January 23/Chicago/Press Release -- While the economic downturn has affected consumer spending across many sectors, craft and craft-style beers are defying recessionary trends with an impressive upward trajectory. Indeed, latest research by Mintel on the craft beer market in the U.S. shows that sales of craft beer nearly doubled between 2007 and 2012 -- increasing from $5.7 billion in 2007 to $12 billion in 2012.
Moreover, the trend toward craft beer options is set to enjoy robust growth through 2017, with Mintel forecasting the segment to grow to $18 billion by 2017 -- a result that will see the segment tripling in the decade between 2007 and 2017.