Well then you will enjoy our Feb and March uploads. That said, around 6 times more traditional cask ale is sold than all kinds of modern American styles... so old world beer still rules British brewing. You're well fed!
I'm with you, last time I went to Treehouse I had their lagers and ales all 5 percent or lower. Anyone who visits and doesn't have their German style lagers is missing out, super underrated and takes a back seat to the NEIPA's
Guinness becoming so dominant in 2024 was a bit of a strange one. Like, it's always been by far the best quality macro beer out there. I honestly think it's a response to the continued decline in quality/strength of macro lager. It was only going to be so long before the public saw through the 'European branding' scam.
Great timing I was just thinking about the CBC and when you would be back! To add to your west coast pilsners they have really taken off in Australia as of last year! Especially NZ pils and IPAs.
I think your prediction for hoppy pilsners was bang on, at least here in the US. Lots of hoppy lager especially Italian pils which seems to be a favourite for the smaller craft breweries.
I think you're right on the NA front, at least when it comes to it trying to break through. We're only three weeks in to January and I've never had so many N/A beers (kegs , not just cans) hit my trade inbox from so many great brewers!
@@xander1052 I thought so! :) ill add though that the last prediction or maybe concept - find a great beer and enjoy it without over thinking - is something I should do more of!
The West Coast Pils thing is spot on. Ive started my own personal drinking campaign of bring back bitterness 2025. Id love to see more West Coast stuff in general. #MakeBitternessGreatAgain A prediction I have for the next big style in 2025 is the re-emergence of historical beer styles to a wider audience. So not actually new at all! More Gruits, Adambier, Zoigl, Burton Ale (could be a great way to introduce cask abroad too). Another one is the increased use of alternative hop products instead of whole hops or T90 pellets. The better they get, the more efficiency they give to brewers making the beer potentially cheaper without compromising quality which is a saving grace in the current climate. See Track Beer - they seem to be at forefront of this at the moment.
I did a citra pilsner and a mosaic pilsner last year and a citra lager you predicted my channel well 😜🤣😂I have some strata in the freezer ready to be used in 2025 👍I love a traditional beer very much. Thanks for your quality videos through 2024 again. Looking forward to watching what you guys get up to in 2025 cheers 👍🍻
Aahhh... so wish you'd have given a review of the Offshoot Relax, but I lost it when I saw it in the thumbnail 😂 Moved from the UK to LA in 2017, picked up that can just because of the bright colours and that was truly the beer that started my "journey"... I don't know if it compares to the very best but it'll probably forever be my "favorite"
"normcore in a can" is bloody hilarious! I feel like right meanie saying this, but I am yet to find the crafty-brewer take on bitter that actually tastes anywhere near as good as any of the legacy or cask-focussed breweries. I love the Kernel takes on dark beers, but I had their bitter (the one based on a historical recipe I believe) recently and it was horrendous - just extremely alien tasting.
Are the "west coast pilsner" style beers just a reinvention of the Indian pale lagers that were knocking about a few years back. Basically a lager taste up front with a more bitter finish?
We did a video on this, but essentially WCPs are big aromatic pilsners, while IPLs are crispy WCIPAs. So west coast pils are lower abv, lower bitterness, less aroma, less body than an IPL
With the last trend, it was kind of funny seeing the Offshoot in the un-hype segement. Firstly, I'm little surprised to see them crop up in the UK. Offshoot started as a hoppy side project(hence the name) at the Bruery (which does lots of sours, complex, barrel aged stuff, wild fermentation, etc). They were super hyped when they first came out due to limited supply. I was part of their membership club so I often had first access, but it was often that you could only get one four pack per person per transaction. Irrespective of all that, a lot of them were really quite nice and I'm glad to seem them make their way to your channel.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel if you ever have the opportunity to try any Bruery beers from the mothership, I would strongly suggest. if you ever make to SoCal, there are a dozen, two dozen breweries/taprooms around that part of Orange County - most of which are at least interesting and one (The Bruery), maybe two, are world class.
It's funny because I love craft beer more than most. A bit obsessive all round. I have totally had enough of the hazy ipa thing (still enjoy one now and then ) but really have no interest in hazy dipas etc . A nice west coast clean beer or an amber ale or craft red ale I'm all over now. I get a hazy and very hoppy IPA and the taste has really just got too heavy for me after drinking so many of them over the years. Great to see what the trends are
In all seriousness, NZ hops are incredible. I've been a huge fan of Moutere for a bittering hop for a couple of years now, add it through the boil and it adds big earthy citrus notes with a smooth bitterness.
