Top 50 Breweries For 2023

April 17, 2024 By Jay Brooks

The Brewers Association yesterday announced the top 50 breweries and craft breweries in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2023, which is listed below here. I should also mention that this represents “craft breweries” according to the BA’s membership definition, and not necessarily how most of us would define them, as there’s no universally agreed upon way to differentiate the two. For a number of years now, they’ve also released a list of the top 50 breweries, which includes all breweries. In the past I’ve posted the two lists separately, but last year decided going forward to present them together since the two are increasingly intermingled.

I confess I used to look more forward to this list every year as it represented greater and wider acceptance of craft in the marketplace, but it doesn’t seem to hold the same thrill for me anymore, perhaps I’m getting jaded. Part of my malaise I think comes from the fact that consolidation has become such a part of the current landscape that it’s in a sense how things were before the rise of craft beer. There’s nothing inherently wrong this, it’s a natural part in the evolution of any industry. But as an old-timer in this nascent craft industry, it was the independent spirit of the early brewery pioneers that built the foundation of today’s beer scene. And seeing it contract into mini-conglomerates and empires, however natural, is not very pleasant to watch. Of the top ten, six of them are groups of two or more breweries, and number one is Yuengling, which is an old guard brewery that’s small and independent in name only, not in spirit (that’s not a knock on Yuengling, at least it’s not meant to be). It’s understandable, but no less disheartening, and will undoubtedly continue for the foreseeable future. Anyway, here is this year’s craft brewery list:

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies

Rank	Company	City	State
1	D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc	Pottsville	PA
2	Boston Beer Co	Boston, Milton	MA, DE
3	Sierra Nevada Brewing Co	Chico	CA
4	Duvel Moortgat USA	Paso Robles, Kansas City, Cooperstown	CA, MO, NY
5	Gambrinus	Shiner, Berkeley	TX, CA
6	Tilray Beer Brands	Atlanta, Montauk, San Diego, Bend, Seattle, Portland, Breckenridge, Patchogue	GA, NY, CA, OR, WA, OR, CO, NY
7	Artisanal Brewing Ventures	Downingtown, Lakewood, Brooklyn	PA, NY, NY
8	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
9	Monster Brewing	Longmont, Tampa, Salt Lake City, Comstock, Dallas	CO, FL, UT, MI, TX
10	Athletic Brewing Company	Milford	CT
11	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
12	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
13	Matt Brewing Co	Utica	NY
14	Gordon Biersch Brewing Co	San Jose	CA
15	Allagash Brewing Company	Portland	ME
16	Georgetown Brewing Co	Seattle	WA
17	Great Lakes Brewing Company	Cleveland	OH
18	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
19	Stevens Point Brewery	Stevens Point	WI
20	Three Floyds Brewing	Munster	IN
21	Pittsburgh Brewing Co	Pittsburgh	PA
22	Rhinegeist Brewery	Cincinnati	OH
23	Narragansett Brewing Co	Pawtucket	RI
24	August Schell Brewing Company	New Ulm	MN
25	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
26	Craft ‘Ohana (Maui/Modern Times)	Kihei, San Diego	HI, CA
27	Troegs Brewing Co	Hershey	PA
28	Fiddlehead Brewing	Shelburne	VT
29	Minhas Craft Brewery	Monroe	WI
30	Kings & Convicts Brewing	San Diego	CA
31	Alaskan Brewing Co.	Juneau	AK
32	Kona Brewing Hawaii	Kailua-Kona	HI
33	Abita Brewing Co	Covington	LA
34	Creature Comforts Brewing Co.	Athens	GA
35	Great Frontier Holdings	Eugene, Portland	OR, OR
36	BrewDog Brewing Co	Canal Winchester	OH
37	Summit Brewing Co	St. Paul	MN
38	Jack’s Abby Brewing, LLC	Framingham	MA
39	Revolution Brewing	Chicago	IL
40	Montucky Cold Snacks	Bozeman	MT
41	Saint Arnold Brewing Co	Houston	TX
42	Lost Coast Brewery	Eureka	CA
43	Surly Brewing Company	Minneapolis	MN
44	Rogue Ales Brewery	Newport	OR
45	United States Beverage LLC	Salt Lake City, Elmsford	UT, NY
46	Shipyard Brewing Co	Portland	ME
47	Pizza Port	Carlsbad	CA
48	Coronado Brewing Co	Coronado	CA
49	Drake’s Brewing Co	San Leandro	CA
50	IndieBrew	Atlanta, Nashville	GA, TN

The data was also accompanied by the following press release:

Boulder, Colo. — The Brewers Association (BA)—the trade association representing small and independent American craft brewers—today released annual production figures for the U.S. craft brewing industry.

The number of operating craft breweries continued to climb in 2023, reaching an all-time high of 9,683, including 2,071 microbreweries, 3,467 brewpubs, 3,900 taproom breweries, and 245 regional craft breweries. The total U.S. operating brewery count was 9,812, up from 9,730 in 2022. Throughout the year, there were 495 new brewery openings and 418 closings. Openings decreased for a second consecutive year, with the trend reflecting a more mature market. The closing rate increased in 2023 but continued to remain relatively low, at approximately 4%.

Driven by the growing number of breweries and a continued shift to hospitality-focused business models, craft brewers directly employed 191,421 people in 2023, a 1.1% increase from 2022.

“2023 was another competitive and challenging year for small and independent brewers,” said Bart Watson, vice president of strategy and chief economist of the Brewers Association. “Nevertheless, even as growth has downshifted, small brewers have proved quite resilient, as seen in the increase in number of breweries, relatively low closing rates, and gains in onsite sales and jobs.”

Collectively, small and independent brewers produced 23.4 million barrels of beer in 2023, a decline of 1.0% from 2022³, though craft’s overall beer market share by volume grew to 13.3%, up from 13.1% in 2022 as craft’s declines were smaller than overall beer volume losses.

The overall beer market shrank 5.1% by volume in 2023. Retail dollar value was estimated at $28.6 billion, representing a 24.5% market share and 3% growth over a comparable value in 2022. Sales growth was stronger than volume primarily due to pricing but also due to slightly stronger onsite sales growth versus distribution.

“As always, the beverage alcohol market and consumer demand continue to evolve,” added Watson. ”Many brewers are accordingly updating their operations to match those changes, focusing on their business models, go-to-market strategies, and brand strategies to help their businesses match those shifts.”

And here’s the second list, which is the Top 50 Brewing Companies Overall, which means all companies, not just the ones eligible for membership in the Brewers Association, which excludes from membership breweries that are too large or with large ownership structures, among other specific qualifications.

In this list, the top ten are either a group of brewery businesses or quite larger and/or old enough to predate the 1980s. Number 11, Sierra Nevada, is the first actual craft brewery on the list. But overall the list is so filled with complicated business arrangements that there are 26 footnotes for 50 entries.

Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies

Rank	Company	City	State
1	Anheuser-Busch Inc	St. Louis	MO
2	MolsonCoors	Chicago	IL
3	Constellation	Chicago	IL
4	Heineken USA	White Plains	NY
5	Pabst Brewing Co	Los Angeles	CA
6	Diageo	Norwalk	CT
7	D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc	Pottsville	PA
8	FIFCO USA	Rochester	NY
9	Kirin-Lion	Fort Collins, Comstock	CO, MI
10	Boston Beer Co	Boston, Milton	MA, DE
11	Sierra Nevada Brewing Co	Chico	CA
12	Sapporo-Stone Brewing	Escondido	CA
13	Duvel Moortgat USA	Paso Robles, Kansas City, Cooperstown	CA, MO, NY
14	Gambrinus	Shiner, Berkeley	TX, CA
15	Mahou San Miguel	Grand Rapids, Boulder	MI, CO
16	Tilray Beer Brands	Atlanta, Montauk, San Diego, Bend, Seattle, Portland, Breckenridge, Patchogue	GA, NY, CA, OR, WA, OR, CO, NY
17	Artisanal Brewing Ventures	Downingtown, Lakewood, Brooklyn	PA, NY, NY
18	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
19	Monster Brewing	Longmont, Tampa, Salt Lake City, Comstock, Dallas	CO, FL, UT, MI, TX
20	Athletic Brewing Company	Milford	CT
21	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
22	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
23	Matt Brewing Co	Utica	NY
24	Gordon Biersch Brewing Co	San Jose	CA
25	Allagash Brewing Company	Portland	ME
26	Georgetown Brewing Co	Seattle	WA
27	Great Lakes Brewing Company	Cleveland	OH
28	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
29	Stevens Point Brewery	Stevens Point	WI
30	Three Floyds Brewing	Munster	IN
31	Pittsburgh Brewing Co	Pittsburgh	PA
32	Rhinegeist Brewery	Cincinnati	OH
33	Narragansett Brewing Co	Pawtucket	RI
34	August Schell Brewing Company	New Ulm	MN
35	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
36	Craft ‘Ohana (Maui/Modern Times)	Kihei, San Diego	HI, CA
37	Troegs Brewing Co	Hershey	PA
38	Fiddlehead Brewing	Shelburne	VT
39	Minhas Craft Brewery	Monroe	WI
40	Kings & Convicts Brewing	San Diego	CA
41	Alaskan Brewing Co.	Juneau	AK
42	Kona Brewing Hawaii	Kailua-Kona	HI
43	Abita Brewing Co	Covington	LA
44	Creature Comforts Brewing Co.	Athens	GA
45	Great Frontier Holdings	Eugene, Portland	OR, OR
46	BrewDog Brewing Co	Canal Winchester	OH
47	Summit Brewing Co	St. Paul	MN
48	Jack’s Abby Brewing, LLC	Framingham	MA
49	Revolution Brewing	Chicago	IL
50	Montucky Cold Snacks	Bozeman	MT

Top 50 Breweries For 2022

April 18, 2023 By Jay Brooks

The Brewers Association just announced the top 50 breweries and craft breweries in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2022, which is listed below here. I should also mention that this represents “craft breweries” according to the BA’s membership definition, and not necessarily how most of us would define them, as there’s no universally agreed upon way to differentiate the two. For a number of years now, they’ve also released a list of the top 50 breweries, which includes all breweries. In the past I’ve posted the two lists separately, but have decided going forward to present them together since the two are getting increasingly intermingled. I confess I used to look more forward to this list every year as it represented greater and wider acceptance of craft in the marketplace, but it doesn’t seem to hold the same thrill for me anymore, perhaps I’m getting jaded. Here is this year’s craft brewery list:

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies

Rank	Company	City	State
1	D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc	Pottsville	PA
2	Boston Beer Co	Boston, Milton	MA, DE
3	Sierra Nevada Brewing Co	Chico	CA
4	Duvel Moortgat USA	Paso Robles, Kansas City, Cooperstown	CA, MO, NY
5	Gambrinus Company	Shiner, Berkeley	TX, CA
6	Artisanal Brewing Ventures	Dowingtown, Lakewood, Brooklyn	PA, NY, NY
7	Stone Brewing*	Escondido	CA
8	CANarchy	Longmont, Tampa, Salt Lake City, Comstock, Dallas	CO, FL, UT, MI, TX
9	Tilray Beer Brands	Atlanta, Montauk, San Diego	GA, NY, CA
10	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
11	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
12	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
13	Athletic Brewing Company	Milford	CT
14	Matt Brewing Co	Utica	NY
15	Minhas Craft Brewery	Monroe	WI
16	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
17	Gordon Biersch Brewing Co	San Jose	CA
18	Great Lakes Brewing Company	Cleveland	OH
19	Stevens Point Brewery	Stevens Point	WI
20	Allagash Brewing Company	Portland	ME
21	Georgetown Brewing Co	Seattle	WA
22	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
23	Rhinegeist Brewery	Cincinnati	OH
24	Three Floyds Brewing	Munster	IN
25	Troegs Brewing Co	Hershey	PA
26	Summit Brewing Co	Saint Paul	MN
27	Narragansett Brewing Co	Providence	RI
28	Craft Ohana	Kihei, San Diego	HI, CA
29	August Schell Brewing Company	New Ulm	MN
30	Kings & Convicts Brewing	San Diego	CA
31	Pittsburgh Brewing Co	Pittsburgh	PA
32	Alaskan Brewing Co	Juneau	AK
33	Kona Brewing Co	Kailua-Kona	HI
34	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
35	Abita Brewing Co	Covington	LA
36	Fiddlehead Brewing	Shelburne	VT
37	Creature Comforts Brewing Co	Athens	GA
38	BrewDog Brewing Company	Canal Winchester	OH
39	Revolution Brewing	Chicago	IL
40	Lost Coast Brewery	Eureka	CA
41	Rogue Ales Brewery	Newport	OR
42	Surly Brewing Company	Minneapolis	MN
43	Ninkasi Brewing Co	Eugene	OR
44	Saint Arnold Brewing Co	Houston	TX
45	IndieBrew	Atlanta, Nashville	GA, TN
46	Shipyard Brewing Co	Portland	ME
47	Jack’s Abby Brewing	Framingham	MA
48	North Coast Brewing Co	Fort Bragg	CA
49	Pizza Port Brewing Company	Carlsbad	CA
50	Made by the Water	New Orleans, Apalachicola, Asheville, Charleston	LA, FL, NC, SC

The data was also accompanied by the following press release:

“The Brewers Association (BA)—the trade association representing small and independent American craft brewers—today released annual production figures for the U.S. craft brewing industry. In 2022, small and independent brewers collectively produced 24.3 million barrels of beer, on par with 2021’s numbers, and craft’s overall beer market share by volume grew to 13.2%, up from 13.1% the previous year.

