The craft brewing industry continues to grow
Americans tastes continue to mature. And in the world of beer, maturing tastes means that consumers will continue to demand better tasting malt beverage products. Craft beer sales in 2009 were up, while sales of mass- produced beer fell slightly. This is further proof that as tastes change, American consumers want better and better beer products.
So, which breweries are the largest? Well, the number of brewpubs and micro or craft breweries is now approaching 2,000 and new brewing operations continue to join the fold each year. Based on the volume of beer produced, here are the twenty largest craft brewing operations in the Unites States at the end of 2009:
Brewing Operation City State
1 Boston Beer Co. Boston MA
2 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA
3 New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO
4 Spoetzl Brewery Shiner TX
5 Pyramid Breweries Inc. Seattle WA
6 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR
7 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY
8 Magic Hat Brewing Co. Burlington VT
9 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO
10 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
11 Alaskan Brewing Co. Juneau AK
12 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI
13 Kona Brewing Co. Kailua-Kona HI
14 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR
15 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA
16 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE
17 The Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY
18 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA
19 Summit Brewing Co. Saint Paul MN
20 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA
Most of the entries on this list are not suprising. Boston Beer, maker of Samuel Adams, is still number one overall and Sierra Nevada is runner- up. The top five remain unchanged from the previous year and most other positions remain relatively unchanged. The exceptions would be Anchor Brewing, which declined from 15th place down to 20th place, and Stone Brewing, which climbed three places to number 15.
No one can say what the present year will bring, but if current trends continue, expect craft beer sales to continue to climb as the tastes of Americans continue to mature. The big macrobreweries can continue to push their advertising and try to hold onto market share, but the people have spoken and spoken very clearly: They want craft beer and are willing to pay a higher price to get it. Because of this fact, the craft brewing industry continues to expand at a fast clip and will likely continue to grow well into the twenty- first century.
Leave a Reply