• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

Craft Brewing Business Craft Brewing Business
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment & Systems
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

What is the economic impact of homebrewing?

September 20, 2016Chris Crowell

Homebrewing Legal all 50 States
This is just a steaming pot of dolla bills, ya’ll.

Looking to jump start a stagnant economy? Look no further than beer. Craft breweries, as we know, create a ton of jobs, both inside their own walls and in the industries adjacent to them. Just in Colorado alone, the economic impact of craft beer was measured at $1.7 billion. But no need to confine those economic reports to just the pro ranks. Homebrewing is one of the most popular hobbies in the country, and the dedication to the craft has a similar economic ripple effect.

RELATED: Homebrew advice from famous craft brewers

Just think for a second about the estimated 1.2 million homebrewers out there, heading to homebrew shops to buy ingredients and supplies and do the math. Actually, don’t do the math because math is way too complicated and best left to experts like Bart Watson, chief economist and all-around smart guy at the Brewers Association.

First off, the nation’s 815 homebrew shops showed a collective revenue estimate of $764 million. Pretty good chunk of change, but Watson says there is much more to consider in that downstream ripple, such as homebrewers buying supplies and equipment beyond homebrew shop walls as well as traveling to events. As Watson puts it:

Given those adjustments, $1 billion in spending is probably a conservative estimate, with 80%-90% going directly to homebrewing equipment and the rest going to other activities directly related to the activity. To estimate the total impact of that spending, we need to think about all the other ripples those dollars create. Equipment suppliers buy raw materials to make the equipment. Homebrewing shops employ people, and those employees spend money. This is called the “multiplier effect.” Retail multipliers are typically lower than those in manufacturing industries, but they can still add 20% to the total impact.

Here are the final results after Watson factored in all of his smart stuff into a software:

• The model estimates the total impact of homebrewing at $1.225 billion in 2015.
• In addition, it estimates that homebrewing created 11,672 jobs in the United States.

Big-Brew-Competition-Photo-Only-medium
Marketing idea of the week: LUKI Brewery’s Big Brew Day contest
michigan-craft-beer
How craft beer adds up to $364 million of economic impact in Michigan’s upper peninsula
Ohio passes brewer bill-001
Total economic impact of Ohio craft breweries estimated near $1 billion
Michigan hop network
MSU study of craft beer value chain shows $1 billion of economic impact in Michigan

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Columbus Brew Adventures says

    September 21, 2016 at 9:36 am

    Columbus Brew Adventures liked this on Facebook.

    Log in to Reply
  2. JMIheartBeer says

    September 21, 2016 at 7:44 am

    RT @crsimp01: What is the economic impact of homebrewing? https://t.co/VT9n3NQIwI via @craftbrewingbiz

    Log in to Reply
  3. cbusbrewadv says

    September 21, 2016 at 7:25 am

    RT @crsimp01: What is the economic impact of homebrewing? https://t.co/VT9n3NQIwI via @craftbrewingbiz

    Log in to Reply
  4. crsimp01 says

    September 21, 2016 at 7:08 am

    What is the economic impact of homebrewing? https://t.co/VT9n3NQIwI via @craftbrewingbiz

    Log in to Reply
  5. HomebrewAssoc says

    September 20, 2016 at 4:09 pm

    RT @CraftBrewingBiz: What is the economic impact of homebrewing? Ask @BrewersStats of course https://t.co/CmGAMMW08e @HomebrewAssoc

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Michigan’s Dog Star Hops wins Chinook Cup for second year in a row
  • Beer Institute releases December 2022 domestic tax paid estimate
  • Crooked Hammock combines curling and stouts for cool mini fest
  • Sin, Repent and Repeat on Fat Tuesday and more beers to know this week

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • Michigan’s Dog Star Hops wins Chinook Cup for second year in a row
    February 1, 2023
  • fort point both-ciders-3Fort Point Beer debuts cider line, explains why ciders instead of seltzers
    January 31, 2023
  • Watch a drone release insects over hop yards for sustainable pest control in this Yakima Chief Hops video series
    January 30, 2023
  • Distro update: Connecticut’s Two Roads Brewing goes to Colorado + news from Surreal, New Sarum and more
    January 30, 2023
  • Cadaverine: When your beer smells like dead human
    January 26, 2023
  • beer taps brain distribution cbb cropUnfiltered: There are weevils in my grain – what do I do?
    January 26, 2023

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2023 · CBB Media LLC