Boulder, CO • April 17, 2012 - The Brewers Association—the not-for-profit trade group that tabulates production statistics for U.S. breweries—today released its annual lists of the top 50 craft and overall brewing companies in the U.S., based on 2011 beer sales volume. Of the top 50 overall brewing companies, 36 are small and independent¹ craft brewing companies¹,². “In the last 15 years, craft brewing has gone from one percent of the overall beer market to almost six percent in 2011,” said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. “We attribute a large part of that growth to the many talented brewers who are providing beer lovers with more beer style and flavor choices than ever before.” Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies (Based on 2011 beer sales volume) 1 Boston Beer Co. - Boston MA 2 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. - Chico CA 3 New Belgium Brewing Co. - Fort Collins CO 4 The Gambrinus Company - San Antonio TX 5 Deschutes Brewery - Bend OR 6 Matt Brewing Co. - Utica NY 7 Bell's Brewery, Inc. - Galesburg MI 8 Harpoon Brewery - Boston MA 9 Lagunitas Brewing Co. - Petaluma CA 10 Boulevard Brewing Co. - Kansas City MO 11 Stone Brewing Company - Escondido CA 12 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - Milton DE 13 Brooklyn Brewery - Brooklyn NY 14 Alaskan Brewing & Bottling Co. - Juneau AK 15 Long Trail Brewing Co. - Burlington VT 16 Shipyard Brewing Co. - Portland ME 17 Abita Brewing Co. - Abita Springs LA 18 Great Lakes Brewing Co. - Cleveland OH 19 New Glarus Brewing Co. - New Glarus WI 20 Full Sail Brewing Co. - Hood River OR 21 Summit Brewing Co. - St. Paul MN 22 Anchor Brewing Co. - San Francisco CA 23 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. - Paso Robles CA 24 Sweetwater Brewing Co. - Atlanta GA 25 Rogue Ales - Newport OR 26 Flying Dog Brewery - Frederick MD 27 Victory Brewing Co. - Downingtown PA 28 CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants - Chattanooga/Louisville TN/CO 29 Oskar Blues Brewery - Longmont CO 30 Odell Brewing Co. - Fort Collins CO 31 Stevens Point Brewery Co. - Stevens Point WI 32 Ninkasi Brewing Co. - Eugene OR 33 BJ's Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. - Huntington Beach CA 34 Blue Point Brewing Co. - Patchogue NY 35 Bear Republic Brewing Co. - Cloverdale CA 36 Lost Coast Brewery Cafe - Eureka CA 37 Big Sky Brewing Co. - Missoula MT 38 North Coast Brewing Co. Inc. - Fort Bragg CA 39 Saint Louis Brewery, Inc./Schlafly - Bottleworks St. Louis MO 40 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. - San Jose CA 41 Breckenridge Brewery - Denver CO 42 Founders Brewing Co. - Grand Rapids MI 43 Saint Arnold Brewing Co. - Houston TX 44 Karl Strauss Brewing Co. - San Diego CA 45 Real Ale Brewing Co. - Blanco TX 46 Mac and Jack's Brewery Inc. - Redmond WA 47 Smuttynose Brewing Co. - Portsmouth NH 48 Utah Brewers Cooperative - Salt Lake City UT 49 Left Hand Brewing Co. - Longmont CO t.50 Anderson Valley Brewing Co. - Boonville CA t.50 Four Peaks Brewing Co. - Tempe AZ Top 50 Brewing Companies (Based on 2011 beer sales volume) 1 Anheuser-Busch Inc. (a) - St. Louis MO 2 MillerCoors (b) - Chicago IL 3 Pabst Brewing Co. (c) - Woodbridge IL 4 D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc. - Pottsville PA 5 Boston Beer Co. - Boston MA 6 North American Breweries (d) - Rochester NY 7 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. - Chico CA 8 New Belgium Brewing Co. - Fort Collins CO 9 Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc. (e) - Portland OR 10 The Gambrinus Company (f) - San Antonio TX 11 Deschutes Brewery - Bend OR 12 Matt Brewing Co. (g) - Utica NY 13 Bell's Brewery, Inc. - Galesburg MI 14 Minhas Craft Brewery (h) - Monroe WI 15 Harpoon Brewery - Boston MA 16 Lagunitas Brewing Co. - Petaluma CA 17 Boulevard Brewing Co. - Kansas City MO 18 Stone Brewing Co. - Escondido CA 19 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - Milton DE 20 Brooklyn Brewery - Brooklyn NY 21 Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co. - Juneau AK 22 Long Trail Brewing Co. - Burlington VT 23 August Schell Brewing Co. (i) - New Ulm MN 24 Shipyard Brewing Co. - Portland ME 25 Abita Brewing Co. - Abita Springs LA 26 World Brews/Winery Exchange (j) - Novato CA 27 Great Lakes