What the article says is cost are rising and profits down. If it hits the big guys, who is next? Talk about for whom the Bell tolls? You have point there PK, but the article states:But beer companies are also butting up against some powerful demographic and cultural trends that may flatten sales for years to come. As noted in an article about beer sales in the UK, folks are turning from bier to non-drinking and other products. Those maybe the "powerful demographics the marketeers are seeing. Still the big guys are raking it in, I am not crying in my beer for them! IMHO, micros are way over priced, and can get hit hard if prices go up much more. I would be drinking way less brew here if I had to pay US prices. As a youg fellow, just after the ice melted, there was a saying I used to hear:What the county needs is a good 5 cent cigar. I would say now, what the country needs now, is a good 50 cents micro brew!

Brad, I don't entirely agree with what you say. According to the article as I read it, beer sales overall are expected to go down and not just because of the economy, but in larger part to alcohol "snobbishness." As for myself, my tastes have only improved. I think that the macro-brewers will continue to take a hit and that people continue to discover and support the micro's.