Head count of active homebrewers

SSBrew - 728
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I'm curious how Covid affected the numbers. I personally know a few people who stopped brewing during Covid for one reason or another and ended up selling off all of their equipment. I wonder if the number of people who started the hobby outweighed the ones who left.

Going solely by the number of gallons brewed in the yearly threads here, the amount has dropped pretty dramatically over the last several years. Obviously this could just be a sign people aren't using HBT as much as they used to, but it is an interesting data point.

* 2017: 13,491.5 gallons
* 2018: 15,910.5gallons
* 2019: 11,847 gallons
* 2020: 9,216.25 gallons
* 2021: 9,880.5 gallons
* 2022: 6,477 gallons
 
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I could easily see the drop-off from peak (which I'll guess was around 2014) being at least 50% and probably larger than that...

Cheers!
 
Rising costs of ingredients may have contributed to much of those lower numbers. The days of $2 dry yeasts and sub-buck-a-pound malts are long gone.

Many homebrewers who were just within their budget in 2014 are likely finding today's costs prohibitive.

Sure, you can buy in bulk--grain by the sack, hops by the pound, etc., but the average, casual homebrewer isn't doing that.

Also, many LHBS went toes-up in recent years, due to thin margins, competition from big online vendors, and the pandemic. Less local access probably turned some people away from the pastime.

Finally, I think homebrewing is past its zeitgeist. It was all the rage 10 years ago, but a lot of those folks have moved on to other things.
 
MaxStout said:
Rising costs of ingredients may have contributed to much of those lower numbers. The days of $2 dry yeasts and sub-buck-a-pound malts are long gone.

Many homebrewers who were just within their budget in 2014 are likely finding today's costs prohibitive.

Sure, you can buy in bulk--grain by the sack, hops by the pound, etc., but the average, casual homebrewer isn't doing that.

Also, many LHBS went toes-up in recent years, due to thin margins, competition from big online vendors, and the pandemic. Less local access probably turned some people away from the pastime.

Finally, I think homebrewing is past its zeitgeist. It was all the rage 10 years ago, but a lot of those folks have moved on to other things.
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Peaked in 2012. I had a metric I sorta invented here at HBT. Kept rising to 2012, then dropped about linearly after. Drop was consistent for about 5 years.
 
Eh, I am brewing beer more avidly than ever and I started in 2018. Trends come and go. Brewing is more than a trend, it's a passion and a hobby. Especially when you start to believe you can make a good beer.

You see the same thing in other highly technical hobbies, like autos. Note how that market has changed so significantly, if you will. As long as homebrewers can source supplies, we'll be okay, and the numbers will grow again. I have plans to upgrade my equipment and build a brew shed within the next couple years.

To be honest, I'm surprised if 1 million homebrewers are active in the USA. That's nearly 1 in 300 folks. Seems less. On the other hand, I don't think we have any good data. The mentioned data is data, but not reliable.
 
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Franktalk said:
Anecdotal evidence has limited value,
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... and any measurement of posting activity (in online discussion) is likely useless. Based solely on "usenet" activity, home brewing probably peaked in the early 1980s and has been dead for a long long time. The medium for discussion changes, the hobby lives on.

BrewerofBeers said:
You see the same thing in other highly technical hobbies, like autos.
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Digital electronics as a hobby seems to have survived through "eras": 1) building personal computers, 2) robotics, 3) "build your own" or "open for expansion" devices (Raspberry PI / Arduino).

Astronomy: Over time, it's possible home brewing may become more like astronomy. With hobbiest astronomy, there's not much new to discover. Forums talk about how to enjoy viewing stars in urban, suburban, and rural settings using everything from 7x35 binos to home made telescopes to digital viewing. It's about getting the most enjoyment with what one has available at the moment.
 
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I was hired to brew at a micro brewery 2 or so years ago. That has greatly impacted my brewing at home . I don't brew at home as much as I'd like to . I just have to set the time aside to do it .
 
Just empirical, but all of the guys I brewed with in the '90's have stopped brewing and have sold or given away their equipment. The homebrew club that I joined in the 10's has seen a substantial drop in monthly attendance and is becoming increasingly "gray."
 
BrewnWKopperKat said:
... and any measurement of posting activity (in online discussion) is likely useless. Based solely on "usenet" activity, home brewing probably peaked in the early 1980s and has been dead for a long long time. The medium for discussion changes, the hobby lives on.