The overall beer market* shrank 3% by volume in 2022. Retail dollar value was estimated at $28.46 billion, representing a 24.6% market share and 6% growth over 2021. Sales growth was stronger than volume due to pricing, share shift to smaller brewers—who are more likely to sell onsite and via distributed draught—as well as the continued channel shift back to on-premise, which has a higher average retail value. Craft brewers provided 189,413 direct jobs, a 9% increase from 2021, driven both by growth in the number of breweries and a continued shift to hospitality-focused business models.

“2022 presented small brewers with a number of challenges, including rising operating and material costs and increasing competition, particularly in distribution,” said Bart Watson, chief economist, Brewers Association. “In this maturing and competitive market, collective growth for the category is hard to come by.”

The number of operating craft breweries continued to climb in 2022, reaching an all-time high of 9,552, including 2,035 microbreweries, 3,418 brewpubs, 3,838 taproom breweries, and 261 regional craft breweries. The total U.S. operating brewery count was 9,709, up from 9,384 in 2021. Throughout the year, there were 549 new brewery openings and 319 closings. Openings decreased for a second consecutive year, with the continued decline reflecting a more mature market. The closing rate increased in 2022 but continued to remain relatively low, at approximately 3%.

“The relatively low closure rate reflects both the solid demand for fuller flavored local beer as well as the versatility and flexibility of small brewers,” added Watson.”

Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies

Rank	Company	City	State
1	Anheuser-Busch Inc (a)	St. Louis	MO
2	MolsonCoors (b)	Chicago	IL
3	Constellation (c)	Chicago	IL
4	Heineken USA (d)	White Plains	NY
5	Pabst Brewing Co (e)	Los Angeles	CA
6	Diageo (f)	Norwalk	CT
7	D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc	Pottsville	PA
8	FIFCO USA (g)	Rochester	NY
9	Boston Beer Co (h)	Boston, Milton	MA, DE
10	Kirin-Lion / New Belgium Brewing (i)	Fort Collins, Comstock	CO, MI
11	Sierra Nevada Brewing Co	Chico	CA
12	Duvel Moortgat USA (j)	Paso Robles, Kansas City, Cooperstown	CA, MO, NY
13	Founders Brewing / Mahou San Miguel (k)	Grand Rapids, Boulder	MI, CO
14	Gambrinus (l)	Berkeley, Shiner	CA, TX
15	Artisanal Brewing Ventures (m)	Downingtown, Lakewood, Brooklyn	PA, NY, NY
16	Stone Brewing (n)	Escondido	CA
17	CANarchy (o)	Longmont, Tampa, Salt Lake City, Comstock, Dallas	CO, FL, UT, MI, TX
18	Tilray Beer Brands (p)	Atlanta, Montauk, San Diego	GA, NY, CA
19	Sapporo USA (q)	San Francisco	CA
20	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
21	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
22	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
23	Athletic Brewing Company	Stratford	CT
24	Matt Brewing Co (r)	Utica	NY
25	Minhas Craft Brewery (s)	Monroe	WI
26	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
27	Gordon Biersch Brewing Co	San Jose	CA
28	Great Lakes Brewing Company	Cleveland	OH
29	Stevens Point Brewery (t)	Stevens Point	WI
30	Allagash Brewing Company	Portland	ME
31	Georgetown Brewing Co	Seattle	WA
32	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
33	Rhinegeist Brewery	Cincinnati	OH
34	Three Floyds Brewing (u)	Munster	IN
35	Troegs Brewing Co	Hershey	PA
36	Summit Brewing Co	Saint Paul	MN
37	Narragansett Brewing Co	Pawtucket	RI
38	Craft Ohana (v)	Kihei, San Diego	HI/CA
39	August Schell Brewing Company (w)	New Ulm	MN
40	Kings & Convicts Brewing/Ballast Point	San Diego	CA
41	Pittsburgh Brewing (x)	Pittsburgh	PA
42	Alaskan Brewing Co	Juneau	AK
43	Kona Brewing Co (y)	Kailua-Kona	HI
44	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
45	Abita Brewing Co	Covington	LA
46	Fiddlehead Brewing	Shelburne	VT
47	Creature Comforts	Athens	GA
48	BrewDog Brewing Co	Canal Winchester	OH
49	Revolution Brewing	Chicago	IL
50	Lost Coast Brewing Co	Eureka	CA

But this second list requires quite a few footnotes, which tells you a lot, honestly.

Footnote notes from brand lists are illustrative and may not be exhaustive.

Volumes reflected are of beer brands only and do not include flavored malt beverages or hard seltzers. Ownership stakes reflect greater than 25% ownership. Consequently, Mark Anthony Brands, owner of White Claw and Mike’s Hard Lemonade as well as other brand families, does not appear in these rankings.

(a) Anheuser-Busch, Inc includes 10 Barrel, Bass, Beck’s, Blue Point, Bud Light,
Budweiser, Breckenridge, Busch, Craft Brew Alliance, Devils Backbone, Elysian, Four
Peaks, Golden Road, Goose Island, Karbach, King Cobra, Landshark, Michelob, Natural,
Platform, Rolling Rock, Shock Top, Veza Sur, Wicked Weed, and Ziegenbock brands, as
well as other brand families and imported brands;
(b) MolsonCoors includes A.C. Golden, Atwater, Batch 19, Blue Moon, Colorado Native,
Coors, Hamms, Hop Valley, Icehouse, Keystone, Killian’s, Leinenkugel’s, Mickey’s,
Milwaukee’s Best, Miller, Olde English, Revolver, Steel Reserve, Tenth & Blake, and
Terrapin brands, as well as other brand families and imported brands;
(c) Constellation Brewing Co includes domestic brands Four Corners, Funky Buddha, and
Tocayo Brands; it also includes imported brands Corona, Modelo, Pacifico, and Victoria;
(d) Heineken Brewing Co includes domestic brand Lagunitas Brewing Co as well as
imported brands Dos Equis, Heineken, and Tecate;
(e) Pabst Brewing Co includes Ballantine, Lone Star, National Bohemian, Pabst, Pearl,
Primo, Rainier, Schlitz, Small Town, and Stroh’s brands, as well as other brand families;
(f) Diageo Brewing Co includes both domestically produced and imported Guinness brands;
(g) FIFCO USA includes Dundee, Genesee, Labatt Lime, Mactarnahan’s, Magic Hat, and
Pyramid brands as well as import volume;
(h) Boston Beer Co includes Alchemy & Science, Angel City, Concrete Beach, Coney Island
Dogfish Head, and Sam Adams brands. Does not include volume from Truly, Twisted
Tea or Angry Orchard brands;
(i) New Belgium Brewing Co includes Bell’s and Magnolia Brewing brands;
(j) Duvel Moortgat includes Firestone Walker and the Duvel Moortgat USA brands of
Boulevard and Ommegang;
(k) Mahou San Miguel includes Founders and Avery Brewing volume;
(l) Gambrinus includes Shiner and Trumer brands;
(m)Artisanal Brewing Ventures includes Sixpoint, Southern Tier, and Victory brands; Does
not include Bold Rock Hard Cider volume;
(n) Stone Brewing was acquired by Sapporo late in 2022. It will be included in the Sapporo
USA volume starting in 2023. See footnote (q);
(o) CANarchy was acquired by Monster Beverage Corporation in 2021. Volume includes
Cigar City, Deep Ellum, Oskar Blues Brewing Co, Perrin, and Utah Brewers Cooperative
brands;
(p) Tilray Beer Brands include Sweetwater, Montauk, Green Flash, and Alpine Beer brands;
(q) Sapporo USA includes Anchor Brewing and imported brands. Stone Brewing (n) will be
included in future years;
(r) Matt Brewing Co includes Flying Bison, Saranac, and Utica Club brands;
(s) Minhas Craft Brewery includes Huber, Mountain Crest, and Rhinelander brands as well
as export volume;
(t) Stevens Point Brewery includes James Page and Point brands;
(u) Three Floyds Brewing also includes volume for the WarPigs USA brand;
(v) Craft Ohana includes Maui Brewing and Modern Times brands;
(w)August Schell Brewing Co includes Grain Belt and Schell’s brands;
(x) Pittsburgh Brewing includes Iron City, IC Light, and other brand families;
(y) Volume is for the independently owned Kona Brewing Co in Hawaii. Does not include Kona volume owned by Anheuser-Busch (a) sold in the mainland USA.

Interesting World Maps

December 30, 2019 By Jay Brooks

You probably knew I’m a huge map geek, so I’m always on the lookout for interesting ones. I came across a website recently boasting 100 Amazing World Maps. And while the headline may be a tad hyperbolic, some of them certainly are interesting. Here are a few that fell into that category for me. Check out the rest here if you also like this sort of thing. Enjoy.

Map of Alcohol Consumption Around the World

You’re probably not shocked to learn that Ireland, Russia, France and Germany are some of the countries that consume the most alcohol. But you may be surprised to learn that tiny Belarus consumes the most alcohol of all, with an average of 17.5 liters of pure alcohol consumed per capita every year.

Map of Drink of Choice Around the World

Looks like North and South Americans, as well as Australians, love their beer, while Asia, the Caribbean and Russia dig their spirits. Rice wine, rum and vodka, perhaps?

Map of Who Spends the Most on Booze

Ahem. Ireland?

Map of Coffee Consumption Around the World

Can’t live without your cuppa Joe in the morning? Looks like you’re not the only one! In some countries, such as those in (colder) Scandinavia, each person is drinking up to 26 pounds of coffee per year.

Map of the World’s Happiest People

It makes us smile to see a hemisphere filled with happiness!
Also, is anyone surprised that famously cordial Canada, free-spirited Australia and peaceful Scandinavia have some of the happiest locals on earth?

Map of Worldwide Tipping

Now before you go thinking a country is cheap, remember that they may pay higher wages so employees don’t need tips to make a living. (Unlike in America, which needs to get with the program.)

Map of Water Consumption Around the World

You may be surprised to learn the volume of water needed for the production of essential goods and services. This map brings the problem of water scarcity into sharp focus.

Map of Grapes Yielded by Country

Where, oh where, does your favorite wine get its grapes from?

Map of Craft Breweries in the U.S.

Think craft breweries have been popping up all around your state? You’re right, especially if you live in the western part of the country.

Map of Every Pub in the UK

You knew pubs were popular in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but did you know they were this popular? This map cannot even begin to show each and every one of the pubs, because there are more than 48,000!

