Craft Beer Chicago: The State of the Nation's Craft Beer Capital

Provi Releases Chicago's 2018 Craft Beer Market Report

As large corporate owned craft brands become the norm amongst general consumers, discovering market trends relevant to locally owned independent breweries have become increasingly difficult. This data has become imperative for the growth of local brands due to the varying preferences and behaviors between general beer consumers and craft enthusiasts.

Provi released a new report to identify key insights into the trends fueling growth within Chicago’s local craft beer market.

The latest Craft Beer Chicago market research report provides an analysis of local craft beer sales within on-premise retail locations across the Chicago metropolitan area throughout 2018.

This report highlights key insights such as:

• Last year, craft beer accounted for 40 percent of the overall beer market in Chicago’s on-premise retailers. While craft owns a healthy percentage of the beer market, on-premise growth declined by -.33 percent quarter-over-quarter in 2018.
  
  
• However, there is hope for a specific segment of the craft category. In 2018, local independent breweries accounted for 12 percent of sales in the overall beer category and increased market share by 2.16 percent each quarter.
  
  
• Ales accounted for 91 percent of the local beer market but averaged a loss of -4 percent each quarter. The loss can be attributed, in part, to the shift in consumer interest for the lighter, more refreshing lager. Overall, lagers from local brands accounted for 8 percent of the beer category in 2018. While lager market share may still be small, it grew by an average of 22 percent each quarter, indicating a potential shift in customer preference.
  
  
• Chicago’s favorite style, American pale ale (APA), may be in trouble. While APAs were the preferred style of 2018, accounting for 41.3 percent of local beer sales, growth declined by an average of 5 percent each quarter, while IPA style beers increased market share by an average of 7 percent each quarter.
  
  
• Revolution Brewing remained the top local brand in Chicago bars and restaurants last year with 28.2 percent share of the market. Growing at a rate of 3.4 percent each quarter, the brewery is expected to remain the one to beat in 2019.

About Provi

Provi is an open-marketplace for companies who are passionate about the business of booze. Provi provides organizations in every tier of the alcohol distribution system with the tools needed to gain a competitive edge and increase efficiencies in the product discovery, ordering, and supplying processes.