Sacramento-area breweries reinvent themselves as craft beer industry evolves
By Brady Halbleib
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SACRAMENTO, California (KOVR) — California’s craft beer industry is going through a transformation, and while it’s happening slowly, it’s changing what a brewery looks like and what it has to do to survive.
Gone are the days of breweries focusing only on the beer. Now, it’s about something more — the experience.
At Backstage Brewery in Sacramento, assistant brewer Gavin Broussard is getting ready for the night’s entertainment.
“I’ve heard people mention this is like Nashville meets Hollywood,” he said.
Beer is apart of their business model, but so is live music.
“We want to help the ecosystem of local musicians in Sacramento,” Broussard said.
Backstage Brewery, located on 24th Street just off Broadway, opened just four months ago with a stage built in the center of their taproom.
Happening across town at Log Off Brewery in Rancho Cordova, head brewer Kenny Terry is doing what he does best — making beer. But these days, that doesn’t quite fill the glass.
One of the reasons why is that Terry and his team aim to make their brewery a community center, a place for engagement parties, trivia nights, live events and even wakes.
“We like to think it’s like life and death,” Terry said. “This is the community house.”
Log Off Brewery Manager Nicole Scott spends a lot of her time thinking outside of the glass into what happens inside the taproom.
“It’s just coming up with the crazy ideas of how you get bodies in here to of course enjoy the beer but also it gets people together,” she said.
The craft beer industry across the country has struggled over the past few years. The National Brewers Association reports more breweries have closed in California than have opened in the past two years.
Reasons include rising costs, inflation, tariffs on things like aluminum cans and brewing equipment, and also changing consumer habits.
“I think breweries are adapting and figuring out ways to chase that new drinker, but it was a lot different than even it was two years ago,” said Bart Watson, president and CEO of the National Brewers Association.
The California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) says the industry isn’t dying but it’s forced to change.
“Especially as the main beer demographic has aged,” said Kelsey McQuaid-Craig, executive director of the CCBA. “I say this as an elder millennial. I was the person going to the random warehouse brewery to check out the new beer. Now, I have a kid and I want to stay somewhere a little while longer.”
A generation that helped crack open the craft beer industry is now older. The things they want have changed, and the successful breweries are adapting, adding events, live music, nonalcoholic options and even cider.
For brewers like Broussard and Terry, the change isn’t a bad thing because in a business that brings people together over beer, the experience you provide is the thing that keeps them coming back.
“We’re trying to give good beer and a place for people to feel comfortable,” Broussard said.
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