Fastest Growing Breweries in 2018

March 28, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Yesterday, the Brewers Association released its list of “50 Fastest Growing U.S. Craft Breweries of 2018.” This is the second year for the list, and I’m glad they started creating it last year, because the annual Top 50 list has grown increasingly static over the years, and isn’t a good way to see who’s shaking things up anymore. Most of the movement tends to now be confined to the bottom half or even the bottom quarter of the list, with minimal changes above that. This list, on the other hand, sees new breweries on it each year (at least so far) and gives a better picture of which breweries are moving product at a faster pace than the previous year. And while it’s probably on a small base, it still shows who’s worth watching.

From the press release:

Representing 27 states across the U.S., these small and independent breweries experienced a median growth of 163 percent with the median size being 1,350 barrels of in-house production in 2018. Breweries on the list range from 50 barrels to more than 40,000, and grew from less than 70,000 barrels collectively in 2017 to more than 170,000 barrels in 2018. As a group, these brewing companies represent approximately 10 percent of total craft growth by volume for the year, and include 13 brewpubs, 35 microbreweries, and two regional craft breweries.
“Even as market competition continues to increase, these small and independent breweries and brewpubs demonstrate there are still growth opportunities across a diverse set of regions and business models,” said Bart Watson, chief economist, Brewers Association.

In my neck of the woods — California — six breweries made the list. That represents 12% of the total. Half of the California breweries are in the Bay Area and Northern California, and they’re all in the top half of the list with one, Sacramento’s New Glory, in the Top 10. They opened in 2012. Of the other two, Woods Beer Co. has several locations now, and has been around for several years (16 brewing, 7 with their own brewery). The other one is Humble Sea Brewing, located in Santa Cruz, which just opened in early 2016. Congratulations to all the breweries who made the list.

This is a shortened version of the methodology they used, for the full write-up, see the BA’s press release.

Growth is measured based on production at their own facilities. Breweries must have opened by December 31, 2016 or earlier to be considered. It only includes breweries that reported 2018 production to the Brewers Association’s annual Beer Industry Production Survey; breweries with staff estimates or data from state excise tax reports were not considered. Breweries also needed a validated production figure for 2017, either via the production survey, or state excise tax data.

Top 50 Breweries For 2018

March 12, 2019 By Jay Brooks

The Brewers Association just announced the top 50 breweries and craft breweries in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2018, which is listed below here. I should also mention that this represents “craft breweries” according to the BA’s membership definition, and not necessarily how most of us would define them, as there’s no universally agreed upon way to differentiate the two. For the eleventh year, they’ve also released a list of the top 50 breweries, which includes all breweries. In the past I’ve posted the two lists separately, but have decided going forward to present them together since the two are getting increasingly intermingled. I confess I used to look more forward to this list every year as it represented greater and wider acceptance of craft in the marketplace, but it doesn’t seem to hold the same thrill for me anymore, perhaps I’m getting jaded. Here is this year’s craft brewery list and overall breweries, too:

And below here is a map showing the Top 50 craft breweries, as defined by the BA, on a map. If you look at the press release itself, there are 22 footnotes of explanation for the Top 50 overall (a-v), which is one less than last year, but still seems like too many. I feel like it should be simpler. As many people predicted many years ago, the larger craft breweries seem more like the regional breweries of yesteryear, and have less in common with their smaller brethren than with the big breweries. That’s why many of them also belong to the Beer Institute, along with other organizations. I just realized I whined about this very fact last year, so it’s obvious this is not an issue that’s going away anytime soon. I don’t know what the solution is, but setting up the us vs. them dichotomy no longer feels to me like the right direction to me. I understand it up to a point, but the brewing world is not as black and white as it used to be, and I believe there needs to be a new way to look at it that isn’t so unforgiving. And it isn’t just the BA, I was disheartened to talk to a few brewers this year who were excluded from the SF Beer Week gala because they weren’t, or couldn’t be, guild members, which is not the original idea behind SF Beer Week. When we first started it, we wanted to include everybody. That was, indeed, the point. Anyway, congratulations to all the breweries in the Top 50 for another great year, and especially the few new names on this year’s list.

GABF Medal Streaks

September 28, 2018 By Jay Brooks

A few days ago, I posted the results of this year’s Great American Beer Festival, a list of the medal winners, along with some statistics and a few photographs from the ceremony. A comment thread ensued about the longest streak of winning medals, meaning how many years in a row has a brewery won at least one medal. Intrigued, I reached out to the BA’s economist Bart Watson to see if that was a data point that the Brewers Association tracked. They do not, but one of the leading candidates, Iron Hill Brewery’s Mark Edleson, pointed out that the GABF website could be filtered not only by year but also by “All Years” and then you could search for a particular brewery and see which years they won. One problem with that is, as Bart pointed out, is that brewery names have on occasion changed, as have some ownership situations, over the years, but apart from that you could look at some of the leading candidates, at least. Undaunted, I started noodling through the data, somewhat randomly, but having been around almost thirty years, I tried as many of the old breweries I could remember.

At first, I thought I’d spend maybe an hour or so on this, just for fun, but as is typical for me it got out of hand and I’ve been doing searches off and on for a few days now. Obviously, I don’t have the time to search every brewery that’s won a medal since 1983, but I did search a lot of them. If you know of one I missed or just want to look up your favorite brewery, start at the BA’s GABF Winners page. Set the drop-down menu to “All Years” and then type in the brewery name you want to check in the “Search” field. I’d suggest using the fewest number of names as possible to weed out name changes like brewery to brewing co., etc. If the name itself is unique then leave off brewing entirely, although if it’s a place name you’ll probably need to include it. If you do find one that has a streak of three or more years, please comment below and I’ll add it to this list. Thanks.

Current Streak

This first list is what I’m calling the “Current Streak,” meaning a streak that’s still active. This means the brewery won a medal this year, and stretching back in previous consecutive years. For purposes of compiling this, a minimum of three years of winning medals is the minimum for no better reason then it seemed sensible. One win is great, two could be a happy coincidence, but once you hit three, it feels like a streak.

22 Years: Iron Hill 1997-2018 *

19 Years: Pizza Port 2000-2018 *

17 Years: Firestone Walker 2002-2018 *^

8 Years:
- Beachwood BBQ & Brewery 2011-2018 *
- Figueroa Mountain 2011-2018 *
7 Years: Real Ale Brewing 2012-2018

6 Years:
- Cannonball Creek Brewing 2013-2018
- Karl Strauss 2013-2018 *
5 Years:
- Chuckanut 2014-2018
- Fat Head’s 2014-2018 *
4 Years:
- Alvarado Street 2015-2018
- Austin Beer Garden 2015-2018
- Boise Brewing 2015-2018
- Denver Beer Co. 2015-2018
- Grimm Brothers 2015—2018
- TAPS Fish House and Brewery – Corona 2015-2018
3 Years:
- Alesong 2016-2018
- Bruery 2016-2018
- Snake River 2016-2018
- Summit Brewing 2016-2018
- Sunriver 2016-2018
- Uberbrew 2016-2018

* = The asterisk represents an elephant in the room, meaning these medals were won by the same company, but for multiple locations. I don’t mean to detract from the awesome achievement that their streaks represent, but it feels like it needs an asterisk since having more locations, especially under the older rules of entering, represents an advantage because they entered more beers than a single brewery would have been able to enter.

^ = This is a unique situation. Firestone Walker’s Paso Robles production brewery won medals for sixteen years in a row, from 2002 to 2017. This year Firestone Walker Barrelworks, in Buellton, won a medal. However, in the new special category, without a number, the Collaboration Competition, they won a medal for their collaboration with themselves, Firestone Walker Barrelworks of Buellton won for Pixie Dusted with Firestone Walker Brewing – Paso Robles. So does that mean Paso has won 17 Years in a row, or is it only 16? I don’t really know the answer, but it’s worth a discussion.

All Streaks

This second list is what I’m calling “All Streaks,” meaning every streak, whether it’s still active or not. This means the brewery won a medal at least three years in a row. As I mentioned, I undoubtedly missed some, and I apologize in advance if I miised yours. It’s a lot of data, and I’m just one guy. If you know of one I missed, please comment below. Thanks.

22 Years:
- Anheuser-Busch 1988-2009
- Coors 1988-2009
- Iron Hill 1997-2018
19 Years: Pizza Port 2000-2018 *

17 Years: Firestone Walker 2002-2018 *^

16 Years:
- Firestone Walker – Paso Robles 2002-2017
- Goose Island 1997-2012
- Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field 1999-2014
15 Years:
- Boston Beer Co. 1985-1999
- Rock Bottom 2000-2014 *
14 Years:
- Miller Brewing 2003-2016
- New Belgium 2000-2013
13 Years: Bear Republic 2004-2016

