Look on the bright side

Things are as tough in craft beer as you might’ve heard. Breweries are closing — 2025 was one of the worst years on record for that — and the volumes of beer that the survivors are brewing and selling have dropped steadily for years now. 

Southern breweries haven’t escaped the tough times. For decades, the region only recorded happy milestones—first new brewery since Prohibition in this or that city or county; the legalization of homebrewing at the state level; new festivals and competitions; etc. Now closings and retrenchments are the order of the day. As are hot takes on how it all went so wrong.