Craft beer is experiencing headwinds. The production was 4% lower in 2024, with more breweries going out of business than going into business for he first time since 2005. The distributors are reducing orders, and several brewers are operating in a market that is becoming more and more uncertain. Meanwhile, there is a new category that is transforming social drinking. The amount of sales of THC drinks rose to over 1 billion last year, and analysts estimate the market will see a growth of 10-15 billion in a few years.
This expansion is attracting the same market that was driving the success of craft beer. In the case of breweries, it is not a trend that should be overlooked, as it is a change in the customer habits and palatal inclination. Listening at this point may result in new avenues to attract fans, diversify services, and remain relevant in a fast-changing beverage world.
The Numbers Paint A Tough Picture
Craft brewers made 23.1 million barrels in 2024, sliding from 24 million the year before. Volume dropped, closures beat openings, and the Beer Purchasers’ Index, tracking how distributors order, put craft at just 20 in March 2025. Below 50 means things are shrinking. The Brewers Association calls this a “maturing market,” which sounds nicer than “getting smaller.” Craft’s piece of the total beer retail fell to 13.3% by volume.
Dollar sales ticked up 3%, but that came from raising prices and solid taproom numbers, not from more people actually drinking craft beer. Here’s the twist. While craft beer loses ground, alcohol-free THC seltzers and cannabis drinks are jumping 15-30% yearly, depending on which research you believe. Some states hit triple-digit growth. Michigan’s cannabis beverage sales more than doubled compared to the previous year. These trends aren’t random and unconnected. They’re showing us how Americans want to drink in 2025.
Who’s Choosing Cannabis Drinks Over Beer
A challenge to craft brewers is the overlap. Gen Z is taking the first step- the very generation that was supposed to put craft beer back on track- has not appeared in the figures desired. They are reducing their alcohol consumption more generally and turning to THC to feel buzzed. Women are the biggest contributors to THC beverage expansion. Healthier consumers, and those who need to be able to count the exact number of milligrams of a substance and can rely on consistent effects, and simply anybody weary of hangovers are swarming into such products. The sober-curious trend that has risen due to the pandemic still affects decision-making.
Sound familiar? These consumers are the ones that craft beer has been fighting to win over for years with session IPAs, low-cal lagers, and daytime drinkable beers that can be enjoyed without restrictions on their impact later on. The drinks provide what craft beer has always sought to provide: social relaxation, flavor, and controlled experience- without the calories, hangover, and loss of control. A 5 mg THC seltzer will contain fewer than 10 calories, and the effects will last between 15-30 minutes, and the effects will be felt without leaving any regrets the next day. To brewers, this change may suggest new products, experiences, and marketing approaches that would suit the changing preferences of drinkers.
The 2018 Farm Bill Opened The Gates
Before 2018, THC drinks sat in state-regulated cannabis shops. Limited access, strict rules, tiny market. The Farm Bill legalized hemp products with under 0.3% Delta-9 THC by dry weight, which changed everything. Now, THC drinks move through regular alcohol distributors in many states. They’re in gas stations, convenience stores, and online shops. The rules are messy and different state by state, but access has expanded dramatically. You don’t need a dispensary for hemp-derived THC seltzers in most places, just a credit card and wifi. This matters because distribution controls market size. Craft beer learned this when hard seltzers blew up. Big drink companies used existing distribution to pack shelves with White Claw and Truly before craft brewers reacted. Same thing’s playing out with THC drinks, just faster.
Big Beverage Companies Already Moved
The parent company of Corona and Modelo, Constellation Brands, poured a lot of resources into Canopy Growth, the largest Canadian cannabis producer, with a specific focus on cannabis beverages. Molson Coors partnered with a Canadian cannabis firm, and Lagunitas, which is controlled by Heineken, introduced Hi-Fi Hops, a zero-calorie cannabis drink. These are billion-dollar enterprises that make strategic choices on the basis of thorough market research and a clear understanding of the direction in which drinking culture is moving. The decision of America’s largest producer of beer to collaborate with the growers of cannabis is not merely an indication of hedging, but it is a sign of the alteration in the demand of consumers that cannot be overlooked by the craft brewers.
Tilray, which acquired multiple brands of craft beers from Anheuser-Busch and Molson Coors, has been increasing its product range of cannabis drinks. It is not a decision of either or, they are combining both because they are aware that audiences that the beer industry has been working so hard to build are now open to other forms of enjoying social beverages. This is where craft brewers can help in capitalizing on the opportunity to tap into innovation, offering diversification and remaining relevant to drinkers who desire flavor, experience, and conscious consumption.
What Independent Breweries Face
Small craft breweries have it harder than the big guys. They can’t easily jump into cannabis drinks because federal rules (hemp’s legal, but it’s messy) create banking and licensing nightmares that huge corporations can handle, but small brewers can’t. Most craft breweries already run on razor-thin margins. Rising expenses, potential tariffs, falling sales, there’s not much cushion for trying completely new product types that need different production, licenses, and distribution.
But pretending THC drinks don’t exist won’t make them vanish. They’re taking occasions that belonged to beer. After-work drinks. Hanging out with friends. Unwinding at home. These are established beer times that cannabis drinks are grabbing. Some breweries might try partnerships or licensing with cannabis drink companies. Shared facilities. Co-branded stuff in states where it’s legal. The regulatory mess is shifting fast enough that what’s impossible today might be normal in two years.
The Bigger Shift In Drinking
Cannabis drinks are not an announcement of any of the categories replacing another category, but rather a change in what people desire from social beverages. The ancient alcohol playbook, drink to get drunk, and deal with the consequences later, is becoming less and less applicable. Consumers today desire to be in control. They desire to have fun without having to pay the bill the following day. Decisions that are well-adjusted to health-centered lifestyles are gaining popularity. This is the reason why non-alcoholic beer is registering similar growth. The first-mover in NA beers, Athletic Brewing, is still registering double-digit returns while the overall sales of craft beer drop. The cracking a cold one ritual is not gone; alcoholics are reconsidering what they are putting in their cans and bottles.
Craft breweries have no easy way out. The manufacture of THC drinks will demand new machinery, regulations, and supply chains. Small brewers can hardly operate in the two spaces simultaneously because the federal restrictions on banking do not allow this. What craft breweries can accomplish is to wait and watch, and also to be aware of the reasons why cannabis beverages are attractive. The promise of no hangover is a good idea as hangover frustrates consumers. High accuracy in dosing and fast activation are in line with the demands of drinkers who wish to control their experience. Monitoring these tendencies, brewers are able to change their strategy, to discover some new opportunities, to remain interested in the market, which appreciates flavor, ritual, and control.