12 Years:
- Alaskan 1987-1998
- New Glarus 1996-2007
- Steelhead 1991-2002 *
11 Years:
- BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery 2002-2012 *
- Boston Beer Co. 2004-2014
10 Years:
- Bend Brewing 2006-2015
- Dry Dock Brewing 2008-2017 *
- Russian River Brewing 2001-2010
- Stoudt’s 1988-1997
9 Years:
- Alaskan 2000-2008
- Capital Brewery Co. 2004-2012
- Big Horn Brewing/CB & Pott’s 2000-2008 *
- Pabst 1990-1998
- RAM Restaurant & Brewery 2006-2014 *
- Sierra Nevada 1987-1995
- Tröegs Brewing 2006-2014
8 Years:
- Anchor 2001-2008
- Barley Brown’s Brew Pub 2009-2016
- Beachwood BBQ & Brewery 2011-2018 *
- Deschutes 2007-2014
- Devils Backbone Brewing 2009-2016 *
- Figueroa Mountain 2011-2018
- Montana Brewing 2005-2012
- Pabst 2010-2017
- Pennsylvania Brewing 1997-2004
- Southampton Publick House 2000-2007
- Sun King Brewing 2010-2017
7 Years:
- AC Golden Brewing 2009-2015
- Anchor 1987-1993
- Celis Brewery 1992-1998
- Deschutes 1990-1996
- Flossmoor Station 1997-2003
- Flying Dog 2003-2009
- G. Heileman Brewing 1990-1996
- Laurelwood Brewing 2006-2012
- Leinenkugel 2002-2008
- Lost Abbey 2007-2013
- Marble Brewery 2011-2017
- Pacific Coast 1989-1995
- Pelican Brewery 2004-2010
- Prescott Brewing 1996-2002
- Pyramid Breweries 2004-2010
- Real Ale Brewing 2012-2018
- Schooner’s Grille and Brewery/Morgan Territory 2004-2010
- Sierra Nevada 2008-2014
- Tommyknocker 2002-2008
6 Years:
- Cannonball Creek Brewing 2013-2018
- Capital Brewery Co. 1987-1992
- Dogfish Head 2004-2009
- Elysian Brewing 2002-2007
- Gordon Biersch 2009-2014
- Hart/Pyramid/Thomas Kemper 1994-1999
- Hudepohl-Schoenling 1987-1992
- John Harvard’s Brew House 1997-2002
- Karl Strauss 2013-2018
- Moose’s Tooth Brewing 2003-2008
- Pabst 2003-2008
- Pug Ryan’s Brewery 2003-2008
- Rocky River Brewing 1998-2003
- Rogue 2007-2012
- Saint Arnold 2005-2010
- Snake River 1999-2004
- Snake River 2007-2012
- Stroh Brewery 1997-2002
- Uinta Brewing 2009-2014
5 Years:
- 21st Amendment Brewery 2009-2013
- Butterfield Brewing 1992-1996
- Chuckanut 2014-2018
- Cigar City Brewery 2009-2013
- Clipper City Brewing 2006-2010
- The Commons Brewery 2012-2016
- Deschutes 2001-2005
- Fat Head’s 2014-2018
- Glenwood Canyon 2009-2013
- Great Adirondack Brewing 2008-2012
- Marin Brewing 1989-1993
- Millstream Brewing 2003-2007
- New Glarus 2009-2013
- North Coast 1999-2003
- Pelican Brewery 2012-2016
- Piece Brewery 2005-2009
- Redrock Brewing 2010-2014
- Redwood Coast Brewing/Tied House 1990-1994
- Rogue 1990-1994
- Saxer Brewing 1994-1998
- Seabright Brewery 1991-1995
- Third Street AleWorks 2000-2004
- Widmer Brothers 2006-2010
4 Years:
- AleSmith Brewing 2011-2014
- Alvarado Street 2015-2018 *
- Angelic Brewing 2001-2004
- Austin Beer Garden 2015-2018
- Avery Brewing 2012-2015
- Big Time 1990-1993
- Blind Tiger 2009-2012
- Boise Brewing 2015-2018
- Boscos Brewing 2000-2003
- Boulevard Brewing 2011-2013
- Boundary Bay Brewery 2001-2004
- Chuckanut 2009-2012
- Coors 2014-2017
- Denver Beer Co. 2015-2018
- Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery 2014-2017
- Firehouse Grill & Brewery 2008-2011
- Flossmoor Station 2005-2008
- Frankenmuth Brewing 1989-1992
- Gella’s Diner and Lb. Brewing 2007-2010
- Great Lakes 1990-1993
- Grimm Brothers 2015—2018
- Heavenly Daze Brewery & Grill 1993-1996
- Left Hand Brewing 2013-2016
- Mad River Brewing 2010-2013
- Midnight Sun Brewing 2005-2008
- Miller Brewing 1992-1995
- Miller Brewing 1997-2000
- Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery 2011-2014
- Minnesota Brewing 1992-1995
- New Belgium 1995-1998
- Nodding Heading 2002-2005
- Odell 2005-2008
- Oggi’s Pizza & Brewing 2003-2006
- Pelican Brewery 1999-2002
- Plank Road Brewery 2000-2004
- Portland Brewing/MacTarnahan’s 2000-2003
- Redrock Brewing 2005-2008
- Russian River Brewing 2012-2015
- SKA Brewing 2013-2016
- Snake River 1994-1997
- Squatters Pub Brewery 2001-2004
- Steamworks Brewing 2013-2016
- St. Ides Brewing 1999-2002
- SweetWater Brewing 2000-2003
- TAPS Fish House and Brewery – Brea 2010-2013
- TAPS Fish House and Brewery – Corona 2015-2018
- Telegraph Brewing 2011-2014
- Third Street AleWorks 2007-2010
- Thirsty Dog Brewing 2000-2003
- Three Floyds Brewing 2010-2013
- Twenty Tank Brewery 1995-1998
- Wicked Weed Brewing 2013-2016 *
- Widmer Brothers 2001-2004
3 Years:
- Alaskan 2010-2012
- Alesong 2016-2018
- Allagash 2005-2007
- Allagash 2009-2011
- Allagash 2014-2016
- Anchor 1997-1999
- Anderson Valley 1994-1996
- Atwater Block Brewing 1997-1999
- Auburn Alehouse 2012-2014
- Avery Brewing 2007-2009
- Baltimore Brewing/DeGroen’s 1994-1996
- Baltimore Brewing/DeGroen’s 1998-2000
- Bitter End Bistro & Brewery 1998-2000
- Blitz-Weinhard 1999-2001
- Bluegrass Brewing 1996-1998
- Blue Moon Brewing 2006-2008
- Blue Point Brewing 2005-2007
- Boscos Brewing 2005-2007
- Bristol Brewing 2000-2002
- Bristol Brewing 2005-2007
- Bruery 2010-2012
- Bruery 2016-2018
- Cambridge Brewing 2006-2008
- Captain Lawrence Brewing 2007-2009
- Chama River Brewing 2008-2010
- Chicago Brewing (Las Vegas) 2011-2013
- Church Brew Works 1999-2001
- Commonwealth Brewing 1998-2000
- CooperSmith’s Pub 1991-1993
- Copper Tank Brewing 1996-1998
- Durango Brewing 2007-2009
- Eel River Brewing 2004-2006
- Elk Grove Brewery 1997-1999
- Epic Brewing 2010-2012
- Foothills Brewing 2009-2011
- Founders Brewing 2014-2016
- Four Peaks Brewing 2009-2011
- Genesee/High Falls 1993-1995
- Glenwood Canyon Brewing 2001-2003
- Glenwood Canyon Brewing 2005-2007
- Golden Pacific Brewing 1995-1997
- Grand Teton Brewing 2007-2009
- Great Basin 2013-2015
- Great Divide 2008-2010
- Grimm Brothers 2011-2013
- Hollister Brewing 2008-2010
- Hoptown Brewing 2002-2004
- Hub City Brewery 2001-2003
- Humboldt Brewery 1990-2000
- Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales 2008-2010
- Kona Brewing 2015-2017
- Lakefront Brewery 2006-2008
- Left Hand Brewing 2008-2010
- Lone Star 1993-1995
- Long Trail Brewing 1990-1992
- Main Street Brewery – Corona 2004-2006
- Mammoth Brewing 2000-2002
- Maui Brewing 2007-2009
- Melvin Brewing 2015-2017 *
- Mendocino 1990-1992
- Michigan Brewing 2002-2004
- Mickey Finn’s Brewery 1996-1998
- Miller Brewing 1988-1990
- Millstream Brewing 1989-1991
- Morgan Territory 2014-2016
- New Holland Brewing 2000-2002
- North Coast 1992-1994
- Oasis Brewery 1992-1994
- Old Dominion 2004-2006
- Perennial Artisan Ales 2015-2017
- P.H. Woods 2000-2002
- Pig’s Eye Brewing 2005-2007
- Powerhouse Brewing 1999-2001
- Rhino Chasers 1993-1995
- Rockies Brewing 1992-1994
- Rogue 1996-1998
- Russian River Brewing 1997-1999
- Saint Arnold 1999-2001
- Saint Arnold 2013-2015
- Schaefer Brewing 2000-2002
- Schlitz Brewing 1997-1999
- SKA Brewing 2009-2011
- SLO Brewing 2000-2002
- Sly Fox Brewing 2013-2015
- Snake River 2016-2018
- Societe 2014-2016
- Spoetzl Brewery 2004-2006
- Starr Hill Brewing 1999-2001
- Starr Hill Brewing 2003-2005
- Steamworks Brewing 2005-2007
- Stoddard’s Brewhouse & Eatery 1994-1996
- Stone Brewing 2005-2007
- Summit Brewing 2012-2014
- Summit Brewing 2016-2018
- Sunriver 2016-2018
- Sun Valley Brewing 1989-1991
- SweetWater Brewing 2011-2013
- Tabernash Brewing 1997-1999
- Telluride Brewing 2014-2016
- Thomas Kemper 1995-1997
- Titletown Brewing 2008-2010
- Triumph Brewing Co. of New Hope 2004-2006
- Triple Rock 2009-2011
- Uberbrew 2016-2018
- Uinta Brewing 1999-2001
- Wild River Brewing 1995-1997
- Willoughby Brewing 1999-2001
- Yards Brewing 2012-2014

Top 50 Breweries For 2017

March 14, 2018 By Jay Brooks

The Brewers Association just announced the top 50 breweries and craft breweries in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2017, which is listed below here. I should also mention that this represents “craft breweries” according to the BA’s membership definition, and not necessarily how most of us would define them, as there’s no universally agreed upon way to differentiate the two. For the tenth year, they’ve also released a list of the top 50 breweries, which includes all breweries. In the past I’ve posted the two lists separately, but have decided going forward to present them together since the two are getting increasingly intermingled. Here is this year’s craft brewery list:

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies

Rank	Brewery Name	City	State
1	D. G. Yuengling & Son, Inc	Pottsville	PA
2	Boston Beer Co	Boston	MA
3	Sierra Nevada Brewing	Chico	CA
4	New Belgium Brewing	Fort Collins	CO
5	Duvel Moortgat	Paso Robles/Kansas City/Cooperstown	CA/MO/NY
6	Gambrinus	San Antonio/Berkeley/Portland	TX/CA/OR
7	Bell’s Brewery, Inc	Comstock	MI
8	Stone Brewing	Escondido	CA
9	CANarchy	Longmont/Tampa/Salt Lake City/ Comstock Park	CO/FL/UT/MI
10	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
11	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
12	Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	Milton	DE
13	Minhas Craft Brewery	Monroe	WI
14	Artisanal Brewing Ventures	Downingtown/Lakewood	PA/NY
15	SweetWater Brewing	Atlanta	GA
16	New Glarus Brewing	New Glarus	WI
17	Matt Brewing	Utica	NY
18	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
19	Alaskan Brewing	Juneau	AK
20	Great Lakes Brewing	Cleveland	OH
21	Abita Brewing	Abita Springs	LA
22	Odell Brewing	Fort Collins	CO
23	Stevens Point Brewery	Stevens Point	WI
24	August Schell Brewing	New Ulm	MN
25	Summit Brewing	Saint Paul	MN
26	21st Amendment Brewery	Bay Area	CA
27	Shipyard Brewing	Portland	ME
28	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
29	Full Sail Brewing	Hood River	OR
30	Troëgs Brewing	Hershey	PA
31	Long Trail Brewing	Bridgewater Corners	VT
32	Rogue Ales	Newport	OR
33	Rhinegeist Brewery	Cincinnati	OH
34	Narragansett Brewing	Providence	RI
35	Gordon Biersch Brewing	San Jose	CA
36	Allagash Brewing	Portland	ME
37	Uinta Brewing	Salt Lake City	UT
38	Ninkasi Brewing	Eugene	OR
39	Surly Brewing	Minneapolis	MN
40	Revolution Brewing	Chicago	IL
41	Karl Strauss Brewing	San Diego	CA
42	Bear Republic Brewing	Cloverdale	CA
43	Green Flash Brewing	San Diego	CA
44	Left Hand Brewing	Longmont	CO
45	Three Floyds Brewing	Munster	IN
46	Saint Arnold Brewing	Houston	TX
47	Lost Coast Brewery	Eureka	CA
48	North Coast Brewing	Fort Bragg	CA
49	Wachusett Brewing	Westminster	MA
50	Avery Brewing	Boulder	CO

six-glasses

This list, by contrast, is the Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2017. This includes all breweries, regardless of size or any other definitions or parameters.

Breweries in bold are considered to be “small and independent craft brewers” under the BA’s current definition. That there are so many footnotes (23 in total, or almost half of the list) explaining exceptions or reasons for the specific entry, seems illustrative of a growing problem with the definition of what is a craft brewery. I certainly understand the need for a trade group to have a clearly defined set of criteria for membership, but I think the current one is getting increasingly outdated again, and it’s only been a few years since the contentious debate that resulted in the current BA one. But it may be time to revisit that again. This is the same number of footnotes as last year, so this is a problem that is not resolving itself.

Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies

Rank	Brewery Name	City	State
Bold = small and independent craft brewery
1	Anheuser-Busch, Inc (a)	Saint Louis	MO
2	MillerCoors (b)	Chicago	IL
3	Constellation (c)	Chicago	IL
4	Heineken (d)	White Plains	NY
5	Pabst Brewing (e)	Los Angeles	CA
6	D. G. Yuengling & Son	Pottsville	PA
7	North Amer. Breweries (f)	Rochester	NY
8	Diageo (g)	Norwalk	CT
9	Boston Beer Co (h)	Boston	MA
10	Sierra Nevada Brewing	Chico	CA
11	New Belgium Brewing (i)	Fort Collins	CO
12	Craft Brew Alliance (j)	Portland	OR
13	Duvel Moortgat (k)	Paso Robles/Kansas City/Cooperstown	CA/MO/NY
14	Gambrinus (l)	San Antonio/Berkeley/Portland	TX/CA/OR
15	Founders Brewing (m)	Grand Rapids	MI
16	Bell’s Brewery, Inc (n)	Comstock	MI
17	Sapporo USA (o)	La Crosse	WI
18	Stone Brewing	Escondido	CA
19	CANarchy (p)	Longmont/Tampa/Salt Lake City/Comstock Park	CO/FL/UT/MI
20	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
21	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
22	Dogfish Head	Milton	DE
23	Minhas Craft Brewery (q)	Monroe	WI
24	Artisanal Brewing Ventures (r)	Downingtown/Lakewood	PA/NY
25	SweetWater Brewing	Atlanta	GA
26	New Glarus Brewing	New Glarus	WI
27	Matt Brewing (s)	Utica	NY
28	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
29	Alaskan Brewing	Juneau	AK
30	Great Lakes Brewing	Cleveland	OH
31	Abita Brewing	Abita Springs	LA
32	Odell Brewing	Fort Collins	CO
33	Stevens Point (t)	Stevens Point	WI
34	August Schell (u)	New Ulm	MN
35	Summit Brewing	Saint Paul	MN
36	21st Amendment	Bay Area	CA
37	Shipyard Brewing (v)	Portland	ME
38	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
39	Full Sail Brewing	Hood River	OR
40	Troëgs Brewing	Hershey	PA
41	Long Trail Brewing (w)	Bridgewater Corners	VT
42	Rogue Ales	Newport	OR
43	Rhinegeist Brewery	Cincinnati	OH
44	Narragansett Brewing	Providence	RI
45	Gordon Biersch Brewing	San Jose	CA
46	Allagash Brewing Co	Portland	ME
47	Uinta Brewing	Salt Lake City	UT
48	Ninkasi Brewing	Eugene	OR
49	Surly Brewing	Minneapolis	MN
50	Revolution Brewing	Chicago	IL

six-glasses

2017 Top 50 Overall U.S.
Brewing Companies Notes

Footnotes from brand lists are illustrative, and may not be exhaustive – ownership stakes
reflect greater than 25% ownership:

(a) Anheuser-Busch, Inc includes 10 Barrel, Bass, Beck’s, Blue Point, Bud Light,
Budweiser, Breckenridge, Busch, Devils Backbone, Elysian, Four Peaks, Golden
Road, Goose Island, Karbach, King Cobra, Landshark, Michelob, Natural Rolling
Rock, Shock Top, Wicked Weed, Wild Series brands and Ziegenbock brands.
Does not include partially owned Coastal, Craft Brew Alliance, Fordham, Kona,
Old Dominion, Omission, Red Hook, and Widmer Brothers brands;
(b) MillerCoors includes A.C. Golden, Batch 19, Blue Moon, Colorado Native,
Coors, Hamms, Hop Valley, Icehouse, Keystone, Killian’s, Leinenkugel’s,
Mickey’s, Milwaukee’s Best, Miller, Olde English, Revolver, Saint Archer, Steel
Reserve, Tenth & Blake, and Terrapin brands;
(c) Constellation Brewing Co includes domestic brands Ballast Point, Funky Buddha,
and Tocayo Brands; it also includes imported brands Corona, Modelo, Pacifico,
and Victoria;
(d) Heineken Brewing Co includes domestic brand Lagunitas Brewing Co as well as
imported brands Dos Equis and Tecate;
(e) Pabst Brewing Co includes Ballantine, Lone Star, Pabst, Pearl, Primo, Rainier,
Schlitz and Small Town brands;
(f) North American Breweries includes Dundee, Genesee, Labatt Lime,
Mactarnahan’s, Magic Hat, Portland and Pyramid brands as well as import
volume;
(g) Diageo Brewing Co includes both domestically produced and imported Guinness
brands;
(h) Boston Beer Co includes Alchemy & Science and Sam Adams brands. Does not
include Twisted Tea or Angry Orchard brands;
(i) New Belgium Brewing Co includes Magnolia Brewing Brands (partial year);
(j) Craft Brew Alliance includes Kona, Omission, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers
brands;
(k) Duvel Moortgat includes Boulevard, Firestone Walker, and Ommegang brands;
(l) Gambrinus includes BridgePort, Shiner and Trumer brands;
(m)Founders ownership stake by Mahou San Miguel;
(n) Bell’s Brewery, Inc includes Bell’s and Upper Hand brands;
(o) Sapporo USA includes Anchor Brewing Co (partial year), Sapporo and Sleeman
brands as well as export volume;
(p) CANarchy includes Cigar City, Oskar Blues Brewing Co, Perrin and Utah
Brewers Cooperative brands;
(q) Minhas Craft Brewery includes Huber, Mountain Crest and Rhinelander brands as
well as export volume;
(r) Artisanal Brewing Ventures includes Victory and Southern Tier brands;
(s) Matt Brewing Co includes Flying Bison, Saranac and Utica Club brands;
(t) Stevens Point Brewery includes James Page and Point brands;
(u) August Schell Brewing Co includes Grain Belt and Schell’s brands;
(v) Shipyard Brewing Co includes Casco Bay, Sea Dog and Shipyard brands;
(w)Long Trail Brewing Co includes Long Trail, Otter Creek and The Shed brands;

BEER-generic

Here is this year’s press release. For a few years, the BA had helpfully annotated the list, saving me lots of time, since I’d been annotating the list for nearly a decade, but they abandoned that practice three years ago. And I’ve also given up on annotating, too. It used to be fun to see who was doing well and rising and who was slipping, but it’s as much about business dealings as hard work and brewing, so I give up.

And similar to the last couple of years, the BA created a map showing the relative location of each of the breweries that made the list.

California Brewery Count Hits 900

December 12, 2017 By Jay Brooks

ccba-new
Today the California Craft Brewers Association announced another milestone in California breweries has been reached. There are now 900 breweries in the Golden State, which means that over 9 out of 10 California resident now lives within 10 miles of a brewery.

Here’s the press release:

“The craft beer industry has tripled over the last five years, up from 300 breweries in 2012 to just over 900 breweries in operation today, according to data released by the nonprofit trade association representing the industry, the California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA). California is home to more craft breweries than any state in the nation, with nearly 92 percent of the state’s 39.5 million residents living within 10 miles of a brewery.

’11 percent of the craft brewing industry’s total $67.8 billion economic impact comes from California,’ said Bart Watson, Chief Economist at the Brewers Association. ‘These data highlight the powerful economic impact craft brewers have in California and across the nation.’

According to the CCBA report, the total economic impact of craft breweries in California exceeds $7.3 billion. This figure is derived from the total impact of beer brewed by craft brewers as it moves from breweries to distributors to retailers as well as non-beer merchandise sold at breweries and tasting rooms.

By the Numbers:

Craft breweries in California supported nearly 50,000 full-time jobs with an average wage of $55,000 a year.
California’s craft breweries paid $1.49 billion in taxes in 2016, including $868 million in state and local taxes and $617 million in federal taxes.
California’s craft breweries produced 3,295,221 barrels of beer in 2016. Breweries exported 1.17 million barrels, which is greater than the total craft production in all but five states in the nation.
The number of licensed breweries grew by more than 100 in the last year – more than any state in the country and an increase that was greater than the total licensed number of breweries in 34 states.

‘The positive impact of craft breweries on the state of California goes far beyond just the benefits of tax revenue, manufacturing jobs and tourism,’ said CCBA executive director, Tom McCormick. ‘Craft breweries also have a tangible influence on the growth and development of their region, investing in their community, employing their neighbors and supporting local nonprofits. Craft breweries are the living room, the town hall and the gathering place for their community.’”

GABF Awards 2017

October 14, 2017 By Jay Brooks

I’m a little late on this post, but since I got home from GABF last week, we’ve had a bit of turmoil here in Sonoma County, with over 5,700 homes and buildings destroyed by wildfires and a current death toll of at least 36. It’s now officially the worst disaster in California history. So please forgive my tardiness. So let’s return to the day before the fires began, when things were still calm and worry-free. On Saturday, October 7, the winners of the 36th Great American Beer Festival were announced. A record 7,923 beers were judged in 98 categories by 276 judges, of which I was again privileged to be one. First, here are some statistics about the festival:

36th anniversary of the festival; 31st edition of the GABF competition
800 breweries in the festival hall
3,900+ beers served at the festival
60,000 attendees
4,308 volunteers (festival and competition combined)
2,217 breweries in the competition from 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
266 medal-winning breweries
293 total medals awarded
7,923 beers judged (not including 88 Pro-Am competition entries), a nearly 9 percent increase over 2015
98 style categories judged, plus the Pro-Am competition
276 judges from 13 different countries
Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 81 (excludes Pro-Am beers)
Category with highest number of entries: American-Style India Pale Ale: 408

Since 2002, the most-entered category has been American-Style India Pale Ale (IPA), which saw 312 entries in 2016 compared to 336 entries in 2015.The top five entered categories were:

American-Style India Pale Ale (408 entries)
Imperial India Pale Ale (221 entries)
American-Style Strong Pale Ale (199 entries)
American-Style Strong Pale Ale (182 entries)
Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer (175 entries)

gabf-medals

Only two breweries won 3 medals (Austin Beer Garden and Saint Arnold), but four won 2 (Melvin, On Tour, Rockford, Sunriver). By ratio, Missouri did best (92 entries and 8 medals) for 8.7%. In second was Pennsylvania (259 entries and 16 medals) with 6.2% and third was Indiana (163 entries and 10 medals) with 6.1%. 584 breweries entered the competition for the first time, and of those, 36 won a medal.

Medals Won by State:

California = 57
Colorado = 37
Texas = 21
Oregon = 17
Pennsylvania = 16
North Carolina = 14
TIE: Illinois / Indiana /Washington = 10
TIE: Michigan / Ohio = 9
TIE: Florida / Missouri = 8
TIE: Georgia / Minnesota / New Mexico = 6

In addition, one state won 5, five states won 4, two won 3, six won 2, and eight states plus DC won a single medal. Ten states did not win a medal.

gabf-banner

The 2017 Great American Beer Festival Winners

Category 1: American-Style Wheat Beer – 39 Entries
Gold: Sweet As Pacific Ale, GoodLife Brewing Co., Bend, OR
Silver: Lemon Rye, 105 West Brewing Co., Castle Rock, CO
Bronze: Fieldhouse Wheat, Triton Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN

Category 2: American-Style Wheat Beer With Yeast – 52 Entries
Gold: Fuzztail, Sunriver Brewing, Sunriver, OR
Silver: Miner’s Gold Hefeweizen, Lewis & Clark Brewing Co., Helena, MT
Bronze: Wrangler Wheat, Figueroa Mountain Brewing – Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA

Category 3: American-Style Fruit Beer – 145 Entries
Gold: Razz Against the Machine, Little Machine, Denver, CO
Silver: The Mesa, Cismontane Brewing Co., Santa Ana, CA
Bronze: Elvis Juice, BrewDog Brewing Co., Canal Winchester, OH

Category 4: Fruit Wheat Beer – 90 Entries
Gold: Sierra Blanca Cherry Wheat, Sierra Blanca Brewing Co., Moriarty, NM
Silver: Purple Line, Smylie Brothers Brewing Co., Evanston, IL
Bronze: Paradise Now, Trim Tab Brewing, Birmingham, AL

Category 5: Belgian-Style Fruit Beer – 58 Entries
Gold: Blood Orange Wit, Refuge Brewery, Temecula, CA
Silver: ZuurPruim, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, Hood River, OR
Bronze: Cherry Busey, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN

Category 6: Pumpkin/Squash Beer or Pumpkin Spice Beer – 66 Entries
Gold: Saint Arnold Pumpkinator, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX
Silver: Pumpkin Ale, Schlafly Beer/The Saint Louis Brewery, Saint Louis, MO
Bronze: 5 Phantoms Pumpkin Spice Barleywine, Philipsburg Brewing Co., Philipsburg, MT

Category 7: Field Beer – 87 Entries
Gold: C Porter, LauderAle, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Silver: No Crusts, Funky Buddha Brewery, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Bronze: Spa Water Saison, Ohana Brewing Co., Los Angeles, CA

Category 8: Chili Beer – 98 Entries
Gold: Ghost Pepper Imperial Stout, ZwanzigZ Brewing, Columbus, IN
Silver: Bad Hombre, Eight & Sand Beer Co., Woodbury, NJ
Bronze: Dia de los Mangos, Beachwood Blendery, Long Beach, CA