Brewing Co. - Cleveland OH 28 New Glarus Brewing Co. - New Glarus WI 29 Full Sail Brewing Co. - Hood River OR 30 Pittsburgh Brewing Co. - Pittsburgh PA 31 Summit Brewing Co. St. - Paul MN 32 Anchor Brewing Co. - San Francisco CA 33 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. - Paso Robles CA 34 Cold Spring Brewing Co. (k) - Cold Spring MN 35 Sweetwater Brewing Co. - Atlanta GA 36 Rogue Ales Brewery - Newport OR 37 Mendocino Brewing Co. (l) - Ukiah CA 38 Flying Dog Brewery - Frederick MD 39 Victory Brewing Co. - Downingtown PA 40 CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants (m) - Chattanooga/Louisivlle TN/CO 41 Oskar Blues Brewery & Tasty Weasel Tap Room - Longmont CO 42 Odell Brewing Co. - Fort Collins CO 43 Stevens Point Brewery Co. (n) - Stevens Point WI 44 Ninkasi Brewing Co. - Eugene OR 45 BJ's Chicago Pizza & Brewery - Huntington Beach CA 46 Blue Point Brewing Co. - Patchogue NY 47 Bear Republic Brewing Co. - Cloverdale CA 48 Goose Island Brewing Co. (o) - Chicago IL 49 Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe - Eureka CA 50 Narragansett Brewing Co. - Providence RI * Top 50 U.S. Overall Brewing Companies notes: (a) includes Bass, Beck's, Busch, Goose Island, Landshark, Michelob, Rolling Rock, Shock Top and Wild Blue brands. Does not include partially owned Coastal, Kona, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers brands; (b) includes A.C. Golden, Batch 19, Blue Moon, Colorado Native, Herman Joseph, Keystone, Killian's and Leinenkugel's brands; (c) includes Schlitz and 28 other brand families; (d) includes Dundee, Genesee, Labatt Lime, Magic Hat and Pyramid brands; (e) includes Kona, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers brands; (f) includes BridgePort, Shiner and Trumer brands; (g) includes Flying Bison brands; (h) includes Mountain Crest and 10 other brand families; (i) includes Grain Belt brand; (j) private label brands; (k) includes Gluek and 17 other brand families; (l) includes Butte Creek, Kingfisher and Olde Saratoga brands; (m) includes A1A, Big River, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, Rock Bottom Restaurants, Ragtime and Seven Bridges brewpubs; (n) includes James Page and Whole Hog brands; (o) sold to Anheuser-Busch in 2011. The Association's full 2011 industry analysis, which shows regional trends and sales by individual breweries, will be published in the May/June issue of The New Brewer, available May 22, 2012. For additional statistics, see the craft brewing statistics, and 2011 craft brewer sales numbers. ¹ The definition of a craft brewer as stated by the Brewers Association: An American craft brewer is small, independent, and traditional. Small: Annual production of beer less than 6 million barrels. Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for purposes of this definition. Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer. Traditional: A brewer who has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewer's brands) or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor. ² Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for the Top 50 rankings. ### Source: http://www.brewersassociation.org/p...association-releases-top-50-breweries-in-2011
The 2011 Craft Brewing Risers and Newcomers List Biggest risers (from 2010 spot to 2011 spot) - Ninkasi: +18(!), #50 to #32 Lagunitas: +8, #17 to #9 Bear Republic: +8, #43 to #35 Oskar Blues: +7, #36 to #29 Saint Arnold: +5 (#48 to #43) Great Lakes: +4, #22 to #18 Breckenridge: +4, (#45 to #41) Real Ale: +4 (#49 to #45) Stone: +3, #14 to #11 Brooklyn: +3, #16 to #13 Shipyard: +3, #19 to #16 Firestone Walker: +3, #26 to #23 Sweetwater: +3, #27 to#24 Odell: +3, #33 to #30 Blue Point: +3, #37 to #34 Saint Louis Brewery, Inc./Schlafly Bottleworks: +3 (#42 to #39) Newcomers (debuting on 2011 list) - 1. CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants (#28) - This is a multi-brand company that formed from the 2010 merger of Rock Bottom Restaurants (prev. #35) and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group (prev. #47). 2. Founders (#42) 3. Smuttynose (#47) 4. Left Hand (#49) 5. Anderson Valley (tied for #50) 6. Four Peaks (tied for #50)
Is there a place where we can see the numbers separating each? It's be interesting to see how far #20 is from #2 etc.
