LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Michigan’s craft beer industry is facing a sobering new reality: closures are accelerating, costs are rising, and younger drinkers are walking away.
Last call.
The state counted 418 craft breweries in 2023, ranking eighth nationwide, according to the Brewers Association. But recent shutdowns—including Loaded Dice in Troy, Three Gatos in Wyoming, and Creston Brewery in Grand Rapids—signal deeper trouble for one of Michigan’s signature industries.
“We’re probably going to see more brewery closures,” Scott Graham, executive director of the Michigan Brewers Guild, told the Detroit Free Press. “While it’s easy to rationalize how it happens, it’s really sad to see.”
Graham pointed to rising prices for ingredients, packaging, and labor, adding that new state mandates on paid time off, combined with lingering pandemic loans, are squeezing small brewers.
“The cost of raw materials, whether it’s brewing ingredients like barley malt or cans—there’s been upward pressure on those things in general,” he said. “It can make it hard to pay your bills, especially when all these things start to add on top of each other.”
Pour decisions.
According to Graham, COVID-era loans and new labor mandates have further stressed budgets. Additionally, a 25% federal tariff on aluminum has raised costs for cans, a critical packaging tool for small brewers.
Brewers also face pressure from rising competition not just from each other, but from hard seltzers, nonalcoholic drinks, and recreational marijuana.
“There are more options on the market,” Travis Prueter, owner of Big Lake Brewing in Holland, said.
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In fact, a 2024 Gallup poll found 62% of adults under 35 drink alcohol—down from 72% two decades ago. Among those who do drink, a rising number say even moderate use is unhealthy.
Changing tastes.
For smaller brewers, staying relevant means adapting quickly. Prueter said Big Lake’s distributed lineup now rotates by about 50% each year to keep up with changing tastes.
Jim Holton, owner of Mountain Town Brewing Company in Mt. Pleasant, is taking a similar approach by rolling out more specialty offerings. “They’ve had everything in the world you can think of,” he said. “They’re grasping for something that’s new.”
But innovation alone is not enough. Retailers, too, are trimming beer shelf space in favor of faster-moving products. “That shelf space is just gold,” Holton said.