Digital electronics as a hobby seems to have survived through "eras": 1) building personal computers, 2) robotics, 3) "build your own" or "open for expansion" devices (Raspberry PI / Arduino).

Astronomy: Over time, it's possible home brewing may become more like astronomy. With hobbiest astronomy, there's not much new to discover. Forums talk about how to enjoy viewing stars in urban, suburban, and rural settings using everything from 7x35 binos to home made telescopes to digital viewing. It's about getting the most enjoyment with what one has available at the moment.
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Actually the pinnacle of home brewing activity was during prohibition 100 yrs ago.
 
day_trippr said:
lol! 😁
But I actually only "know" one homebrewer that successfully went pro...

Cheers!
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We have four members from our local homebrew club who went pro. Two opened a local brewery just as Covid was taking off. Then a couple years ago two others opened up a local brewery. In fact, we hold our meetings at the older of the two breweries. Both breweries are doing quite well and are almost always packed. Although our club has a couple hundred members we rarely get more than 8 or 10 attending our monthly meetings.
 
MaxStout said:
Rising costs of ingredients may have contributed to much of those lower numbers. The days of $2 dry yeasts and sub-buck-a-pound malts are long gone.

Many homebrewers who were just within their budget in 2014 are likely finding today's costs prohibitive.

Sure, you can buy in bulk--grain by the sack, hops by the pound, etc., but the average, casual homebrewer isn't doing that.

Also, many LHBS went toes-up in recent years, due to thin margins, competition from big online vendors, and the pandemic. Less local access probably turned some people away from the pastime.

Finally, I think homebrewing is past its zeitgeist. It was all the rage 10 years ago, but a lot of those folks have moved on to other things.
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I think this is odd because the general cost of beer has gone up as well. So drinking in general is more expensive. Why not make it yourself?
 
Using metrics of only my business, which spans hardware and homebrew ingredients/consumables, the peak was 2018. Covid actually brought back some volume which made 2020 match my 2017 numbers. There was a pretty rapid decline starting in 2021 to now with a major cliff starting around October 2022.

We have a lost a few homebrew shops in NJ over the last two years.

I've watched AHA speculate about what drives the homebrewing market for several years and the biggest correlation they could make is that homebrewing is pretty much directly inverse of the employment rate. When people are employed, they don't mind spending their money on local craft beer. When they are unemployed, they don't mind spending their "vast" spare time watching a pot boil.
 
Also note the disappearance of the Mr Beer kits. How many folks got those back in 2012 under the christmas tree? Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, and other used to have a mountain of them during the holiday season. They no longer do. Without an easy entry like that, many potential brewers never get started.
 
MaxStout said:
Rising costs of ingredients may have contributed to much of those lower numbers. The days of $2 dry yeasts and sub-buck-a-pound malts are long gone.

Many homebrewers who were just within their budget in 2014 are likely finding today's costs prohibitive.

Sure, you can buy in bulk--grain by the sack, hops by the pound, etc., but the average, casual homebrewer isn't doing that.

Also, many LHBS went toes-up in recent years, due to thin margins, competition from big online vendors, and the pandemic. Less local access probably turned some people away from the pastime.

Finally, I think homebrewing is past its zeitgeist. It was all the rage 10 years ago, but a lot of those folks have moved on to other things.
Click to expand...
There are definitely also fewer homebrew shops now, too. Especially local shops. Many are buying mail order. The increased cost of fuel, increased cost of trucking, increased cost of everything and supply chain shortages defintely all have taken a toll. We’ve had 3 shops in our area who had all been around pretty much since the 80s close their doors in the last couple years. Some of it was retirement age folks, no doubt. But that was not all of it.

Online shops are competitive and its not out of the realm of possibility to get all your stuff that way. But it sucks that there are fewer and fewer local shops. Too many people talk the talk about the importance of having a local shop but don’t walk the walk and support their local shop. Not having a local shop contributes to people not brewing or never learning to brew, too.
 
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Well, spring has arrived and I not only bought a new pedal pusher but am starting a garden,so yeah I'm active. I also require couch time as I'm retired.
 
Looking at the American Homebrewers Association membership will give you an idea od home many there are that are part of that association.
But many don't join a club. In South Africa, where I am, clubs are few and far between. Many of us have been brewing for years, but have never joined any club or organisation that keeps statistics of how many people brew.
There are probably more active brewers than you think.
 
