The effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic are still being felt by American craft breweries everywhere. Earlier in May 2021, the CDC published their predictions that cases in the U.S. will likely decline starting around July, giving brewers hope for a return to higher on-premise sales. Be that as it may, the events of the previous year have forced many independent breweries to pivot their business models in order to stay afloat. A survey conducted by online craft beer retailer Tavour in March of 2021 found that many breweries shifted an average of 25% of their business to online channels. Since March, the app-based bottleshop provided more than 26 new breweries a platform through which to share their beers with a national audience, joining the 600+ craft breweries already working with Tavour. In order to better serve the nation’s beer aficionados and provide insights on upcoming industry trends, Tavour closely examines their inventory data and brewery trends each month. Based on these findings, here are the top trends of May 2021.

There is no doubt that 2020’s COVID-19 Pandemic changed how companies interact with consumers, and that shift had a huge impact on American Craft Beer. According to Nielson, overall off-premise craft beer sales grew over 14% in 2020, compared to just 0.6% for the previous 12 months! And much of that increase represents online sales. In fact, a survey conducted by online retailer Tavour in March of this year found that breweries had moved an average of 25% of their business to online channels. The app-based platform has helped enable this shift — more than 125 began sharing their beer through the app-based platform for the first time in 2020, joining 600+ breweries who already utilized the service. In order to better serve the nation’s beer aficionados and provide insights on upcoming industry trends, Tavour closely examines their inventory data each month. Based on these findings, here are the top trends of April 2021.

The American craft beer scene is booming! According to the Brewers Association and Nielsen Harris data*, the portion of adults who enjoy craft beer rose to an all-time high of 44% in 2020 (shooting up from 35% in 2015). The COVID-19 pandemic has played a big role over the past year, with more people than ever opting to order beer from the comfort and safety of home.Though beer e-commerce is relatively new, Tavour has been an industry leader since 2013. Working with over 600 of the nation’s independent breweries, the app-based service allows craft fans to access beers they can’t find locally. In order to better serve the nation’s beer aficionados and provide insights on upcoming industry trends, Tavour closely examines their inventory data and brewery trends each month. Based on these findings, here are the top trends of March 2021.

Remember IBUs? The “International Bitterness Unit” once appeared on beer labels and bar menus everywhere as the globally agreed-upon measurement for how bitter a brew is. But, as you may have noticed, it’s become an increasingly rare sight over the past few years. In fact, there’s a chance you didn’t see a single IBU in your last craft beer delivery, or store trip. There’s a reason for that, and it has a lot to do with how far craft beer has progressed.

2020 was a hard year for craft beer, but 2021 is staged for better times ahead. As brewers shift their business to fit the ever-changing tastes of craft drinkers, the Brewers Association predicts that three craft beer styles will only gain popularity this year. To keep your craft sense keen, we’re laying down those styles with some top-notch Tavour favorites.

Beer styles ebb and flow in popularity, but it appears the IPA is here to stay for years to come. Of Craft Beer & Brewing’s Top 50 Beers of 2020, a whopping 24 of the listings were IPAs, and another 5 were hop-forward Pale Ales. It all “boils down” to the hops (see what we did there?). Brewers have more than 80 different hop varieties to choose from, and yet it only takes a couple IPA-packed beer delivery boxes to notice that certain ones are trending. Sure, part of this is due to the brewers’ accessibility to different varieties. That said, it’s also because of the preferences brewers have for specific aromas and flavors. Some hops are also easier to work with than others, although there are many craft brewers who don’t shy away from a challenge. Here are 5 Hop Varieties That Dominated the IPA Scene in 2020 and some brews that showcase them:

Unless you’ve been doing your drinking under a rock, you’ve noticed that the modern craft beer movement of the past decade sparked a steep rise in brewery openings all across the country. In fact, Statista reported 8,386 breweries in the United States as of 2019, compared to just 2,670 in 2012. From tiny corner brewpubs to large campuses with warehouse-sized brewing facilities, today’s breweries come in a wide range of sizes. But, which are actually “craft?”

Independent beer drinkers who are loyal to craft were stunned on September 15th when Yuengling announced a partnership with Molson Coors. With Molson Coors' help, fans will soon find Yuengling beers in the Midwest and West Coast states for the first time in the brewery’s 191-year history. This will save a lot of folks money on baggage fees, no longer having to smuggle beer across state lines in their suitcases. But, will they even drink Yuengling any more now that the brewery is in cahoots with Coors?

