NOSTRAD🔮UGLAS' 2025 Preview & Predictions Part 4: The Biennium of the Lager

You could dismiss craft beer's repeated attempts -- and this soothsayer's multiple failed predictions -- of trying to make The Year of the Lager™ happen. But unlike "Fetch," which never did happen in "Mean Girls," The Year of the Lager arrived gloriously in 2024. Breweries big and small are still jumping in with both feet, ensuring that lager’s momentum continues to grow throughout 2025.

With plenty of open capacity available, expect another wave of new contract lagers with a recipe, a brand and dream to go national. Macro brewers will get back to basics, dusting off their tried-and-true tactics to reenergize their audience. On the local front, new breweries will continue to open on a mission to elevate the lager experience and bring fresh excitement to their communities.

Despite lagers making up over 77%¹ of American total beer and malt beverage sales by volume, 2024 still qualifies as a renaissance. And lager’s rebirth isn’t confined to just one year, so join Nostradouglas as we look ahead to Year 2 of lager’s biennium.

Key: 🔎 = Observation, 🔮= Prediction

The Next Wave 🔎

A surge of new lagers has flooded the market over the past few years, driven by brewery names, locations, historic brands, NIL deals, specific demographics, drinking occasions, days of the week, and more. Now, the final major wave is here, as many of craft beer's remaining holdouts have joined the movement to further regionalize the “American-Style” Lager.