Category 9: Herb and Spice Beer – 145 Entries
Gold: Lemon Balm and Beets Wheat, New Sarum Brewing, Salisbury, NC
Silver: 80 Acre Carrot Ale, Humble Farmer Brewing Co., Holtville, CA
Bronze: India Spring Honey Cream Ale, Broken Plow Brewery, Greeley, CO

Category 10: Chocolate Beer – 62 Entries
Gold: Imperial Smoked Porter With Cacao Nibs, Joseph James Brewing Co., Henderson, NV
Silver: Aphrodisiac Chocolate Pomegranate Imperial Stout, Cranker’s Brewery, Big Rapids, MI
Bronze: Tears of My Enemies, Monday Night Brewing, Atlanta, GA

Category 11: Coffee Beer – 89 Entries
Gold: Heritage Coffee Brown Ale, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, AK
Silver: It’s 8 O’clock Somewhere, Torched Hop Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA
Bronze: Stony Joe, Stony Creek Brewery, Branford, CT

Category 12: Coffee Stout or Porter – 114 Entries
Gold: Speargun Coffee Milk Stout, Snake River Brewing Co., Jackson, WY
Silver: Udder Chaos, RAM/Big Horn Brewery – Seattle, Seattle, WA
Bronze: Kawi, Currahee Brewing Co., Franklin, NC

Category 13: Specialty Beer – 42 Entries
Gold: Barrel Aged Sweet Potato SouthNorte Rye, Odd Side Ales, Grand Haven, MI
Silver: Rye Hipster Brunch Stout, Odd Side Ales, Grand Haven, MI
Bronze: Agavamente, SouthNorte Beer Co., San Diego, CA

Category 14: Rye Beer – 49 Entries
Gold: Unite the Clans, Third Space Brewing, Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Nighthawk Rye Pale Ale, Packinghouse Brewing Co., Riverside, CA
Bronze: Breakside Rye Curious?, Breakside Brewery, Portland, OR

Category 15: Honey Beer – 69 Entries
Gold: Orange Blossom Common, Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: Jetty Ale, Great South Bay Brewery, Bay Shore, NY
Bronze: Honey Please, Armadillo Ale Works, Denton, TX

Category 16: Session Beer – 40 Entries
Gold: Guillaume, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
Silver: Peacekeeper, Launch Pad Brewery, Aurora, CO
Bronze: Stonefly Session Ale, Three Creeks Brewing Co., Sisters, OR

Category 17: Session India Pale Ale – 130 Entries
Gold: Rome City IPA, Brew Hub, Lakeland, FL
Silver: Patio Pounder, Twisted Pine Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Bronze: Featherweight Session IPA, Boxing Bear Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM

Category 18: Other Strong Beer – 40 Entries
Gold: Imperial Cream Ale, Nexus Brewery, Albuquerque, NM
Silver: Laissez-Faire, Monday Night Brewing, Atlanta, GA
Bronze: Antwerp’s Placebo, Batch Brewing Co., Detroit, MI

Category 19: Experimental Beer – 94 Entries
Gold: Source Series Opuntia, Carolina Bauernhaus Ales, Anderson, SC
Silver: Roswell: Grudge, Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales, Denver, CO
Bronze: Hot Pink, Four Day Ray Brewing, Fishers, IN

Category 20: Fresh or Wet Hop Ale – 44 Entries
Gold: Wet Hop Melvin, Melvin Brewing, Alpine, WY
Silver: Field to Ferment, Fremont Brewing Co., Seattle, WA
Bronze: Fresh As It Gets, Mother Earth Brew Co. – Nampa, Nampa, ID

Category 21: Historical Beer – 40 Entries
Gold: Waverly Tulip, Square Peg Brewerks, Alamosa, CO
Silver: Hilltopper’s Pride Kentucky Common Ale, Ironworks Brewery & Pub, Lakewood, CO
Bronze: Spring Gruit, The BottleHouse Brewery And Meadery, Cleveland, OH

Category 22: Gluten-Free Beer – 33 Entries
Gold: Dark Ale, Ground Breaker Brewing, Portland, OR
Silver: Meteor Shower Blonde Ale, Ghostfish Brewing Co., Seattle, WA
Bronze: Co-Conspirator Apricot Sour, Revelation Craft Brewing Co., Rehoboth Beach, DE

Category 23: American-Belgo-Style Ale – 53 Entries
Gold: Saison Du Bois, Lynnwood Brewing Concern – Production Facility, Raleigh, NC
Silver: Klipspringer, Metazoa Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: 5 & 20 IPA, Nedloh Brewing Co., Bloomfield, NY

Category 24: American-Style Sour Ale – 35 Entries
Gold: DAM Wild: Hops and Lemon Verbena, Flat Tail Brewing Co., Corvallis, OR
Silver: Disenchantment Blend #1, Bond Brothers Beer Co., Cary, NC
Bronze: Yeast of Eden – Skeptics & Believers, Alvarado Street Brewery, Salinas, CA

Category 25: Fruited American-Style Sour Ale – 105 Entries
Gold: No medal awarded
Silver: Sour Wench Blackberry Ale, Ballast Point Brewing Co. – Home Brew Mart, San Diego, CA
Bronze: Breakside Passionfruit Sour Ale, Breakside Brewery & Taproom, Milwaukie, OR

Category 26: Brett Beer – 71 Entries
Gold: Fancy Pants, Jessup Farm Barrel House, Fort Collins, CO
Silver: Saison Trystero, Our Mutual Friend Brewing, Denver, CO
Bronze: Touch of Brett Mosaic, Alesong Brewing & Blending, Eugene, OR

Category 27: Mixed-Culture Brett Beer – 65 Entries
Gold: Galaxy Dry Hopped Funk Yo Couch, Wiley Roots Brewing Co., Greeley, CO
Silver: 10 Buck Chuck, Firestone Walker Barrelworks, Buellton, CA
Bronze: CBC & Jester King’s Cor Cordium, Cambridge Brewing Co., Cambridge, MA

Category 28: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer – 70 Entries
Gold: Porter Aged on Palo Santo Wood, Spellbound Brewing, Mount Holly, NJ
Silver: Magpie Muckle, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Woody Pils, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver, CO

Category 29: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer – 175 Entries
Gold: Hurly Burly Port Barrel Aged Barleywine, Out of Bounds Brewing Co., Rocklin, CA
Silver: Woods Monk, Odyssey Beerwerks, Arvada, CO
Bronze: Barrel Aged Barleywine, Charleville Vineyard & Microbrewery, Sainte Genevieve, MO

Category 30: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout – 154 Entries
Gold: Medianoche, WeldWerks Brewing Co., Greeley, CO
Silver: Maman 2017, Perennial Artisan Ales, Saint Louis, MO
Bronze: Barrel-Aged Marfa Light, Big Bend Brewing Co., Alpine, TX

Category 31: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – 86 Entries
Gold: Plum Creek Sour, Rockyard American Grill & Brewing Co., Castle Rock, CO
Silver: Train to Beersel, Bruery Terreux, Anaheim, CA
Bronze: 5th Anniversary Tequila Sour, Loveland Aleworks, Loveland, CO

Category 32: Fruited Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – 122 Entries
Gold: Zoned AG Apricot, Corralitos Brewing Co., Watsonville, CA
Silver: BA Excommunication, Max Lager’s Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery, Atlanta, GA
Bronze: Riserva, Weyerbacher Brewing Co., Easton, PA

Category 33: Aged Beer – 26 Entries
Gold: La Muerta, Freetail Brewing Co., San Antonio, TX
Silver: Solzhenitsyn, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant – Media, Media, PA
Bronze: There is No Quad, The BottleHouse Brewery And Meadery, Cleveland, OH

Category 34: Kellerbier or Zwickelbier – 54 Entries
Gold: Zwickelbier, Red Rock Brewing Co. – Production, Salt Lake City, UT
Silver: Luchesa Lager, Oasis Texas Brewing Co., Austin, TX
Bronze: Pilsner, Marble Brewery – Production, Albuquerque, NM

Category 35: Smoke Beer – 62 Entries
Gold: So long and thanks for all the (smoked) fish!, The Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field, Denver, CO
Silver: Smoke on the Lager, Chilly Water Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Croydon is Burning, Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co., Croydon, PA

Category 36: American-Style Pilsener or International-Style Pilsener – 98 Entries
Gold: Rocket 100, The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co., Austin, TX
Silver: Sesión Cerveza, Full Sail Brewing Co., Hood River, OR
Bronze: Lemon Pils, Elk Horn Brewery, Eugene, OR

Category 37: Light Lager – 45 Entries
Gold: Super Awesome Lager, Austin Beerworks, Austin, TX
Silver: Pedal Haus Light Lager, Pedal Haus Brewery, Tempe, AZ
Bronze: Sun Grown, Sycamore Brewing, Charlotte, NC

Category 38: American-Style Lager or Malt Liquor – 75 Entries
Gold: Mexican Lager, Lone Tree Brewing Co., Lone Tree, CO
Silver: Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR), Pabst Brewing Co., Los Angeles, CA
Bronze: Sun Grown Fresh Craft Lager, The Sycamore Brewing Cannery, Charlotte, NC

Category 39: American-Style Cream Ale – 92 Entries
Gold: Buckle Bunny, Eureka Heights Brewing Co., Houston, TX
Silver: Canü, Uberbrew, Billings, MT
Bronze: Artifexican, Artifex Brewing Co., San Clemente, CA

Category 40: American-Style Amber Lager – 70 Entries
Gold: Auburn Lager, Mad Anthony Brewing Co., Fort Wayne, IN
Silver: Shiner Bock, Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner, TX
Bronze: Rod’s Steam Bitter, Second Street Brewery, Santa Fe, NM

Category 41: German-Style Pilsener – 145 Entries
Gold: Zoigl-Pils, Zoiglhaus Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Silver: Pilsner, Dry Dock Brewing Co. – South Dock, Aurora, CO
Bronze: Pivo, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

Category 42: Bohemian-Style Pilsener – 93 Entries
Gold: Velvet Revolution, The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co., Austin, TX
Silver: Bohemian Pilsener, TAPS Fish House and Brewery – Corona, Corona, CA
Bronze: Torch Pilsner, Foothills Brewing Co., Winston-Salem, NC

Category 43: Munich-Style Helles – 105 Entries
Gold: Penn Gold, Pennsylvania Brewing Co., Pittsburgh, PA
Silver: Solar, Sanctum Brewing Co., Pomona, CA
Bronze: Munich Light, Emmett’s Brewing Co. – Wheaton, Wheaton, IL

Category 44: Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest – 56 Entries
Gold: Dortmunder, Lupulin Brewing, Big Lake, MN
Silver: Longboard Island Lager, Kona Brewing Co., Kailua-Kona, HI
Bronze: Northtown Native, Cinder Block Brewery, North Kansas City, MO

Category 45: Vienna-Style Lager – 87 Entries
Gold: Gustav, Taft’s Ale House, Cincinnati, OH
Silver: Vienna Lager, Lost Forty Brewing, Little Rock, AR
Bronze: Dock Time, Stony Creek Brewery, Branford, CT

Category 46: German-Style Maerzen – 122 Entries
Gold: Asheville Lager, Wedge Brewing Co., Asheville, NC
Silver: Oktoberfest, Rahr & Sons Brewing Co., Fort Worth, TX
Bronze: Oktoberfest, Beaver Island Brewing Co., Saint Cloud, MN

Category 47: Munich-Style Dunkel or European-Style Dark Lager – 47 Entries
Gold: Chuckanut Dunkel, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Moondoor Dunkel, Wibby Brewing, Longmont, CO
Bronze: Dunkel, Pug Ryan’s Brewing Co., Dillon, CO

Category 48: Dark Lager – 74 Entries
Gold: Mischievous Black, Six Ten Brewing, Tampa, FL
Silver: DTB Schwarzbier, Desperate Times Brewing Co., Carlisle, PA
Bronze: Lighter Than I Look, Figueroa Mountain Brewing, Buellton, CA