It's not getting boring, it's just adjusting to the market/consumer interest. Craft beer is awesome and fun, but the average beer drinker doesn't want to drink strong IPAs/Stouts on “daily” basis, taste- and money-wise. Lagers always have been the strongest beer style for a reason. I am saying this as a salesperson in a small craft beer company based in Germany.
This is definitely an interesting watch when comparing this to US craft beer trends. We definitely had a "year of the lager" the last two years, at least in the Western states. And we've had a year of the New Zealand hops about 5 years ago, but that's been on the downturn due to cost and the addition of new American grown hops that are doing a good job at mimicking those NZ hop flavors. My hope, but not a prediction, for this year is that breweries stop using as many adjuncts in their beers, which will not only make the beer taste better, but reduce their costs as well. Right now, way too many breweries are really just making alcopop but it seems like that's what a lot of new drinkers prefer.
Interesting to hear NZ hop use is declining again. There's also going to be an interesting adjustment to the fact that there is a huge oversupply of hops in the US, which might affect pricing but also quality.
I'd like this to be the year of better labels. I see many labels from smaller breweries without any useful info about the beer - and without packaging dates, which is an automatic no-go for me. Don't want to spend $16+ on a 4-pack and not know what style of IPA it is or how long it's been on the shelf.
I think if anything it's going to be the opposite - less marketing, less info, more "it's just beer" kind of convos. But I'd love to see more information on cans too.
I reckon you're right with low % (especially 0 %) and the geek paradigm of crafts. Both go together well and I'm very interested how it goes. I think you're incorrect with ILs and NZs. That already happened in 2024 and that's the market share they gonna keep. Similarly, you can predict increase of dark beers but that already happened too.
Low and no alcohol beers are usually just laden with sugar, much more so than alcohol beers. I understand why, but the holy grail is finding one that isn’t and has a good body / taste - yet to find it!
The amount of sugar entirely depends on the method of production. We have a video on this coming in a few weeks. Look for the distilled/filtered versions!
Covid put me right off hoppy brews for a few years, but now I can guzzle a ddh, but certain hops and styles are not for me anymore. Euro lagers have never left the menu.
in Germany I think that low-alcohol became a really big thing in the last years. 2006 the breweries in Germany made 1,9 million hl and 2023 it was 5,5 million hl of alcohol free beer. but i don´t know if it is a similar trend for craft beer...
But we all agree that it’s a smart corporate move rather than a health concern campaign, right? It’s about getting more people into beer, even at younger ages because there’s no alcohol. I’ve been watching old German vids and so many old men are just getting old drinking normal and heavier beers. Personally I like high alcohol beers, since it enhances the experience just a bit more profound in a positive way, in my case.
I don't know if this will be the case, but I'd like craft breweries to stop making quite so many hazy beers. Sure, I get that some styles demand it, but lately it just seems to be the default for a lot of breweries regardless of the actual style of the beer. If I was being cynical, I'd say they've realised they can cut a corner in their process and advertise that as a feature. I've got a bit sick of drinking yet another moderately hopped pale beer that mainly tastes of yeast. Can someone tell breweries that it's OK to use finings?! I like hops and I like malt. Yeast... not as much,
OK. I agree less hazy ipa and more diversity would be great, but I can assure you making shelf stable, unique and tasty hazy IPA is NOT a shortcut. It is very difficult to do. So it's a shortcut to sale, but not for production.
Low N/a beers are nice when using edibles and more states in the US are legalized you still get to enjoy a nice tasting ipa and not intensify the effects of the edible 👍
Could brewers go back to trying to do interesting things wirh malt, hops, yeast and water rather than just going for the lazy option of throwing some random crud in the mash.
I get the purpose of low alcohol beers but can't get on board with paying craft beer prices for it. Might as well drink soft drinks. I know it's been tried before but I'd love to see India pale lagers a bit more. Feels like they've vanished.
This is the main struggle for low alc beer. It's not that much cheaper to make, but consumers expect it to be. Re IPL, lots of crispy hoppy beer out, juat under different names and subtle changes
Craft lagers will always struggle out of core market, especially far away from the brewery. Who wants to pay craft prices for usually worse than macro lager--15 dollars for a 4-pack of probably oxidized tallboys when next to it is an acceptable 12 pack of lager for the same price? Craft also needs to bring the focus back to high-quality, well-brewed beer, and REALLY NEED to start rejecting badly packaged oxidized beer. Seems like 90% of craft is doing some level of canning/bottling without giving a sh!t about stable, non-oxidized beer. And when you're talking about lagers and IPAs, those oxygen numbers are king. I live in Asia and was done buying imported craft at 7-12 dollars retail years ago. Badly packaged beer is also rampant in the US, and I assume Europe as well. Keep it kegged, keep it local!
