Anheuser- Busch still number one, but the trend toward better brew continues
I recently posted an article that listed and talked briefly about the largest craft brewing operations in the United States, based on the number of barrels of beer brewed in 2009. In this article, I talked about the craft brewing industry as a whole, how the tastes of Americans continue to mature, and how craft beer sales continue to push forward in spite of mediocre sales on the part of the larger breweries.
As much as I prefer craft beer to others, the large breweries still present an important force that cannot be overlooked. Who is the largest? Well, take a look at this official list, showing the largest breweries (craft and non- craft) in the United States in 2009:
Rank Brewing Company City State
1 Anheuser-Busch InBev St. Louis MO
2 MillerCoors Brewing Co. Chicago IL
3 Pabst Brewing Co. Woodridge IL
4 D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc. Pottsville PA
5 Boston Beer Co. Boston MA
6 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA
7 New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO
8 Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc. Portland OR
9 Spoetzl Brewery (part of Gambrinus) Shiner TX
10 High Falls Brewing Co. Rochester NY
11 Minhas Craft Brewery Monroe WI
12 Pyramid Breweries (part of IBU) Seattle WA
13 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR
14 F.X. Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY
15 Magic Hat Brewing Co. (part of IBU) Burlington VT
16 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO
17 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
18 Alaskan Brewing Co. Juneau AK
19 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI
20 Goose Island Beer Co. Chicago IL
Top- ranked Anheuser- Busch is no surprise. This company has been the sales leader in the United States for decades and will likely continue to hold its position for the forseeable future. MillerCoors is second- also no surprise, considering it includes two of the best known names in the beer industry. These larger breweries are still holding their own, even though sales of some of their key products have been flat in recent years.
Probably the greatest surprise on this list is the number of craft breweries that rank in the top twenty. Take a look at the list and count them up. Depending on your definition of craft brewery ( and there are some who differ on the definition), there are at least fifteen craft brewing operations among the top twenty! This is very significant and it presents a completely different picture when compared to the past. Turn the clock back twenty years and there were only three or four craft breweries in the top twenty. Today, they comprise the majority of the largest brewing operations in the United States.
No one can predict with certainty what will happen to the brewing industry in the future, but I fully expect the craft breweries to continue gaining ground while the large breweries continue to lose market share. Unless the big breweries start to craft some better- tasting products that can directly compete with the Samuel Adams, Sierra Nevada, and New Belgium breweries of the world, expect the size and influence of these macrobreweries to continue to fade.
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