Report says craft beer bubble may have burst

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — A report said beer sales are slowing among the larger craft brewers.

The Wall Street Journal reports Sierra Nevada's retail store sales were down 7 1/2 percent in the first half of the year. The decline is due in part to mega-breweries buying some of the best-known craft brewers.

But John Cochran, who owns Upcountry Brewing, founded and sold the popular Terrapin Beer Co., thinks the decline is also due to more competition.

"It used to be it's craft beer versus Anheuser-Busch and versus Miller-Coors," Cochran said. "But the larger craft breweries are in this weird spot where they're in the middle, and you've got the big guys up there spending tons of money fighting craft. And then you've got the little guys like us. Not that we're going after them by any means, but I'm sure it just feels like they've got little guys nipping at their heels all the time."