusive online shopper mostly because I can get EXACTLY what I want from a big online store.
I recently went into my LHBS for an impromptu brew day and they didn’t even have pilsner malt. OK, any European munich malt? “I don’t know where my munich malt is from.” I’ve also found that the hops they sell aren’t very fresh or aromatic. I simply can’t trust the ingredients I buy there. Nonetheless, I need a local store for emergencies and CO2, so I try to stop in every once in a while.
Jeff, this is an awesome look at the situation and I think all your points hit home to the LHBS industry.
I am in the same situation as your first paragraph. I love the hobby and find my brewing time to be my only time: nobody bothers me while I am brewing. For your second paragraph, I feel for you mainly because I have access through work travels to 3 different LHBS around town. I dont think for the average homebrewer around me that all 3 are interchangeable because of distance and none are what i would consider close to home(closest is half hour drive from home) i am always happy with Dan Listermann’s brewing supply store. Great selection of ingredients, nice discount for either AHA or club membership, knowledge level of all employees that are also all homebrewers, great tasting room for the Brewery side of their business, and general friendliness of the staff. I therfore don’t think all LHBS suck the way that yours does but again, I am very happy with my local options. As a final note, I am sure that I would never shop again at an LHBS that was regularly out of a base malt such as Pilsner and the lack of knowledge or unwillingness to share origins of produc are also a huge turnoff to me as a prospective buyer. I occasionally buy online if or when I find an unbeatable deal, but that is rare. Saving shipping and spending locally works well for me in my situation
I guess that was not really my final note, but this is: I would not likely buy an an extract kit to help out the LHBS, but I do shop my local stores regularly. Unfortunately, ymmv
Hmm good point. The interview pretty much said that there were too many stores and that was one reason they were closing. I was wondering when we would hit “peak homebrew.”
I may still do an extract batch for fun. Do a cream ale for my better half or something like that.
it’s a really interesting interview.