(Thrillist) - The craft beer industry is not the big happy family it used to be. It's more like the Boltons -- it's got serious problems. But unlike America's favorite murderous family, most of craft beer's fighting takes place out of the public eye. But it's happening, as now there are over 4,000 breweries competing to quench your thirst.

For an inside look at the industry -- warts and all -- we spoke to a craft beer insider; someone who's worked in the industry for six years and currently works in marketing for a well-known brewery. She spilled the pellets on everything from wages to sexism to the mysteries of brewing. In an effort to keep her anonymous, we distorted some identifying factors. You know, so she can keep her job.

The craft beer bubble is in danger of bursting

"We thought 2015 was a rough year, but we've talked to a ton of breweries -- bigger and smaller -- who say it's rough right now. Breweries like Sierra Nevada and New Belgium. Sales are at best stagnant. We were in a boom, and that's why people were trying to open breweries. Now you have a huge bubble that's close to bursting -- from the top and the bottom. You're going to have big guys get more aggressive, to put it nicely."

Friends are becoming rivals

"There are breweries much bigger than us that don't have as much growth as we do. As wonderful as it is to go to festivals and see other breweries, there's that feeling of, 'Oh God, we're not a big, happy, loving family anymore. We're competitors.' At some point it's coming down to us or them. That's the shitty reality of it."

Haste makes waste… and skunky beer

"Some breweries package on a small scale, and their beers will have diacetyl and off-flavors because they do mobile canning -- they haven't invested in infrastructure and quality assurance. They don't have labs to test to make sure that if there's an infection, they can track it. They just want to get it out there, and the result is that there's a lot of shit on shelves. It doesn't do the craft industry a favor to have someone try a certain style and say, 'Ugh, I don't like that at all.' They might never drink that style again because a single beer was infected."