This is my seventh annual annotated list of the Top 50 so you can see who moved up and down, who was new to the list and who dropped off. So here is this year’s list again annotated with how they changed compared to last year.

1. Anheuser-Busch InBev; #1 last seven years, no surprises
2. MillerCoors; ditto for #2
3. Pabst Brewing; ditto for #3
4. D. G. Yuengling and Son; Same as last year
5. Boston Beer Co.; Same as last year
6. North American Breweries; 3rd year on the list, same position as last year
7. Sierra Nevada Brewing; Same as last year
8. New Belgium Brewing; Same as last year
9. Craft Brewers Alliance; Same as last year
10. Gambrinus Company; Same as last year
11. Minhas Craft Brewery; Up 3 from #14 last year
12. Deschutes Brewery; Down one from #11 last year
13. Lagunitas Brewing; Up 3 from #16 last year after jumping up 10 from #26 the previous year, having been at #36 three years back
14. Bell’s Brewery; Down 1 from #13 last year
15. Matt Brewing; Down 3 from #12 last year
16. Harpoon Brewery; Down 1 from #15 last year
17. Stone Brewing; Up 1 from #18 last year
18. Brooklyn Brewery; Up 2 from #20 last year, after jumping up 5 the year before
19. Boulevard Brewing; Down 2 from #17 last year
20. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery; Down 1 from last year, after being up 5, 9, 5 and 4 the four previous years
21. Abita Brewing; Up 4 from #25 last year
22. World Brew/Winery Exchange; Up 4 from #26 last year, after jumping up 11 the previous year
23. Shipyard Brewing; Up 1 from last year, having moved up 4 the prior year
24. Alaskan Brewing; Down 2 from #21 last year, their second drop in as many years
25. August Schell Brewing; Down 2 from last year, also their second drop in as many years
26. New Glarus Brewing; Up 2 again this year from #28 last year
27. Long Trail Brewing; Down 5 from #22 last year
28. Great Lakes Brewing; Down 1 from last year, after jumping up 4 the previous year
29. Firestone Walker Brewing; Up 4 from #33 last year, after rising 3 spots the year before
30. Anchor Brewing; Up 2 from #32 last year
31. Rogue Ales Brewery; Up 5 from #36 last year
32. Summit Brewing; Down 1 from #31 last year
33. Full Sail Brewing; Down 4 from #29 last year
34. SweetWater Brewing; Up 1 from #35 last year, having rise 3 the year before
35. Victory Brewing; Up 4 from #39 last year
36. Oskar Blues Brewing; Up 5 from #36 last year, having jumped up 8 the previous year
37. Pittsburgh Brewing (fka Iron City); Down 7 from #30 last year
38. Mendocino Brewing; Down 1 from #37 last year
39. Cold Spring Brewing; Down 5 from #34 last year, after jumping up 13 the prior year
40. Flying Dog Brewery; Down 2 from #38 last year
41. Founders Brewing; Not in Top 50 last year
42. Ninkasi Brewing; Up 2 from #44 last year
43. CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants (Gordon Biersch/Rock Bottom); Down 3 from #40 last year, after the two merged during 2011 and were #42 and #48 in the year before the merger
44. Odell Brewing; Down 2 from #42 last year
45. Bear Republic Brewing; Up 2 in their second year on the list
46. Stevens Point Brewery; Down 3 from #43 last year
47. Blue Point Brewing; Down 1 from #46 last year
48. Southern Tier Brewing; Not in Top 50 last year
49. Lost Coast Brewery; Same as last year in their second year on the list
50. Karl Strauss Breweries; San Diego CA; Not in Top 50 last year

Not too much movement this year, except for a few small shufflings. Only three new breweries made the list; Founders, Southern Tier and Karl Strauss.

Off the list was BJs Restaurant & Brewery, Narragansett Brewing and Goose Island Beer, which had plummeted 30 from #18 the year before, after selling their production brewery to Anheuser-Busch InBev.

If you want to see the previous annotated lists for comparison, here is 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006.