Category 49: Bock – 36 Entries
Gold: Low Boy, On Tour Brewing Co., Chicago, IL
Silver: Rock Out with Maibock Out, Hailstorm Brewing Co., Tinley Park, IL
Bronze: Mountain Series: Maibock, Breckenridge Brewery, Littleton, CO

Category 50: German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock – 51 Entries
Gold: Wobblor, Crooked Lane Brewing Co., Auburn, CA
Silver: Spectator, On Tour Brewing Co., Chicago, IL
Bronze: Goldie’s Big Bock, Lonerider Brewing Co., Raleigh, NC

Category 51: Baltic-Style Porter – 48 Entries
Gold: Public Enemy Baltic Porter, Dust Bowl Brewing Co., Turlock, CA
Silver: Herd Of Turtles, Bagby Beer Co., Oceanside, CA
Bronze: Powers of Observation, Ocelot Brewing Co., Dulles, VA

Category 52: Golden or Blonde Ale – 126 Entries
Gold: Boone Creek Blonde, Appalachian Mountain Brewery – Portsmouth, Portsmouth, NH
Silver: Firemans 4, Real Ale Brewing Co., Blanco, TX
Bronze: Blonde, Culture Brewing Co., Solana Beach, CA

Category 53: German-Style Koelsch – 154 Entries
Gold: Chuckanut Kolsch Style, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Seafarer, Three Weavers Brewing Co., Inglewood, CA
Bronze: Downhill Kölsch, Elk Mountain Brewing Co., Parker, CO

Category 54: English-Style Summer Ale – 41 Entries
Gold: Organic California Blonde Ale, Eel River Brewing Co., Fortuna, CA
Silver: Back In The ESSA, Monkey Paw Brewing, San Diego, CA
Bronze: Bright Ale, Half Full Brewery, Stamford, CT

Category 55: Classic English-Style Pale Ale – 30 Entries
Gold: Mr. Kite’s Pale Ale, Social Kitchen & Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Silver: Extra Pale Ale, Summit Brewing Co., Saint Paul, MN
Bronze: Annadel Pale Ale, Third Street Aleworks, Santa Rosa, CA

Category 56: English-Style India Pale Ale – 41 Entries
Gold: Punjabi, CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing, Fort Collins, CO
Silver: Hoppy Poppy IPA, Figueroa Mountain Brewing, Buellton, CA
Bronze: Jacaranda Rye IPA, Claremont Craft Ales, Claremont, CA

Category 57: Australian-Style or International-Style Pale Ale – 105 Entries
Gold: Triumvirate, Reuben’s Brews Taproom, Seattle, WA
Silver: Pure Intention Pale Ale, HopSaint Brewing Co., Torrance, CA
Bronze: Cannonball Australian-Style Pale Ale, Scottsdale Beer Co., Scottsdale, AZ

Category 58: American-Style Pale Ale – 199 Entries
Gold: Monterey Street, Central Coast Brewing Co., San Luis Obispo, CA
Silver: Mosaic Pale Ale, Lynnwood Brewing Concern – Production Facility, Raleigh, NC
Bronze: Triple Tail, SweetWater Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA

Category 59: American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 182 Entries
Gold: Hubert MPA, Melvin Brewing, Alpine, WY
Silver: Wolfback Ridge, Headlands Brewing Co., Mill Valley, CA
Bronze: Breakside Stay West, Breakside Brewery + Beer Hall, Portland, OR

Category 60: American-Style India Pale Ale – 408 Entries
Gold: Prairie Madness, Hailstorm Brewing Co., Tinley Park, IL
Silver: Gold Digger IPA, Auburn Alehouse, Auburn, CA
Bronze: Breakside IPA, Breakside Brewery & Taproom, Milwaukie, OR

Category 61: Imperial India Pale Ale – 221 Entries
Gold: Manta Ray, Ballast Point Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Silver: Lupulin River, Knee Deep Brewing Co., Auburn, CA
Bronze: Chux, Danville Brewing Co., Danville, CA

Category 62: American-Style Amber/Red Ale – 90 Entries
Gold: F-Town Amber, Copper Club Brewing Co., Fruita, CO
Silver: Legally Red, Second Chance Beer Co., San Diego, CA
Bronze: Blue Bridge, Galveston Island Brewing, Galveston, TX

Category 63: Double Red Ale – 72 Entries
Gold: Hop Donkey, Auburn Alehouse, Auburn, CA
Silver: St. James, Coldfire Brewing, Eugene, OR
Bronze: Midwest Red IPA, Masthead Brewing Co., Cleveland, OH

Category 64: Imperial Red Ale – 41 Entries
Gold: Cinder Beast, Sunriver Brewing, Sunriver, OR
Silver: Hop Zombie, Lone Tree Brewing Co., Lone Tree, CO
Bronze: Jagged Shard, Boise Brewing, Boise, ID

Category 65: English-Style Mild Ale – 44 Entries
Gold: Hold the Reins, Brink Brewing Co., Cincinnati, OH
Silver: Mamoot English Mild, Logboat Brewing Co., Columbia, MO
Bronze: Nemo, Bonn Place Brewing, Bethlehem, PA

Category 66: Ordinary or Special Bitter – 34 Entries
Gold: Three Tun, Brew Hub, Lakeland, FL
Silver: Mooey, Bonn Place Brewing, Bethlehem, PA
Bronze: Saint Arnold Amber Ale, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX

Category 67: Extra Special Bitter – 73 Entries
Gold: 14° ESB, Bent Paddle Brewing Co., Duluth, MN
Silver: Extra Special Ale, Yards Brewing Co., Philadelphia, PA
Bronze: Holler ESB, Holler Brewing Co., Houston, TX

Category 68: Scottish-Style Ale – 53 Entries
Gold: Taildragger’s Clan-Destine, Saddle Mountain Brewing Co., Goodyear, AZ
Silver: McGarvey’s Scottish Ale, Oggi’s Sports Brewhouse Pizza, San Clemente, CA
Bronze: Heavy 80 Scotch Ale, Coal Creek TAP, Laramie, WY

Category 69: Irish-Style Red Ale – 80 Entries
Gold: Ridgetop Red, Silver City Brewery, Bremerton, WA
Silver: Bomber Mountain, Black Tooth Brewing Co., Sheridan, WY
Bronze: Riley’s Irish Red, Packinghouse Brewing Co., Riverside, CA

Category 70: English-Style Brown Ale – 63 Entries
Gold: Boulder Garden Brown, Orlison Brewing Co., Airway Heights, WA
Silver: Shaven Yak Brown, Wichita Brewing Co. – Production, Wichita, KS
Bronze: Rogue River Brown, Rockford Brewing Co., Rockford, MI

Category 71: American-Style Brown Ale – 90 Entries
Gold: Bull Creek Brown Ale, Springfield Brewing Co., Springfield, MO
Silver: FRB Brown, Fort Rock Brewing, Rancho Cordova, CA
Bronze: Machine Gun Teddy, Goldwater Brewing Co., Scottsdale, AZ

Category 72: American-Style Black Ale – 54 Entries
Gold: Hoppa Emeritus, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, Long Beach, CA
Silver: Black 28, Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Midnight Moonlight, Fat Head’s Brewery, Middleburg Heights, OH

Category 73: Berliner-Style Weisse – 72 Entries
Gold: Kalliope, Captain Fatty’s, Goleta, CA
Silver: Ringmaster Raspberry Berliner, Big Top Brewing Co., Sarasota, FL
Bronze: Blackberry Table Sour, Baere Brewing Co., Denver, CO

Category 74: Leipzig-Style Gose or Contemporary Gose – 96 Entries
Gold: Mermaid’s Scorn, Benchtop Brewing Co., Norfolk, VA
Silver: No. 33 Gose, The Freehouse, Minneapolis, MN
Bronze: Passionfruit Gose, Perrin Brewing Co., Comstock Park, MI

Category 75: German-Style Altbier – 53 Entries
Gold: Glacier Ale, Red Lodge Ales Brewing Co., Red Lodge, MT
Silver: It’s Your Fault, Piece Brewery, Chicago, IL
Bronze: Little Red Cap, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, Loveland, CO

Category 76: South German-Style Hefeweizen – 128 Entries
Gold: Hefeweizen, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant – Navy Yard, Broomfield, CO
Silver: Big Horn Hefeweizen, RAM/Big Horn Brewery – Lakewood, Lakewood, WA
Bronze: Hornet’s Nest, The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Charlotte, NC

Category 77: German-Style Wheat Ale – 41 Entries
Gold: AlpenGlow, Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon, North Olmsted, OH
Silver: Hidden Gem, OB Brewery, San Diego, CA
Bronze: Saint Arnold Weedwacker, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX

Category 78: Belgian-Style Blonde Ale or Pale Ale – 64 Entries
Gold: Squatters Hell’s Keep, Utah Brewers Cooperative, Salt Lake City, UT
Silver: Breton Blonde, Metazoa Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Belgian Pale Ale, Redwood Curtain Brewing Co., Arcata, CA

Category 79: Belgian-Style Witbier – 78 Entries
Gold: Wild Wacky Wit, Moon River Brewing Co., Savannah, GA
Silver: Suntrip, New Terrain Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Witte Ale, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY

Category 80: Classic Saison – 103 Entries
Gold: Saison, Funkwerks, Fort Collins, CO
Silver: Matisse, Night Shift Brewing, Everett, MA
Bronze: One Arm Farmhouse Ale, Hobbs Tavern & Brewing Co., West Ossipee, NH

Category 81: Specialty Saison – 81 Entries
Gold: Rye Saison, Base Camp Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Silver: Make Hay, Cellar West Artisan Ales, Boulder, CO
Bronze: Farmhouse Saison, CO-Brew, Denver, CO

Category 82: Belgian- and French-Style Ale – 53 Entries
Gold: Grisette Summer Ale, Sly Fox Brewing Co., Pottstown, PA
Silver: Biere de Voleur, Horse Thief Hollow Brewery, Chicago, IL
Bronze: Working Title, Perennial Artisan Ales, Saint Louis, MO

Category 83: Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale – 77 Entries
Gold: El Sur, Casa Agria Specialty Ales, Oxnard, CA
Silver: Blended 2017, Side Project Brewing, Maplewood, MO
Bronze: Drinking with Friends, Mraz Brewing Co., El Dorado Hills, CA

Category 84: Belgian-Style Dubbel or Quadrupel – 75 Entries
Gold: #QuadGoals, 515 Brewing Co., Clive, IA
Silver: Deduction, Taxman Brewing Co., Bargersville, IN
Bronze: Four Fat Baby, Hillman Beer, Asheville, NC

Category 85: Belgian-Style Tripel – 77 Entries
Gold: Tripel Dog Dare, Big Dog’s Brewing Co., Las Vegas, NV
Silver: Rapunzel, Corridor Brewery & Provisions, Chicago, IL
Bronze: Tripel Horse, River Horse Brewing Co., Ewing, NJ

Category 86: Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale – 74 Entries
Gold: Amandus, Lazarus Brewing Co., Austin, TX
Silver: It’s Always Something, Peticolas Brewing Co., Dallas, TX
Bronze: Smells Like Money, BearWaters Brewing Co., Canton, NC

Category 87: Other Belgian-Style Ale – 42 Entries
Gold: Witty Moron, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station, San Diego, CA
Silver: Lux Mundi, Save the World Brewing Co., Marble Falls, TX
Bronze: Cousin Stoopid, Stickman Brews, Royersford, PA

Category 88: Brown Porter – 57 Entries
Gold: Porter, Back East Brewing, Bloomfield, CT
Silver: Pinch Hit Porter, Stadium Pizza Main St., Lake Elsinore, CA
Bronze: Man Full of Trouble, Dock Street Brewery, Philadelphia, PA

Category 89: Robust Porter – 97 Entries
Gold: Tabula Rasa Toasted Porter, Second Chance Beer Co., San Diego, CA
Silver: Black Strap Molasses Porter, Waikiki Brewing Co., Honolulu, HI
Bronze: JFP, Rivertowne Pour House, Monroeville, PA

