Santa Rosa, California – February 7: A customer at Russian River Brewing Company takes a sip of the new brew. [+] launched Pliny the Younger Triple IPA beer on February 7, 2014 in Santa Rosa, California. before opening hours at Russian River Brewing Company to taste the 10th release of the wildly popular Pliny the Younger Triple IPA beer, available only on tap from February 7th to February 20th. Hundreds of people lined up. Craft beer enthusiasts rank Pliny the Younger as one of the top beers in the world. The craft beer sector of the beverage industry is rapidly evolving from a niche market as global breweries continue to acquire smaller regional craft breweries, including AB InBev’s acquisition of New York’s Blue Point Brewing this week. It has become a growing $12 billion business. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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The Brewers Association (BA), the industry group representing small and independent craft brewers in the United States, announced Tuesday in its annual Craft Beer Industry Production Report that it lists the top 50 craft beer producers in 2023. was nominated.
BA defines a craft brewery as a “small, independent brewery”. To qualify, the brewery must produce no more than 6 million barrels of beer annually, and less than 25% of the brewery can be owned or controlled by members of the beverage alcohol industry that do not qualify as a craft brewery. is. That means major companies like Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors and Pabst are ineligible.
Unsurprisingly, topping the list of top-producing craft breweries in 2023 is Pennsylvania’s GG Yuengling & Son, followed by Boston Beer Company, maker of Sam Adams. However, both are well-known, high-volume breweries.
One of the standout companies on this year’s list is Athletic Brewing, maker of non-alcoholic beer and seltzer. It came in at No. 10 on the list, ahead of popular breweries like Allagash, Deschutes, and Three Floyds.
“Non-alcoholic [beer] Early indicators suggest that 2024 will continue to be a strong year,” Bart Watson, vice president of strategy and chief economist at the Brewers Association, told reporters during a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
The number of craft breweries in the United States continues to grow in 2023, reaching an all-time high of 9,683, including 2,071 craft breweries, 3,467 brewpubs, 3,900 taproom breweries, and 245 regional craft breweries.
The total number of U.S. breweries also includes year-over-year growth, from 9,730 in 2022 to 9,812 in 2023.
A total of 496 new breweries opened and 418 closed during the calendar year.
Looking at the top 50 list, Watson said: As of now, this list hasn’t changed much from year to year. ”
One of the patterns Watson noted is the emergence of groups.
“Craft brewers look to partner, join, and acquire to achieve scale, or seek out larger partners if they are struggling,” Watson said. I think it will expand further.”
In 2019, craft beer darling Dogfish Head was acquired by Sam Adam’s Boston Beer Company for that very reason.
At the time, Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione said: “This merger will allow Dogfish Head and our colleagues to continue to grow within this definition. [craft beer] It will continue for many years to come. ”
Watson pointed out that some of the breweries that ranked lower on the list were all geographically focused.
“Many of them have been successful in part by focusing on draft. There are still plenty of draft opportunities for breweries that have made that a strategic focus,” he points out.
The top breweries by volume also have a coastal focus, with the majority of breweries on the list located on the West Coast or Northeast.
Here is the complete list:
1 DG Yuengling & Son, Inc., Pottsville, Pennsylvania
2 Boston Beer Co, Boston, MA / Milton, DE
3 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co, Chico, California
4 Duvel Moortgat, Paso Robles, CA Kansas City, MO / Cooperstown, NY
5 Gambrinas, Shiner, Texas / Berkeley, California
6 Tilray Beer Brands, Atlanta, GA / Montauk, NY / San Diego, CA / Bend, OR / Seattle, WA / Portland, OR / Breckenridge, CO / Patchogue, NY
7 Artisanal Brewing Ventures, Downingtown, PA Lakewood, NY / Brooklyn, NY
8 Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, NY
9 Monster Brewing, Longmont, Colorado / Tampa, Florida / Salt Lake City, Utah / Comstock, Michigan / Dallas, Texas
10 Athletic Brewing Co, Milford, CT
11 New Glarus Brewing Co, New Glarus, WI
12 Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Oregon
13 Matt Brewing Co, Utica, NY
14 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co, San Jose, California
15 Allagash Brewing Co, Portland, ME
16 Georgetown Brewing Co, Seattle, WA
17 Great Lakes Brewing Co, Cleveland, OH
18 Harpoon Brewery, Boston, MA
19 Stevens Point Brewery, Stevens Point, WI
20 Three Floyds Brewing Co, Munster, Indiana
21 Pittsburgh Brewing Co, Pittsburgh, PA
22 Rhinegeist Brewery, Cincinnati, OH
23 Narragansett Brewing Co, Providence, RI
August 24th Schell Brewing Co, New Ulm, MN
25 Odell Brewing Co, Fort Collins, Colorado
26 Craft ‘Ohana, Kihei, Hawaii / San Diego, California
27 Troëgs Brewing Co, Hershey, Pennsylvania
28 Fiddlehead Brewing, Shelburne, Vermont
29 Minhas Craft Brewery, Monroe, WI
30 Kings & Convicts Brewing, San Diego, California
31 Alaskan Brewing Co, Juneau, Alaska
32 Kona Brewing Co, Kailua-Kona, HI
33 Abita Brewing Co, Covington, Los Angeles
34 Creature Comforts Brewing Co, Athens, Georgia
35 Great Frontier Holdings, Eugene, Oregon / Portland, Oregon
36 BrewDog Brewing Company, Canal Winchester, Ohio
37 Summit Brewing Co, St. Paul, MN
38 Jack’s Abby Brewing, Framingham, MA
39 Revolution Brewing, Chicago, IL
40 Montucky Cold Snacks, Bozeman, Montana
41 Saint Arnold Brewing Co, Houston, Texas
42 Lost Coast Brewery, Eureka, CA
43 Surly Brewing Co, Minneapolis, MN
44 Rogue Ale Brewery, Newport, Oregon
45 United States Beverage LLC, Salt Lake City, Utah / Elmsford, New York
46 Shipyard Brewing Co, Portland, ME
47 Pizza Port Brewing Co, Carlsbad, CA
48 Coronado Brewing Company, Coronado, CA
49 Drake’s Brewing Co, San Leandro, California
50 IndieBrew, Atlanta, GA / Nashville, TN
