[Opinion] The more growth we see in craft breweries opening their doors, the more the question gets asked; “is there an over saturation in craft beer?” Especially in a state like Pennsylvania that boasts 300+ breweries.

Nationally, craft beer sales are steady. So the immediate question to the answer is no. However the rise in craft beer popularity is causing a ripple effect.

The more breweries that open, the more they have to stand out. Good beer is no longer the main requirement for market success. A brewery is now forced to stand out above all the noise that the market has created.

A trend that’s beginning to emerge is in the beers they produce. Look around and it is no longer hops, malt, barley and yeast that is going into beer. Now it’s using ingredients such as cereal, flour, pop tarts and even charcoal. Some breweries have even resulted in offering beer slushies (still not sure about those).

They can’t fully be blamed. The minute breweries started adding lactose and oats to their beer, the limits to what a beer could be brewed with were endless.

Ultimately it is up to you to decide what to drink. Unless every drink of yours sticks to the reinheitsgebot, it’s hard to pass judgement on others.

So when you look at breweries opening, don’t think it’s forcing others to go out of business. Just know it means you might be getting some odd flavors coming your way.