You've got to pay for a copy of the B.A.'s magazine annual "Industry Review" (May-June) edition of THE NEW BREWER for that.
This piece gives a general idea of the top 20 in terms of actual barrel sales numbers (as opposed to just ranking jumps which is the list I posted above) - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/top-20-craft-breweries_n_1238076.html
I agree. For some reason I always think of Bell's & Founders as two sides of the same coin, would expect Founders to be way higher on this list.
50 Narragansett Brewing Co. - Providence RI How come they're only on the brewing company production list? They have 4 seasonals in addition to year round cream ale that are all very solid craft offerings.
Probably because they don't meet the B.A.'s Traditional* definition since their flagship is the adjunct Narragansett Lager and the other beers don't added up to 50% of their sales. * A brewer who has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewer's brands) or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.
Every year when this is released, it amazes me that New Glarus, without selling a drop outside of Wisconsin, ranks as high as it does. #19 this year. For comparison, Rogue is #25 and sells beer all across the planet. Congrats to NG!
This plus the relatively lackluster Founders ranking mentioned above makes me really wonder how reliable these numbers are, and whether all breweries are tabulating their figures according to the same method. I doubt the Brewers Association is counting all these barrels themselves; more likely they are getting the info from the breweries. Just doesn't seem to add up.
Bell's sells a whole lot of Oberon in addition to having a wider distribution range than Founders. KBS and CBS make a lot of noise here, but don't account for a huge volume of beer sales.
Breweries know exactly how much their yearly barrelage is because they have to pay the TTB the Federal Excise Tax on that amount of beer. Member brewers of the Brewers Association report those figures to the B.A.
As usual, JK has the right answer just above me. But my response to you was going to basically be that I believe the numbers on their own. It's not that there's anything to be gained or lost by fudging the numbers. Something I think that gets lost amongst us that are very active in the beer hobby, is the number of people who just drink craft beer without it being a focus for them, like it is for us. I hear it constantly in my local bars and breweries, folks come in, grab a brew, maybe say how good it is, and then proceed to talk about anything but beer. When I'm at the bar, and I see another beer lover, we spend a fair bit of time talking what we're drinking now, what we're going to have next, what we've had lately and are you going to this event or that fest or is that breweries beer any good or have you been to..... Eventually we start talking about other stuff. All this just gets to the point that, just because we (beer geeks) might spend a lot of time thinking about, and drinking beer from a brewery like Founders, and then we think that that brewery is larger than it is because we spent so much time focusing on it. Meanwhile, all the Sconnies are just pouring the New Glarus down their gullets by the gallon (and crying over the loss of Princess Fielder).
Hello. The crazy thing to me is the huge discrepancy in how much Sam Adams is sold compared to even Sierra Nevada at #2. From #20 to about #7 the numbers all remain fairly similar then from #6 to #1 the discrepancy is significant from the previous group and then significant amongst themselves. It seems to have no rhyme or reason. And like others pointed out, who knew that someone like Bell's would be so high up there and Founders so low in comparison? These statistics are eye openers, and I think they speak to the fact that the laws that each state have play a huge part in these numbers. If every state had access to all beers these numbers would change dramatically. Sam Adams would probably stay at number one and probably with the same number or close to it, but I don't think Sierra Nevada would be #2 and I am pretty damn sure Bells would not sell more than Founders.
Which state laws are keeping Founders out of states where BBC, SN or Bell's distribute? The main factor limiting the total yearly barrelage of most craft breweries at this point is the capacity of their brewery That's why withdrawing from distant markets has become more prevalent for a number of breweries- the demand for their beers has surpassed their physical ability to produce more beer.
