5 beer trends to look out for in 2022

IN THE past two years, many craft breweries were affected by the pandemic. Despite all this, brewers have created a way to keep consumers coming back for more and more. Whether you fancy a bitter and hoppy India Pale Ale or light and hazy brew, these are the trends.

We spoke to brewmistress Apiwe Nxusani-mawela on beer trends to expect in 2022. Nxusani-mawela said Covid-19 and the numerous alcohol bans have been tough and many breweries had to close, but with the new year come new promises and new opportunities.

Non-alcoholic beers

Non-alcoholic beers have been around for a while, just that no one really cared much about them until we had alcohol bans and that was the closest thing to beer many could find.

This pushed many breweries to launch their own range of non-alcoholic offerings, a trend that continued even outside the alcohol bans. We now have breweries exploring non-alcoholic variants for a wide range of beer styles and ciders.

One of the positive things to come out of the pandemic, it is a trend that continues to grow, locally and globally.

New breweries, new brands

The last two years have forced us to be more aware and appreciative of locally produced products and the existence of small businesses within the alcohol industry. People got to taste beers and other alcohol products they had never tasted before.

This has opened up the industry not only to new consumers but also entrepreneurs. As the country continues to go back to our new norm, I think we will also start seeing new breweries opening up and new brands starting out, especially black-owned brands.

The move from using glass bottles to aluminium cans started in the Western Cape before Covid-19 and was beginning to gain traction across the country. This is a trend that will definitely pick up from where it left off pre-covid.

The current shortage and issues with glass bottles will actually push more manufacturers towards canning. The canning trend is currently being observed across all beverages, not only in South Africa but also globally.

Online sales

Another trend that owes its popularity to the Covid-19 pandemic is the online sale of alcohol. Precovid, consumers preferred to go out to bottle stores and pubs to enjoy their beers.

The restrictions in sales of alcohol introduced in the last two years have pushed consumers towards online buying. Some of these consumers have now been converted to online buying and will continue to do so even when things get back to normal.

Beer travels Canning

For the last two years, we have all been stuck at home with very limited movement – no festivals, no gatherings, and the curbing of alcohol sales. Once the country opens up, we will definitely see a boom in both local and international tourism.

We will have more people wanting to visit breweries, taprooms and attend festivals. Beer tourism and beer travel is going to be another interesting trend to look out for this year.