Famously saved in a way that kicked off the American craft brewing movement. Fritz Maytag brought a modern microbiological perspective to American brewing, reintroduced dormant American styles, validated that there was a market for such beers, and deliberately helped other breweries brew great beer rather than expanding faster than he felt comfortable to meet demand. It was a viable business when Maytag decided to retire in 2010.
And I think the economy has a great effect. Craft beer is expensive, and when everything else has doubled in price, it becomes a luxury. Between that and competing for shelf space when the oligopoly has crammed the shelves with faux "craft" beers, I'm expecting a shakeout in the craft brew business - a local brewery closed up at the end of May with about a week of warning and no reason why, even though the taproom always had customers.
Some* craft beer is expensive. My extremely non-scientific survey found that Anchor Steam is roughly the same price as Shiner, or Boulevard Wheat, and only a couple dollars more than a six pack of Budweiser. It's no Founder's KBS prices, but that beer fills a different niche anyways.
The craft brewers that are all making the same N-times-hopped IPAs might die off, and for the better.
I know the owners of a local craft brewery. When they opened 7 years ago it was ONLY the taproom. Nowadays their money is almost entirely in distribution, taproom is only like 5% of their sales.
Perhaps it’s time to admit it’s just not a viable product, especially now that the US beer scene is so expansive.