It’s true that amid the sea of new, one-off, rotating, and collaboration beers that tend to crowd the store shelves these days, seasonal beers have lost some of the novelty factor that was once their raison d’être.
Yet the picture is much rosier for seasonals in bars, restaurants, and taprooms. Perhaps that’s because draft lists are generally tighter than on-the-shelf beer selections, or because visits to such venues are experiential and may be more responsive to weather, holidays, and in-season food dishes. Whatever the reason, seasonals fare better on-premises than they do on shelves.
According to on-premise data from CGA, analyzed by Mary Mills of 3 Tier Beverages in Chicago, seasonal beers hold 13 percent of total craft dollar share on-premise, second only to IPA at 26 percent. Even zooming out to the total beer category—including macro beers and flavored malt beverages—seasonals command a 4 percent overall share on-premise. That share has ticked upward slightly, improving 0.4 percent from a year ago.