Yeah like everything else, grain, yeast, hops etc have gone up in price. My LHBS closed a few years ago, not really due to a drop in customers, but due to an owner who wanted to save money by closing every store in his chain but the original one, in order to put the money into the brewery he opened that was struggling. Now the Greater Boston area has no shops except one almost in New Hampshire. So ordering online alone increased my costs due to paying for shipping for everything now. But last year I found out I have a health issue so had to cut back on drinking, so I downsized to 2.5 gallon batches, of which 80% goes to friends and comps and I started ordering ingredients for 4 batches at a time so I am not paying as much on shipping.
As for commercial breweries, the industry is definitely seeing a decline. You see it at liquor stores that used to have large craft beer sections, but they have been reduced in size to make room for craft cocktails in a can and seltzers. Seems that's the drink of choice over beer for younger people these days. Saying that, my local town's brewery is thriving and the place is always packed. They opened a second location last year and have beer gardens in two towns. So they are doing something right. I think a lot of breweries that have closed were those not really making great stuff and could not adapt to the market, or are ones who got bought out by corporations who then closed them to save money. Looking at you Sapporo for buying and closing Anchor Steam!