Wilmington, North Carolina is what CraftBeer.com calls one of “America’s Beeriest Beach Towns.” It wasn’t always this way. When John and Michelle Savard moved back to their hometown in 2012, the local beer scene consisted of one small brewery, a few bars, and whatever the grocery stores were stocking. 

No beer style has risen to greater prominence over the past decade than the IPA. But, how much do you really know about it? Here are seven interesting facts to amp up your hoppy IQ:

Fantasy football season is here, and it looks different in 2020. Altered training camps and no pre-season mean skewed projections. But, for many fantasy leagues, there’s another significant change — the inability to meet up in person and sling back a few brews during drafts and games. For so long, beer and fantasy football have gone hand-in-hand! The good news is that as 2020 leagues go virtual, home beer delivery is also just a few clicks away. Craft beer app Tavour has come up with their own fantasy starting lineup to kick the season off right:

Craft Beverage Industry Urges Passage of Tax Reform Act. Small businesses across the country have felt the impact of Covid-19 quarantine measures, and craft breweries are among the hardest hit. According to a study by the Brewers Association, total craft brewery sales were down over 30% through May of 2020 compared to the previous year. Furthermore, most craft breweries have been forced to pivot from on-premise draft beer sales to the distribution of packaged beer, where margins are lower.

If you poured a Stout and Porter into separate glasses, without looking at the cans they came from, there’s a good chance you wouldn’t be able to distinguish which was which. After all, both styles are on the darkest side of the beer color spectrum, and they even share many of the same aromas, flavors, and mouthfeel characteristics. The main reason is because the two popular dark beer styles have become pretty interwoven over the years. For the most part, it comes down to what the brewers want to call their dark creations. But, if you want to impress your friends with some nifty beer knowledge, here’s a little history about how Stouts and Porters originated and what actually defines each style.

What’s in your beer delivery when it arrives? Is it full of hopbombs, or perhaps some dark delights meant to be cellared? Do you rush to crack them open, or do you take time to plan out when to indulge? There’s no wrong answer — today’s incredibly diverse craft selections mean there’s room for all! Most of us craft fans enjoy trying beers of different styles, but at the end of the day, we all have brews we gravitate towards over others. Depending on what takes up most of the slots in your beer delivery box, you’re probably one of 8 different types of craft drinkers:

If you’ve attempted a virtual bottleshare or tasting party without using a mutual beer delivery service, you probably know the feeling of ‘it’s just not the same as in real life.’ The Atlantic chalks it up to how “videochat happy hours fail to measure up to real-life happy hours because we keep comparing them with real-life happy hours, expecting that they will satisfy the same desire with the same efficacy.” It’s hard to connect over craft beer if you and your buddies aren’t drinking the same brews.

Why do you need a craft beer cellar? Well, you don’t need one, but if you love beer tasting, aging many beer styles can awaken new flavors, tame the sting of a high ABV, or smooth out the mouthfeel. Cellaring can increase a beer’s shelf-life by keeping out harmful light and controlling temperature. Draft Mag relays that beer “should mature in a cool space, but not your fridge” — that’s why a cellar or basement is ideal. For long-term aging, the Washington Post agrees. The fridge is too cold, and can slow down the aging process, dry out corks, and let in air that causes off-flavors.

German Beer. It’s as synonymous with the country’s culture as pretzels, Hansel and Gretel, and the music of the Scorpions. Or Beethoven, I guess. If you’re into that kind of stuff. But, if there’s one thing that truly defines the country, it’s gotta be the beer.While the Sumerians get credit for actually inventing the world’s greatest beverage, it’s the Germans who turned it into the bubbly brew we know and love today. 

There are two particularly awesome things about being a craft beer fan in 2020. One, the choices today are more plentiful than ever. And two, you can get at-home beer delivery! How neat is that!? But, as much as we’d like it to, no beer stays drinkable forever. It’s important to unpack your beer delivery soon after it arrives and stow each brew properly — minus any that you crack open and sip right away, of course. Here at Tavour, we’re big beer fans at home, too. Follow these five rules for storing all the different brews that arrive in your beer delivery, and you can enjoy their flavors as intended!