Bobby_M said:
Using metrics of only my business, which spans hardware and homebrew ingredients/consumables, the peak was 2018. Covid actually brought back some volume which made 2020 match my 2017 numbers. There was a pretty rapid decline starting in 2021 to now with a major cliff starting around October 2022.

We have a lost a few homebrew shops in NJ over the last two years.

I've watched AHA speculate about what drives the homebrewing market for several years and the biggest correlation they could make is that homebrewing is pretty much directly inverse of the employment rate. When people are employed, they don't mind spending their money on local craft beer. When they are unemployed, they don't mind spending their "vast" spare time watching a pot boil.
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For me, the reason i took a 2 year hiatus (other than a second kid and buying a new house) was availability of what I wanted to drink. The 2 spots that spots that doesn't focus on sour milkshake NEIPAS and all that soup, failed( not wanting to talk styles and all, but at best they're okay).

Now I'm back to brewing my European classics and drafting plans for a "pub" vibe in my garage. Hoping it mixes well with my retro game station
 
This is a very interesting post since I was wondering where we are at and what the future holds. Since the Plague I have cut down on brewing, but I think a lot of that has to do with not having lots of folks over. I spoke with my grain supplier, and he mentioned that homebrew buying is down for him. He says the mail order side is steady even now pulling out of the world slump.

I always think of how long I'll keep brewing my own and when I do decide to stop will there be a market for all of the shiny SS I've invested in . . . .
 
OakIslandBrewery said:
This is a very interesting post since I was wondering where we are at and what the future holds. Since the Plague I have cut down on brewing, but I think a lot of that has to do with not having lots of folks over. I spoke with my grain supplier, and he mentioned that homebrew buying is down for him. He says the mail order side is steady even now pulling out of the world slump.

I always think of how long I'll keep brewing my own and when I do decide to stop will there be a market for all of the shiny SS I've invested in . . . .
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This might seem a little off topic, but maybe not. My brewing slowed down and I determined it was a lack of excitement for dealing with all my heavy SS bling. I traded it all in for a compact all-in-one, and I'm brewing more than I have in 10yrs, and always looking forward to next session. Not only can I clean-in-place, I finally have a working RIMS, can whirlpool properly, etc.
 
Well I thought along those same lines but I keep thinking I'm not ready to swap out equipment even though those brew systems look interesting. Sometimes I feel I get into this brewing rut and wonder if I'm getting disinterested. I know once I start milling grain I'll snap out of that feeling and look forward to another brew day!
 
I agree with maxstout, home brewing is past its pinnacle, from a hobbyist perspective. The thing is, i make beers I like to drink and have dialed in my beer to my palette so well i dont wanna drink other beers unless its for discovery purposes. I brew to drink my own beer and if someone ask for some beer, i hook em up. But this is a lifestyle because i enjoy drinking and i enjoy what i make to drink.
 
That's how I feel too, on the beer style part. I have a solid set of recipes I brew most of the time. These are recipes I crafted to my liking and what I prefer over anything I've tried from most of the local offerings. Granted, there's a couple places I go to that I'll never be able to clone their beers. Getting out sometimes is beneficial for a lot of reasons provided I don't get all tanked up!
 
passedpawn said:
Also note the disappearance of the Mr Beer kits. How many folks got those back in 2012 under the christmas tree?
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I brewed beer back in the late 70s to early 80s. I quit due to some poor results and lack of community to learn from. I always toyed with the idea of returning until my wife bought me this Man Crates gift 4 or 5 years ago. I'm not sure she is glad she did (she does not like beer, go figure). So that's one option for someone thinking about giving the gift to brewing. I have no affiliation with Man Crates and I think girls could probably be good at this too . . . Ask @Yooper
 
InspectorJon said:
I brewed beer back in the late 70s to early 80s. I quit due to some poor results and lack of community to learn from. I always toyed with the idea of returning until my wife bought me this Man Crates gift 4 or 5 years ago. I'm not sure she is glad she did (she does not like beer, go figure). So that's one option for someone thinking about giving the gift to brewing. I have no affiliation with Man Crates and I think girls could probably be good at this too . . . Ask @Yooper
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Such is the miracle of women. They keep supporting us, oafs we are. I do not get it.
 

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