More than a decade ago, when Ryan Guererri was in his 20s, he became obsessed with craft beer. As breweries released a constant catalog of new products, he bought hundreds of different beers, from bitter IPAs to strong Belgian ales.
“It was exciting to try everything,” said Mr. Guererri, who is now 35 and a human resources manager in Geneva, New York.
But with more than 9,500 breweries across the United States, sampling every pilsner and lager is nearly impossible, and not so delicious. “It’s easy to crash,” he said. These days, Mr Guererri mainly stocks his fridge with a small collection of tried and trusted brands.
His move toward simplicity reflects a broader shift in the beer world. After years of offering a steady, often weekly, succession of new products, many breweries, bars and supermarkets have cut back on the number they produce, serve and sell.
In part, this is a concession to economic reality: Americans are buying less beer, opting instead for spirits and canned cocktails, or abstaining from alcohol altogether.
Since last November, beer sales in stores have fallen 3.1 percent by volume compared to the previous year, according to market research firm NIQ. In bars and restaurants, sales fell nearly 4.7 percent. (For craft beer alone, the decline was even sharper: 5.3 percent in store sales and 6.7 percent in bars and restaurants.)
“People aren’t waiting with bated breath for weekly releases,” said Jacob Landry, founder and CEO of Urban South Brewery, which has locations in New Orleans and Houston. In 2020, Mr. Landry’s team introduced eight new beers each week. Today they produce three or four a month.
Whole Foods Market, which helped bring craft beer from smaller breweries to the mainstream, began gradually shrinking its beer offerings about six years ago to accommodate drinks like hard seltzer.
While the company is no longer narrowing its selection, “we’re asking more from the brands,” said Mary Guiver, the company’s chief beer marketer in the category. (He added that Whole Foods now prioritizes brands owned by women and people of color, as well as breweries that use heritage grains and champion carbon-neutral initiatives.)
Craft breweries and their complex beers emerged as alternatives to mainstream lagers that differed mainly in branding, but not in taste. And brewery taprooms became destinations for drinkers who wanted to try a variety of beers in the form of small drinks.
The Suarez Family Brewery in Livingston, New York, which opened in 2016, offered a single size (about eight ounces) of about eight beers, including aromatic pilsners and pale ales, which caused “a lot of agonizing over the choice,” he said. Dan Suarez, the brewer and owner.
After the brewery closed during the pandemic, Mr. Suarez switched to the model of traditional European taverns and breweries that only serve one or two beers at a time. In 2022, the taproom reopened with a draft beer, then added a second one last year.
New releases are rare for Mr. Suarez, who only produces one original recipe a year. “It’s something special for me, as a brewer,” he said.
During a decade at Tired Hands Brewing in Ardmore, Pa., where he became head brewer, Colin McFadden made hundreds of limited edition beers. But he wondered: Wouldn’t it be nice to go deep instead of wide?
In August, he partnered with Keith Shore, former artistic director of Mikkeller Beer, to open Meetinghouse, a bar and restaurant in Philadelphia. It offers five cocktails, four wines and five beers, including easy-drinking pale, dark and hoppy beers brewed nearby by Mr McFadden.
“Some selection was seen as necessary, but too much selection was problematic,” he said. “I’ve had very few people say, ‘Why are there so few beers?’
Selling only a few beers is not a new phenomenon. McSorley’s Old Ale House in New York City is famous for offering only two house beers on tap: a light ale and a dark ale. Sacred Profane Brewing in Biddeford, Maine, follows this tradition by brewing only a pale lager and a dark ale poured from copper tanks. Guests can choose the amount of foam and try the beers mixed or mixed with lemonade.
“It’s not about how many beers we can make,” said Mike Fava, founder and director of operations at Sacred Profane. “It’s how many things we can do with beers.”
Focusing on two beers gives Brienne Allan, the brewery’s head brewer and president, time to perfect them. And that selective approach pleases beer distributors who connect breweries with retailers. Overwhelmed by so many brands, “they’re so happy to hear we don’t have that many” beers, Mr. Fava said.
Montucky Cold Snacks, Montana, has found national success with its unique beer, a light lager, sold in 36 states. “You’re an expert at one thing,” said Jeff Courteau, the company’s vice president of sales.
The downside: If the beer doesn’t sell, “I can’t come back a month later with an IPA,” he said.
Bars may not have room for extra beers. Many reconsider how much beer to buy.
“I don’t need five pilsners,” said Olivier Rassinoux, the vice president of restaurant and bar at Buffalo-based Patina Restaurant Group. At Patina’s Banners Kitchen & Tap, a 72-tap sports bar in Boston, the bar made two margarita taps last year and plans to add additional cocktails and wine on tap.
Max’s Taphouse, a Baltimore beer institution since 1986, is buying smaller kegs to fill its 113 taps and reducing its expansive cellar of full-sized bottled beers. They’ve gone out of fashion, and the lingering bottles are “turning into nostalgic souvenirs,” said Jason Scheerer, general manager.
Unlike wine, most beers do not improve with age. So bars and shops that sell a limited variety appeal to brewers like Bob Kunz, the founder of Highland Park Brewery in Los Angeles.
“Few retailers can keep beer fresh if they have more than 10 taps,” Mr. Kunz said.
On the Highland Park board, Mr. Kunz sees increased demand for a timeless classic: beer mugs.
“No one has to think about what they’re buying,” he said. “You end up having more collective experiences if you drink the same beer.”