Gone are the days when the persona of the typical beer drinker was overweight, yellow, and went by the name “Homer Simpson.” Aside from exploring a diversity of great new flavors from craft breweries, there may be other benefits of beer consumption. The modern craft movement has helped change beer culture as we know it, including imbibers’ attitudes towards well-being. A joint Harris Poll and Nielsen survey of nearly 2,000 drinking-age adults showed that craft beer fans consider themselves more health conscious than others. Even better, the science is there to back it up! Today, Tavour looks at 7 surprising benefits of beer linked to moderate drinking:*

A Beer of the Month Club SOUNDS like an amazing idea, right? But, like so many ideas that seem really good in theory — sock suspenders, keeping a bear as a pet — it’s actually not that great, in practice. Sock suspenders will irritate your calves, a pet bear will destroy your home, and your Beer of the Month Club will probably send you a bunch of bottles and cans you don’t even want. Plus, many have monthly subscription fees, charge for initial membership, and don’t tell you what’s coming until it arrives. At least with sock suspenders you know what to expect. So, what is a craft beer fan to do when they want to explore the rugged beer frontier? Fortunately, today’s brave new world of advanced brew acquisition provides a host of other options. Let’s take a look!

To understand how beer is made, it’s best to start with the essential ingredients: yeast, grain, and water. Brewing requires fermentation to extract sugars from the grains (often barley), allowing the yeast to turn it into ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide (carbonation) — beer in its simplest form.

Back in the 1990s, when the American Craft Beer scene hadn’t yet reached legal drinking age and no one had even HEARD of a Kardashian, Amber Ales reigned supreme! Kind of. The average 90s bar featured four or five taps, and the line-up looked something like this: Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Heineken (for a fancy night out), and something vaguely ‘amber’ in appearance. If you were curious, you could ask, “what kind of craft beer do you have?” “Either Alaskan Amber or Heineken,” the bartender would reply. It was a different time.

Wheat Beer — the American version of Witbier — is one of the most approachable styles in craft. The versatility of wheat complements practically every ingredient. When brewed into beer without any other additives, wheat creates a crisp, clean character, lighter than in brews made exclusively with barley. This makes it an excellent choice for pairing with many types of food, particularly fruits like raspberries and watermelon, and even savory dishes like beer can chicken. The American Wheat Beer is widely considered one of the most refreshing styles and has historically been a favorite beverage during warm weather. But, if you look around your local grocery store or even specialty bottleshops, you won’t likely find many Wheat Beer options. Where did all the Wheat Beer go?

Since the beginning of time, folks have dreamed of sitting at home in their underpants waiting for their beer delivery. Well, dream no more — the era of craft beer delivery is finally upon us! With better technology, greater demand, and a dramatically changing craft beer landscape, breweries are taking a cue from the pizza industry and dropping their suds right on thirsty people’s doorsteps. Now, if only they would embrace some kind of ‘30 minutes or it’s free’ deal! That probably won’t happen, but beer delivery already is! Here are a few ways it’s taking off.

You’re familiar with the Pale Ale, and you should be. India Pale Ales are among the most popular beer styles right now! Their lower ABV American Pale Ale cousins (usually just called “Pale Ales”) aren’t doing too shabby either — Toppling Goliath’s Pseudo Sue holds top scores on rating sites around the globe. But, IPAs and APAs are just the tippy top of the iceberg. Today, we’re going to boost your Pale Ale IQ and name drop some very tasty beers while we’re at it. It’s time to get to know the multifaceted Pale Ale family in all its delicious forms!

It’s a great time to be a beer drinker. From creamy Milkshake IPAs to a baker’s menagerie of Pastry Stouts, it feels like craft fans have more to choose from than ever before! Still, the abundance has also led to some confusion, especially when it comes to seemingly simple terms like “Lager” and “Ale.” So, we’re here to set the record straight. Let’s go!

Every summer, craft beer festivals pop up all over the country like dandelions. Fans flock to these boozy bastions to try specialty brews and sample beers from far-off states. Brewers attend the festivals to chat with other brewers and see what’s happening at the cutting edge of the industry.But with COVID-19 still looming, summer beer festivals across the country have already been cancelled. Even The Great American Beer Festival — the granddaddy of all U.S. beer celebrations with more than 2,000 participating breweries — is doing the whole thing online this year!If you’re wondering how to enjoy a few beer-centric events this summer, here are some of the ways festival organizers are trying to tackle social distancing, while still throwing some of the season’s best beer parties!

It’s been a rough few months for American craft brewers who entered 2020 riding high. The 2010s were a decade of great success that began with under 2,000 breweries and concluded with well over 8,000! Then Coronavirus hit, and mandatory closures of bars, taprooms, and restaurants across the nation plunged the industry into a panic.

The days of any-old-pint-glass are far behind us. For craft beer fans, using “proper glassware” means creating a tasting experience that amplifies presentation, aroma, ABV, temperature, and even ergonomics. Once you spend your precious time selecting the ideal craft beer for your palate, follow these simple glassware tips to make it truly shine!