[Jimmy K]

*the cultural shift away from brand loyalty (i.e. my dad was a Ford guy - I've owned 6 different brands)

I think there is still plenty of brand loyalty, we just have a longer list of brands. Think about the hype around release day for a rare beer or the willingness of fans to throw money at a brand like Dogfish Head. The shift, though, is that "I'm not a brand" is the new brand.

[reverseapachemaster]

There's a lot about the craft beer movement and homebrewing that's tied to larger social movements away from the industrialized, one-size-fits-all production that dominated the twentieth century. The craft beer industry is only driven by those trends. It's also driven by market trends. Right now there's still a lot of demand for more beers and plenty of people who can be converted to craft drinkers. As a result, there's a lot of competitors in the market but not a lot of direct competition between brewers for market space. As regional markets reach saturation through either a sufficient number of competitors and/or expansion of existing breweries we'll see if the cooperative attitude remains, how many breweries fall off and how many breweries expand into a larger role.

[anje]

I think it's all of the above. There is also a going prepper movement. What's the point of surviving the zombie apocalypse if there's no beer. Followed by, now that o know how, how do I make it better?

"Freedom is temporary unless you are also Brave!" - Patriot

Better know how to malt and kiln then, too!

[klickitat jim]

If the zombies come, I will malt my own and probably skip kiln. Maybe roast a bit for variety. But post ZA beer will be pretty low tech. When the propane runs out will have to boil over a wood fire too.

"Freedom is temporary unless you are also Brave!" - Patriot

[yso191]

If the zombies come, I will malt my own and probably skip kiln. Maybe roast a bit for variety. But post ZA beer will be pretty low tech. When the propane runs out will have to boil over a wood fire too.

"Freedom is temporary unless you are also Brave!" - Patriot

And we better like sour beers!  Regular, pure yeast will become very scarce.

[alcaponejunior]

But any town with a few thousand people can support at least one brewpub, and the vast majority don't have one yet. In most of the country, small breweries are still confined to large cities, but as their influence continues to grow they'll jump-start interest in local beers in smaller markets as well.

And damn well they should!  Craft brewing really brings people together.  In less than two weeks I'm going camping with a bunch of people to celebrate RABC (Blanco Brewery) and their anniversary.  We're camping just down the street and the bunch of us are going to celebrate with them.  Their beer is very good.  I've already rated several and bought several more than once (a sure sign of good beer).  Support local breweries!