Category 90: Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout – 30 Entries
Gold: Bearded Seal, Pinthouse Pizza North, Austin, TX
Silver: Sheehan’s Stout, Rockford Brewing Co., Rockford, MI
Bronze: Boulder Stout, PT’s Brewing Co., Las Vegas, NV

Category 91: Export Stout – 48 Entries
Gold: Correspondent, Wander Brewing, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Z-Man Stout, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Black Rock Stout, Crossroads Brewing Co., Athens, NY

Category 92: American-Style Stout – 60 Entries
Gold: Cholo Stout, Marble Brewery – Mav Lab, Albuquerque, NM
Silver: American Stout, Wild Wolf Brewing Co., Nellysford, VA
Bronze: Night of the Living Stout, Full Pint Brewing Co., North Versailles, PA

Category 93: Sweet Stout or Cream Stout – 69 Entries
Gold: Oatmeal Milk Stout, Finkel & Garf Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Silver: Milk Bone, Pinellas Ale Works, Saint Petersburg, FL
Bronze: McPoyle, Mile Wide Beer Co., Louisville, KY

Category 94: Oatmeal Stout – 57 Entries
Gold: Wall of Sound, Stereo Brewing Co., Placentia, CA
Silver: The Ferguson, Studio Brew, Bristol, VA
Bronze: Fat Pug, Maplewood Brewing Co., Chicago, IL

Category 95: Imperial Stout – 80 Entries
Gold: The Russian, 2SP Brewing Co., Aston, PA
Silver: Russian Imperial Stout, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant – Media, Media, PA
Bronze: Duke Snider’s Imperial Stout, Walking Tree Brewery, Vero Beach, FL

Category 96: Scotch Ale – 70 Entries
Gold: Real Heavy, Real Ale Brewing Co., Blanco, TX
Silver: Duck-Rabbit Wee Heavy Scotch Style Ale, Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Farmville, NC
Bronze: AleSmith Wee Heavy, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category 97: Old Ale or Strong Ale – 43 Entries
Gold: 10&2 Barleywine, Fifty West Brewing Co., Cincinnati, OH
Silver: Heini’s Good Cheer, Roundabout Brewery, Pittsburgh, PA
Bronze: Pilgrim’s Dole, New Holland Brewing Co., Holland, MI

Category 98: Barley Wine-Style Ale – 49 Entries
Gold: Shipfaced, Silver Harbor Brewing Co., Saint Joseph, MI
Silver: No. 20 Barleywine, The Freehouse, Minneapolis, MN
Bronze: Behemoth, One Barrel Brewing Co., Madison, WI

Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition – 118 Entries
Gold: Just Another Pretty Face, Denver Beer Co., Denver, CO
     Brewmaster Jason Buehler and Denver Beer Co. Brewing Team, AHA Member Doug Thiel
Silver: Lichtenhainer, Black Bottle Brewery, Fort Collins, CO
     Brewmaster Black Bottle Scuba Squad, AHA Member Daniel Tomkins
Bronze: Eluxansis, Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO
     Brewmaster Odell Brew Team, AHA Member Mark Boelman

2017 Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards

Packaging Breweries

Very Small Brewing Company and Very Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year = <1,000 BBLS

On Tour Brewing Co., Chicago, IL
Mark Poffenberger & Mark Legenza

Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year = 1,000 – 14,999 BBLS

Sunriver Brewing, Sunriver, OR
Sunriver Brewing Team

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year = 15,000 – 6,000,000 BBLS
st-arnold-new
Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX
Saint Arnold Brew Crew

Brewpubs

Small Brewpub and Brewmaster of the Year = <750 BBLS

Rockford Brewing Co., Rockford, MI
Rockford Brewing Company

Mid-Size Brewpub and Brewmaster of the Year = 750 – 1,500 BBLS
moon-river-wh
Moon River Brewing Co., Savannah, GA
Moon River Brewing Company

Large Brewpub and Brewmaster of the Year = 1,500+ BBLS
abgb
The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co., Austin, TX
Amos Swifty Kim

Large Breweries or Multiple Location Breweries

Brewery Group and Brewmaster of the Year
melvin
Melvin Brewing, Alpine, WY
Melvin Brewing

Per Capita Alcohol Consumption By Country

July 13, 2017 By Jay Brooks

world-map-3
The website VoucherCloud published an interactive map showing the The World’s Booziest Countries. The source they used for the data is from the recently released World Health Statistics 2017.

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booziest-map-2017-key

The original story only lists the top fifteen countries, and identifies the United States at No. 27. Happily, they made the full list available in a Google sheet. The first number is their rank, of course, followed by the name of the country and the final number after their name is “Alcohol consumed per capita (litres).”

The Worlds Booziest Countries: Full Data

1 Lithuania 18.2
2 Belarus 16.4
3 Moldova 15.9
4 Russia 13.9
5 Czech Republic 13.7
6 Romania 13.7
7 Croatia 13.6
8 Bulgaria 13.6
9 Belgium 13.2
10 Ukraine 12.8
11 Estonia 12.8
12 Slovakia 12.3
13 Hungary 12.3
14 Latvia 12.3
15 United Kingdom 12.3
16 Poland 12.3
17 South Korea 11.9
18 Serbia 11.8
19 Namibia 11.8
20 Uganda 11.8
21 France 11.7
22 Equatorial Guinea 11.6
23 Rwanda 11.5
24 Germany 11.4
25 Slovenia 11.3
26 Australia 11.2
27 South Africa 11.2
28 Luxembourg 11.1
29 Finland 10.9
30 Ireland 10.9
31 Gabon 10.8
32 Angola 10.8
33 Seychelles 10.8
34 Portugal 10.6
35 Austria 10.6
36 Andorra 10.5
37 New Zealand 10.1
38 Denmark 10.1
39 Switzerland 10
40 Canada 10
25 Cameroon 9.9
26 Montenegro 9.6
27 Cyprus 9.3
27 United States 9.3
28 Spain 9.2
29 Nigeria 9.1
29 Argentina 9.1
30 Chile 9
31 Brazil 8.9
31 Peru 8.9
32 Sweden 8.8
32 São Tomé and Príncipe 8.8
33 Kazakhstan 8.7
33 Netherlands 8.7
33 Guyana 8.7
34 Vietnam 8.6
35 Greece 8.5
35 Zimbabwe 8.5
36 Belize 8.2
36 Botswana 8.2
36 Cape Verde 8.2
37 Grenada 8.1
37 Georgia 8.1
38 Suriname 8
39 Panama 7.9
39 Palau 7.9
39 Trinidad and Tobago 7.9
39 Republic of the Congo 7.9
40 Japan 7.8
40 Norway 7.8
40 Mongolia 7.8
40 Barbados 7.8
40 China 7.8
41 Saint Lucia 7.6
41 Burkina Faso 7.6
41 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 7.6
41 Italy 7.6
42 Malta 7.5
42 Iceland 7.5
43 Laos 7.3
44 Thailand 7.2
45 Venezuela 7.1
45 Niue 7.1
45 Mexico 7.1
46 Burundi 6.9
46 Saint Kitts and Nevis 6.9
47 Uruguay 6.8
48 Dominican Republic 6.6
49 Paraguay 6.3
49 Tanzania 6.3
49 Haiti 6.3
50 Swaziland 6
51 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5.9
51 Bolivia 5.9
52 Sierra Leone 5.7
52 Albania 5.7
52 Lesotho 5.7
53 Philippines 5.6
54 Jamaica 5.5
54 Kyrgyzstan 5.5
54 Turkmenistan 5.5
55 Puerto Rico 5.4
55 Netherlands Antilles 5.4
55 Armenia 5.4
55 Cuba 5.4
55 Liberia 5.4
55 Bahamas 5.4
55 Guinea-Bissau 5.4
56 Cambodia 5.3
57 Colombia 5.2
57 Ivory Coast 5.2
57 Chad 5.2
58 Ecuador 5.1
58 Cook Islands 5.1
58 Nicaragua 5.1
58 Uzbekistan 5.1
59 Dominica 5
59 India 5
59 Gambia 5
60 Ethiopia 4.6
61 Ghana 4.4
61 Kenya 4.4
62 Costa Rica 4.1
62 Sri Lanka 4.1
63 Mauritius 4
63 Azerbaijan 4
64 Zambia 3.9
64 North Korea 3.9
65 Honduras 3.8
65 Central African Republic 3.8
66 Nauru 3.6
67 El Salvador 3.4
68 Fiji 3.3
68 Sudan 3.3
69 Guatemala 3.1
70 United Arab Emirates 3
70 Democratic Republic of the Congo 3
70 Israel 3
71 Tajikistan 2.9
72 Macedonia 2.8
72 Samoa 2.8
73 Kiribati 2.7
74 Togo 2.6
74 Benin 2.6
75 Nepal 2.5
76 Federated States of Micronesia 2.4
76 Papua New Guinea 2.4
76 Malawi 2.4
77 Mozambique 2.3
78 Myanmar 2.2
79 Singapore 1.9
79 Turkey 1.9
79 Tuvalu 1.9
80 Madagascar 1.8
81 Maldives 1.7
82 Lebanon 1.6
82 Tunisia 1.6
83 Malaysia 1.5
84 Solomon Islands 1.4
84 Tonga 1.4
85 Vanuatu 1.3
85 Brunei 1.3
86 Mali 1.2
86 Eritrea 1.2
87 Qatar 1
87 Algeria 1
87 Iran 1
87 Timor-Leste 1
88 Bahrain 0.9
89 Syria 0.8
89 Morocco 0.8
89 Guinea 0.8
90 Indonesia 0.6
91 Oman 0.5
91 Jordan 0.5
91 Bhutan 0.5
91 Afghanistan 0.5
91 Senegal 0.5
91 Somalia 0.5
91 Niger 0.5
92 Djibouti 0.4
92 Iraq 0.4
92 Egypt 0.4
93 Yemen 0.2
93 Comoros 0.2
93 Saudi Arabia 0.2
93 Bangladesh 0.2
93 Kuwait 0.2
93 Pakistan 0.2
94 Libya 0.1
94 Mauritania 0.1

And here are the notes for each of the Top 15:

Lithuania is the booziest country in the world. Lithuanians consume 18.2 litres of pure alcohol per capita or the equivalent to 186 bottles of wine.
Belarus comes in second behind Lithuania. The country drinks 168 bottles of wine or 16.4 litres per capita.
Moldovans consume 15.9 litres of pure alcohol per capita or 163 bottles of wine.
Russia takes fourth place in the booziest country stakes. Russians consume the equivalent of 1390 vodka shots per capita.
The Czech Republic drink a huge 482 pints of beer per capita! That’s 13.7 litres of pure alcohol.
Tie for 6th:
- In Romania people consume 13.7 litres of pure alcohol per capita.
- Croatia follows closely behind Romania, consuming 13.6 per capita.
- Bulgarians drink 13.6 litres of pure alcohol or 479 pints of lager per capita.
Belgians drink 478 pints of beer per capita! That’s 13.2 litres of pure alcohol.
Tie for 8th:
- Ukranians consume 12.8 litres of pure alcohol per capita or 131 bottles of wine.
- Estonia is joint eighth with people drinking 12.8 litres of pure alcohol per capita.
Tie for 9th:
- Solvakia is joint ninth place with people consuming 12.3 litres of pure alcohol per capita.
- Hugarians consume 12.3 litres of pure alcohol per capita and take join tninth place.
- Latvians drink 12.3 litres of pure alcohol per capita which is equal to 433 pints!
- The UK is in the top 10 booziest countries. We each consume 12.3 litres of pure alcohol a year – the equivalent of around 126 bottles of wine.
- Poland is also in joint ninth place with the UK, Slovakia, Hungary and Latvia.
South Koreans drink 11.9 litres of pure alcohol per person and take the tenth place in the booziest countries place!

And here’s the note for the U.S.

The US lags behind us on 9.3 litres per person – that’s the same as 564 330ml bottles of Budweiser.

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