This was going to be my comment as well -- and in a state that is often associated with many macro drinkers. Congratulations indeed.
Yeah, i was surprised at Founders ranking but you make a good point. In addition to Oberon i see alot of Two Hearted drank around these parts as well.
Here's an annotated version of the overall list: http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/the-top-50-annotated-2011/
Congratulations to all the breweries in the top 50. Had a good majority of them and are well deserved. A little surprised not to see Cigar City but I'm sure they will be there sooner than later.
After reading all the posts I have come to the conclusion many people here are beer geeks and not industry insiders. Because if you were your opinions would be far more accurate.
Many highly rated beers, distribution in quite a few states....and you are surprised it isn't lower on the list? How did you come to that conclusion?
@JessK " the demand for their beers has surpassed their physical ability to produce more beer." Making some room for locals ?
Founders may be well rated on this site and does have a decent distribution spread but they are still limited by the size of their tanks. Keep in mind that amongst all beer drinkers, BA users are just the vocal minority within the minority that is craft beer drinkers. I know a lot of people who drink mostly craft beer and homebrew but never use this site so it's very easy to get a distorted perspective on industry sales.
Hello. Well I only started reading and/or participating in Beer Advocate about 4 months ago and I knew about Founders way before coming to this site. More to the point, I have not become aware of any beer that I was not aware of before coming here, so Beer Advocate has not affected the way I drink beer. Most of the people that I know here in Dallas would much rather buy Founders than Bell's and I know less than 1% of them are here in Beer Advocate. So, no it's not a Beer Advocate phenomenon, most craft beer people I know across the country value Founders much more highly than Bells. I dare say, the demand for Founders is much higher across the country than Bells, Founders just produces less beer. Let me put it this way, let's say we had an arbitrary rule that limited all brewers to a maximum of production. In this arbitrary scenario all brewers produced the same, no more no less, and were available in all states. In this unrealistic 'reality' Founders would outsell Bells across the country. They are just much more in demand than Bells.
All their beers contain adjuncts (corn) and they have not bothered to get the special dispensation awarded to certain beers (notably Shiner Bock) from the Brewers Association declaring their corn was for enhancing flavor, even though Yuengling joined the B.A. a couple of years ago. Of course, membership in the Brewers Association does not make a brewery "craft"- all the A-B and M-C breweries belong, as do many of their subsidiary or partially owned breweries.
Accurate opinions? Facts, are accurate. That's why they are called facts. Opinions are, well, whatever the fuck you think of a given thing. Accuracy? Not required. Not even a little. Looking of accuracy in one's opinions is a fool's errand.
Having grown up in Wisconsin but been away for most of the last decade, it's been amazing to see how much things have changed. In my hometown up north, you couldn't find a single craft beer other than Leinie's in any of the bars back when I was in high school. Now even the smallest dives have a Spotted Cow tap and you can buy the full NG lineup in just about every gas station. From what I hear, there are now more Spotted Cow tap handles in WI than there are BUD FREAKING LIGHT. I couldn't be more proud of my home state!
A few things really surprise me here: - Stone at #11. Aren't they in all 50 states? I thought they would be top 5 for sure. - Boulevard at #10. Great brewery but didn't expect them to be so high. - New Glarus at #19: It has already been mentioned but they didtribute to one state that is 20th in the country in terms of population. That is a lot of local sales. - Ninkasi at #32. Wow. - Rogue at #25 - They seem to be everywhere. I thought they would be top 10.
Founders is a great brewery and gets lots of love in beer geek circles, but that doesn't mean they make all that much beer, relatively speaking. The big surprise for me is Lagunitas. I know they've been growing, but they're now bigger than Dogfish, Brooklyn, and Stone?? That seems wild to me.
Hello. Well along those same lines, using an example similar to what Errto is talking about, if you combine the totals from #12 Dogfish , #13 Brooklyn and #11 Stone they still make less than #5 Deschutes. Now that's the sort of thing that's crazy to try and figure out. For example here in Dallas I can find Stone and Dogfish at grocery stores and 7-11's, but to find Deschutes I have to go to a liquor store or place that has a good selection of craft beer. It just boggles the mind that Deschutes by themselves outsells those 3 other brewers. Crazy.
