I Bet My Brewing Company is Bigger Than Yours

The numbers are in from the Brewers Association (BA) on the top brewing companies in the country.  The two lists are, Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies and Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies. All numbers are based on beer sales volume from 2009. Below are the top 20 for each catagory.  Locally Dogfish Head (16/craft, 24/overall), Yuengling (4/overall) and Victory (30/ craft, 40/overall) made the lists. Iron City Brewing Co. (25/overall) and Straub (46/overall) were also ranked. The complete rundown is here.

(from BA website)
Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies

(Based on 2009 beer sales volume)
Rank, Brewing Company, 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

Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies

(Based on 2009 beer sales volume)
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

Beer By the Numbers

Someone anonymously commented the other day that recently I've been obsessed with sports and should focus more on the beer. I would of posted the comment however an accidental delete (honest) has flushed those, oh so eloquent words to the great beyond. So, to appease my no name commenter I'll briefly stop talking sports, specifically hockey, and focus on the beer. I will however take a cue from baseball and bring out some interesting stats.


The Brewers Association, the trade association for the craft beer industry, recently released their annual, all important beer sales statistics. The two lists, the Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies and Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies (both based on beer sales volume) for 2008, contain a few familiar names from the Philadelphia area. On the craft side Victory Brewing (#35) was the sole PA brewery to make the list. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (#22) in Milton, DE was the only other area brewery to place in the top 50. PA fared a bit better with the numbers when it came to overall brewing companies. D.G. Yeungling and Son (#5)took the top spot in the Keystone state. Further down the list were Iron City Brewing (#13), Victory Brewing (#46) and Straub Brewery (#47). Dogfish Head Brewery slid in at #33. Looks like we all need to buy a few extra cases to get those numbers up.


California dominated all states with 18 breweries named between the two lists. A more detailed analysis on the craft beer sector for 2008 will be released on April 22. The complete industry analysis is scheduled for publication on May 19th in the May/June issue of The New Brewer.