I want to see milds, bitters and stouts. Not some 10% peanut butter raspberry ripple chocolate stout though... #OldWorldBeers
Well then you will enjoy our Feb and March uploads. That said, around 6 times more traditional cask ale is sold than all kinds of modern American styles... so old world beer still rules British brewing. You're well fed!
@@TheCraftBeerChannelthat’s great to hear. I’m a huge craft fan but traditional cask ale wins every time. Exeter CAMRA fest this weekend…. Can’t wait!
I'm with you, last time I went to Treehouse I had their lagers and ales all 5 percent or lower. Anyone who visits and doesn't have their German style lagers is missing out, super underrated and takes a back seat to the NEIPA's
Glad you're back guys!
Definitely seeing more Belgian style brews appearing in tap rooms. And I’m all for it! 🍻
Where abouts in the world are you?! I'd love to see that but feel like it's going the other way
Guinness becoming so dominant in 2024 was a bit of a strange one. Like, it's always been by far the best quality macro beer out there. I honestly think it's a response to the continued decline in quality/strength of macro lager. It was only going to be so long before the public saw through the 'European branding' scam.
I think this is partly true, but also a huge cultural shift around experience, brand and marketing. It won't last, but it is fun while it does.
I think it's the splitting the G trend amongst the youngens
Fingers crossed for year of the lager!
Cheers boys - all the best for 2025.
FRAT BOY PINTS Wooooo YARD OF BEER
Great timing I was just thinking about the CBC and when you would be back!
To add to your west coast pilsners they have really taken off in Australia as of last year! Especially NZ pils and IPAs.
Baltic Porters! This is the year, I can feel it!
Also 18:26
LoL...I just brewed one
Good to see you back!
Can’t go wrong with an 8% DIPA!
I have gone wrong MANY times with an 8% DIPA.
I’ll be drinking a 12% beer today, and tomorrow.
I think your prediction for hoppy pilsners was bang on, at least here in the US. Lots of hoppy lager especially Italian pils which seems to be a favourite for the smaller craft breweries.
I think you're right on the NA front, at least when it comes to it trying to break through. We're only three weeks in to January and I've never had so many N/A beers (kegs , not just cans) hit my trade inbox from so many great brewers!
Welcome back! ❤
More tasteful than writing First ;)
@@xander1052 I thought so! :) ill add though that the last prediction or maybe concept - find a great beer and enjoy it without over thinking - is something I should do more of!
The West Coast Pils thing is spot on. Ive started my own personal drinking campaign of bring back bitterness 2025. Id love to see more West Coast stuff in general. #MakeBitternessGreatAgain
A prediction I have for the next big style in 2025 is the re-emergence of historical beer styles to a wider audience. So not actually new at all! More Gruits, Adambier, Zoigl, Burton Ale (could be a great way to introduce cask abroad too).
Another one is the increased use of alternative hop products instead of whole hops or T90 pellets. The better they get, the more efficiency they give to brewers making the beer potentially cheaper without compromising quality which is a saving grace in the current climate. See Track Beer - they seem to be at forefront of this at the moment.
So glad to have you guys back ❤️
It will definitely be an interesting year, hopefully you get a slightly higher prediction hit rate than last year 😂
It's all uphill from 2024.
Great video!
I did a citra pilsner and a mosaic pilsner last year and a citra lager you predicted my channel well 😜🤣😂I have some strata in the freezer ready to be used in 2025 👍I love a traditional beer very much. Thanks for your quality videos through 2024 again. Looking forward to watching what you guys get up to in 2025 cheers 👍🍻
Aahhh... so wish you'd have given a review of the Offshoot Relax, but I lost it when I saw it in the thumbnail 😂
Moved from the UK to LA in 2017, picked up that can just because of the bright colours and that was truly the beer that started my "journey"... I don't know if it compares to the very best but it'll probably forever be my "favorite"
don't know about your area but here in New England small private independents are closing left and right
"normcore in a can" is bloody hilarious! I feel like right meanie saying this, but I am yet to find the crafty-brewer take on bitter that actually tastes anywhere near as good as any of the legacy or cask-focussed breweries. I love the Kernel takes on dark beers, but I had their bitter (the one based on a historical recipe I believe) recently and it was horrendous - just extremely alien tasting.
