Americans are drinking less, but not at the Indiana Brewers Guild Spring Festival in April.
Just under 1,000 patrons gladly bucked the trend in April. The festival featured more than 100 beverages made by Hoosier brewers, distillers and cider makers.
“They get to sample as many different products as they can, while they're here, in a responsible manner, taste a lot of new beverages, find out what they love,” Julia Whitson, guild executive director, said.
The spring festival’s attendees might be a biased sample. National surveys show historic lows in alcohol consumption. According to a 2025 Gallup survey, about 54 percent of Americans say they drink alcohol. The rate is lower for young adults, with just half saying they drink.
“I think it's definitely something that is on everyone's mind if you're a brewer, but I think it's a very complex picture,” said Matt Wisely, Bloomington Brewing Company’s head brewer.
For the first time, the poll found a little over half of Americans say moderate drinking — one or two drinks a day — is unhealthy. For younger adults, about two-thirds say the same.
Along with health concerns, Wisely said people are also tightening their budgets or choosing alternatives, such as THC drinks, seltzers or mocktails. The change has left some breweries scrambling.
“A lot of breweries are sort of frantically grasping at whatever they think the next thing is going to be,” Wisely said.
Many in the alcohol business thought growth was a given, especially after a boom during the COVID-19 pandemic. More breweries closed than opened for the second straight year in 2025, according to the Brewers Association.
“If they didn't own their building, for example, or if they had a lot of debt for whatever reason, if that growth isn't there, then their business model is not sustainable,” Wisely said.
Today’s drinking decline follows decades of momentum, at least in the craft beer world, Wisely said.
He said the Bloomington Brewing Company is going to stay true to what it’s been doing for the last 30 years.
“There's no reason to believe that this downward trend is just going to turn into a slope, at least we don't think that's the case,” Wisely said.
Gallup’s long-term data seems to support a pattern of short-term rises and falls. The ‘50s, ‘80s, and ‘90s saw similar decreases in drinking before the rates bounced back.
Some brewers, like Bobby Mattingly with Moonstone Brewing Company in Whitestown, Ind., think the dip is a small blip in the grand scheme of beer’s history. For the Americans that are still drinking today, beer remains the top choice.
“Beer has been around for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years — really traditional styles of beer,” Mattingly said. “There's always fads. There's always things that go up and down, but again, if you can make really good beer, it's not going to go away again.”
But the effect of less drinking stretches beyond breweries.
Restaurants may lose alcohol sales.
Chad Moutray, senior vice president for research at the National Restaurant Association, said most have very slim margins.
“We knowt hat 42 percent of restaurants said to us that they weren't profitable last year,” Moutray said. “Profitability is a challenge, and alcohol has always been one of those areas where there's been a little bit of a higher markup.”
He said restaurant owners are noticing the downward trend, but they’re not sure how long it will last.
“The reality is that people still love the experience of going out to eat, and that has given us that prioritization that I think really has kind of set us apart from some other sectors,” Moutray said.
Having a restaurant is working in Moonstone’s favor. Mattingly said having quality food and ambiance are other ways to offer something for everyone, including people who don’t drink.
“You have to have atop-notch product across the board, and that's what we really focus on,” Mattingly said.
Even during today’s decline in drinking, Mattingly said Moontown’s numbers are up.
“You can't rest on your laurels anymore,” Mattingly said. “You really got to look at numbers, look at trends, and find your lane, and do it really, really well.”
