Loading your audio article
It was about a decade ago that Mt. Pleasant restaurant owner and brewer Jim Holton first saw a decrease in sales because of the market saturation of craft beer.
As more and more craft breweries opened in Michigan, Holton, who owns Mountain Town Station, Camille’s Prime and Summit Smokehouse, saw shelf space and tap handles in bars and restaurants begin to decrease.
Over the last five years, consumers have turned more to hard seltzers that are gluten-free and lower in calories.
Adding to the mix that caused a decrease in the consumption of craft beer was the state legalizing recreational marijuana, now seemingly available at dispensaries on every corner.
While Holton briefly got into making hard seltzer, his craft beers have been a steady offering since he started brewing in the 1990s.
As the glut in the craft beer industry in Michigan continues, Holton and other local brewers Amy Shindorf of Four Leaf Brewing in Clare and John Hunter of Hunter’s Ale House and other local businesses, continue to offer their brews in challenging times.
Meijer used to be the top seller of Holton’s Train Wreck Ale in six-pack bottles, but the retailer dropped half of its shelf space to make room for hard seltzers.
Now, Meijer doesn’t sell the ale at all, Holton said.
On a positive note, Holton said, tap room sales at Summit, Mountain Town and his Alma restaurant increased last year.
Even with many craft breweries closing, Hunter said brewing remains a very competitive environment but he’s happy his businesses have continued to grow in Mt. Pleasant because of support from the community members.
“Being a microbrewery has led us to keeping our operational overhead low,” Hunter said. “We’re thankful to have a great brewer, Nate, who continues to innovated and be a leader in his field.”
Hunters currently offers several core brews and continues to release new ones.
Sticky Orange, Helluva Day IPA, Coach’s Golden, Grandpa Chuck’s and What Would Jesus Brew continue to be popular, Hunter said.
“Now more than ever we encourage the local community to continue to support local breweries,” Hunter said. “We have a few great ones in Mt. Pleasant.”
Shindorf, who opened Four Leaf Brewing on McEwan Street in downtown Clare in 2015 and has plans to open another brewery in Mt. Pleasant, is worried more about economic factors than too many breweries with which to compete.
While Shindorf wants to continue to expand, uncertainty the Trump administration’s economic policies has her wondering how the business will be affected.
Many of the craft breweries that are closing are linked with restaurants, and unfortunately, Shindorf said, she’s seen some of that fluctuation.
At the same time, the closures have been somewhat of a boon for Shindorf, who keeps an eye on those going out of business in order to buy equipment cheaper.
She also believes some of the breweries have closed for owners’ personal reasons.
Four Leaf has steadily grown since 2020, Shindorf said, noting that her number one concern is the potential threat from national ecomomic policies.
Current players who are surviving say the craft beer industry isn’t dying, it’s adjusting. The state still has literally hundreds of beer makers, ranging from small neighborhood microbreweries that serve their products directly to customers pint-by-pint to larger operations that can, bottle, keg and distribute their products statewide and beyond, according to a recent report in the Detroit News.
“Of course, media likes to report on gloom and doom, and there is legitimately some concern and some tough times out there, but things certainly aren’t over,” said Scott Graham, executive director of the Michigan Brewers Guild.
Graham estimated that there are still 400 breweries in the state, making it one of the most successful in the industry, according to the Detroit News.
According to the National Brewers Association, the biggest growth for Michigan was in the 2010s, with the number of Michigan craft breweries rising from around 100 in 2011 to 400 in 2019. Last year, the Brewers Association tracked 335 brewery openings and 399 closings countrywide, according to the News report.
“People aren’t going to quit drinking beer, and they aren’t going to quit drinking local beer, but we are going through a rough time right now,” Graham told the Detroit News.