Are the "west coast pilsner" style beers just a reinvention of the Indian pale lagers that were knocking about a few years back. Basically a lager taste up front with a more bitter finish?
We did a video on this, but essentially WCPs are big aromatic pilsners, while IPLs are crispy WCIPAs. So west coast pils are lower abv, lower bitterness, less aroma, less body than an IPL
With the last trend, it was kind of funny seeing the Offshoot in the un-hype segement. Firstly, I'm little surprised to see them crop up in the UK. Offshoot started as a hoppy side project(hence the name) at the Bruery (which does lots of sours, complex, barrel aged stuff, wild fermentation, etc). They were super hyped when they first came out due to limited supply. I was part of their membership club so I often had first access, but it was often that you could only get one four pack per person per transaction. Irrespective of all that, a lot of them were really quite nice and I'm glad to seem them make their way to your channel.
They made it to the UK via Cave Direct, where I (jonny) used to work. Extra interesting to know the very exclusive background!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel if you ever have the opportunity to try any Bruery beers from the mothership, I would strongly suggest. if you ever make to SoCal, there are a dozen, two dozen breweries/taprooms around that part of Orange County - most of which are at least interesting and one (The Bruery), maybe two, are world class.
It's funny because I love craft beer more than most. A bit obsessive all round.
I have totally had enough of the hazy ipa thing (still enjoy one now and then ) but really have no interest in hazy dipas etc .
A nice west coast clean beer or an amber ale or craft red ale I'm all over now.
I get a hazy and very hoppy IPA and the taste has really just got too heavy for me after drinking so many of them over the years.
Great to see what the trends are
Year of the stout/porter properly this year...
You could be right, but I suspect that the bubble might burst towards the end of the year.
Combined the NZ hops and the year of the lager with favourite new (to me at least) beer of last year Rivington Whānau.
Calling it now, Hazy IPA is going to be big in 2025.
In all seriousness, NZ hops are incredible. I've been a huge fan of Moutere for a bittering hop for a couple of years now, add it through the boil and it adds big earthy citrus notes with a smooth bitterness.
Never heard of it.
It's not getting boring, it's just adjusting to the market/consumer interest.
Craft beer is awesome and fun, but the average beer drinker doesn't want to drink strong IPAs/Stouts on “daily” basis, taste- and money-wise. Lagers always have been the strongest beer style for a reason.
I am saying this as a salesperson in a small craft beer company based in Germany.
Oh we totally agree and thought we made that point! It's not a change in approach or quality in brewing, just in style and marketing.
Lager is life✊🏻
This is definitely an interesting watch when comparing this to US craft beer trends. We definitely had a "year of the lager" the last two years, at least in the Western states. And we've had a year of the New Zealand hops about 5 years ago, but that's been on the downturn due to cost and the addition of new American grown hops that are doing a good job at mimicking those NZ hop flavors. My hope, but not a prediction, for this year is that breweries stop using as many adjuncts in their beers, which will not only make the beer taste better, but reduce their costs as well. Right now, way too many breweries are really just making alcopop but it seems like that's what a lot of new drinkers prefer.
Interesting to hear NZ hop use is declining again. There's also going to be an interesting adjustment to the fact that there is a huge oversupply of hops in the US, which might affect pricing but also quality.
I'd like this to be the year of better labels. I see many labels from smaller breweries without any useful info about the beer - and without packaging dates, which is an automatic no-go for me. Don't want to spend $16+ on a 4-pack and not know what style of IPA it is or how long it's been on the shelf.
I think if anything it's going to be the opposite - less marketing, less info, more "it's just beer" kind of convos. But I'd love to see more information on cans too.
YES MORE hops Flavour with a hint of Hops top off with notes of hops in various shades of Brown
"Get the aroma on that"
The last can of Holy Faith I had smelled like foot cheese.
Yikes. Maybe NMBC need to do more hop sensory on the brew day.
What is the Italian lager mentioned please?
Tipopils from Birrificio Italiano.
Birrificio Italiano's Tipopils
I reckon you're right with low % (especially 0 %) and the geek paradigm of crafts. Both go together well and I'm very interested how it goes.
I think you're incorrect with ILs and NZs. That already happened in 2024 and that's the market share they gonna keep. Similarly, you can predict increase of dark beers but that already happened too.
Low and no alcohol beers are usually just laden with sugar, much more so than alcohol beers. I understand why, but the holy grail is finding one that isn’t and has a good body / taste - yet to find it!
The amount of sugar entirely depends on the method of production. We have a video on this coming in a few weeks. Look for the distilled/filtered versions!
