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