I live in the small town of Fuquay-Varina NC and we have 3 local breweries (at last count ). I think that there are plenty of beer drinkers and more than enough microbreweries to go around
There probably is a bubble coming at some point, but 50 breweries in a state with the population of Pennsylvania or Michigan doesn't mark the threshold for it. In Oregon, home to a mere 4 million people, there are now 234 "brewing facilities". A good number of these are brew pubs that only sell product on premise, but there are many more that distribute, either keg product to bars and restaurants, or bottles and cans for retail package sale, or both. They all seem to be doing well, and new craft producers are still entering the market. In Oregon, virtually every eating and drinking establishment and every retail store, even the big chain supermarkets, offers a wide array of craft beers. The millennials in particular are beer drinkers, and they like, in fact demand, craft products.I completely agree with this assessment. I think there is a "Craft Beer Bubble" on the way. Some states like Michigan and Pennsylvania have over 50 breweries in their respective states. And other are there also, if not most states. The market is over saturated with these craft beers and there is no way a small brewery can survive unlkess they find their niche.
Colorado is the state I associate the craft beer movement with most. Back in the early 80s a friend's sister moved to Colorado and he would tell me stories of stills in restaurants. I was so excited to go to Denver in the early 92 to experience it (As well as the rugged beauty of the Rockies beyond Boulder) first hand!It's definitely not on the decline here in Colorado!