Covid put me right off hoppy brews for a few years, but now I can guzzle a ddh, but certain hops and styles are not for me anymore. Euro lagers have never left the menu.
in Germany I think that low-alcohol became a really big thing in the last years. 2006 the breweries in Germany made 1,9 million hl and 2023 it was 5,5 million hl of alcohol free beer.
but i don´t know if it is a similar trend for craft beer...
Germany has led the way in low alc for decades - both quality and quantity. It's great to see it so prevalent there.
But we all agree that it’s a smart corporate move rather than a health concern campaign, right? It’s about getting more people into beer, even at younger ages because there’s no alcohol. I’ve been watching old German vids and so many old men are just getting old drinking normal and heavier beers. Personally I like high alcohol beers, since it enhances the experience just a bit more profound in a positive way, in my case.
So many more non alc beers have arrived in the last few months, from small and big indie brewers.
Glad to see you back. I thought you guys were in jail for streaking in London or something 😂
I like that this is what you thought we'd do with a month off!
I don't know if this will be the case, but I'd like craft breweries to stop making quite so many hazy beers. Sure, I get that some styles demand it, but lately it just seems to be the default for a lot of breweries regardless of the actual style of the beer. If I was being cynical, I'd say they've realised they can cut a corner in their process and advertise that as a feature. I've got a bit sick of drinking yet another moderately hopped pale beer that mainly tastes of yeast. Can someone tell breweries that it's OK to use finings?! I like hops and I like malt. Yeast... not as much,
OK. I agree less hazy ipa and more diversity would be great, but I can assure you making shelf stable, unique and tasty hazy IPA is NOT a shortcut. It is very difficult to do. So it's a shortcut to sale, but not for production.
Low N/a beers are nice when using edibles and more states in the US are legalized you still get to enjoy a nice tasting ipa and not intensify the effects of the edible 👍
My prediction is that bitters will become more popular. Just my guess as to where the Guinness Gen-Z's will head after that trend ends
2024 was the year that Guinness went stratospheric in the UK
Indeed - for good and bad. Something we hope to dig into this year.
Could brewers go back to trying to do interesting things wirh malt, hops, yeast and water rather than just going for the lazy option of throwing some random crud in the mash.
It’s about time you did another video…🤭
I think Nectaron will be the next big hop, everyone is using it
I think it's going to take a while to ramp up but could happen in the next few years. Seeing lots of specials, but not much use outside that as yet
I like the idea of low alcohol beer, but then I taste it.
I feel this, but there are some very acceptable versions coming out these days.
New Zealand hops have been popular in NEIPAs for at least a couple of years.
I've seen very little Strata. If anything IMotueka appeared more in 2024
Certainly motueka had a huge year over here, although the quality of the hop seemed pretty variable for the first time I can remember.
I’m calling out dark lagers
Ballast Point has been taken over by Kings and Convicts
Indeed. Hopefully a better suitor than Constellation.
I get the purpose of low alcohol beers but can't get on board with paying craft beer prices for it. Might as well drink soft drinks.
I know it's been tried before but I'd love to see India pale lagers a bit more. Feels like they've vanished.
This is the main struggle for low alc beer. It's not that much cheaper to make, but consumers expect it to be. Re IPL, lots of crispy hoppy beer out, juat under different names and subtle changes
Craft lagers will always struggle out of core market, especially far away from the brewery. Who wants to pay craft prices for usually worse than macro lager--15 dollars for a 4-pack of probably oxidized tallboys when next to it is an acceptable 12 pack of lager for the same price? Craft also needs to bring the focus back to high-quality, well-brewed beer, and REALLY NEED to start rejecting badly packaged oxidized beer. Seems like 90% of craft is doing some level of canning/bottling without giving a sh!t about stable, non-oxidized beer. And when you're talking about lagers and IPAs, those oxygen numbers are king. I live in Asia and was done buying imported craft at 7-12 dollars retail years ago. Badly packaged beer is also rampant in the US, and I assume Europe as well. Keep it kegged, keep it local!
Indeed. I always question the idea of exporting or widely distributing a beer best consumed at the brewery
I mean you can kind of just see what's happened in the US the past two years and copy/paste. NZ hops have been huge here for 3 years
True in many ways but the UK has its own trends and brewing history that means US trends don't quite translate perfectly.
my hot (maybe) take is that NZ hops taste weird to me. idk
Haha not a hot take, but a common take. We will see how it shakes out.
You’re back! Got worried that you had gone for good 😮
Haha we have been working on a HUGE project which has stopped us uploading as much as we'd like sadly. Hoping to get back on form soon
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