The difference between this kind of thing and the competition between what Phil [above] refers to as “indie brown bitter” and “corporate brown bitter” is that in the brown bitter case, “indies”, in spite of their market disadvantages, have made inroads into the former preserve of the corporates. Admirable and choice enhancing. What we’re seeing here may be the opposite.

On the other hand, if smaller brewers have loyal customer base, they have very little to fear, people will keep on buying their stuff and recommending it to friends. Those who don’t, those who are not able to offer anything interesting or good quality, those who do not know how to sell their products, may have something to fear, but much of it is their fault, to begin with.

And last, but not least, ir’s a business, it’s always been, it’ll always be. The sales of the bigger brands (generally speaking) are stagnated at best. The market for “alternative” beers has been growing steadily for quite some time to the point that it has become attractive to bigger players. It’s something that anyone should have seen coming

I don’t think there’s any style bandwagon the majors are actually unable to jump on – and the ‘agile’ multiple-short-run approach sometimes has mixed results (click on ‘Fruit and spice beers’). So if your premise were correct the outlook would be as gloomy as this week’s weather. On the other hand, if your premise were correct there wouldn’t be any indies left brewing copper-coloured session bitters – and as any visit to a SIBA fest will confirm, there are zillions of them. Conclusion: premise needs looking at.