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You are here: Home / Breweries / Top 50 Craft Breweries For 2008

Top 50 Craft Breweries For 2008

April 13, 2009 By Jay Brooks

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The Brewers Association just announced the top 50 breweries in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2008, which is listed below here. For the second time, they’ve also released a list of the top 50 craft breweries based on the new definition adopted by the Brewers Association last year. Here is the new craft brewery list:

  1. Boston Beer Co.; Boston MA
  2. Sierra Nevada Brewing; Chico CA
  3. New Belgium Brewing; Fort Collins CO
  4. Spoetzl Brewery (Gambrinus); Spoetzl TX
  5. Pyramid Breweries; Seattle WA
  6. Deschutes Brewery; Bend OR
  7. Matt Brewing; Utica NY
  8. Boulevard Brewing; Kansas City MO
  9. Full Sail Brewing; Hood River OR
  10. Magic Hat Brewing Company; South Burlington VT
  11. Alaskan Brewing; Juneau AK
  12. Harpoon Brewery; Boston, MA
  13. Bell’s Brewery; Galesburg MI
  14. Kona Brewing; Kailua-Kona HI
  15. Anchor Brewing; San Francisco CA
  16. Shipyard Brewing; Portland ME
  17. Summit Brewing; Saint Paul MN
  18. Stone Brewing; Escondido CA
  19. Abita Brewing; New Orleans LA
  20. Brooklyn Brewery; Brooklyn NY
  21. New Glarus Brewing; New Glarus WI
  22. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery; Lewes DE
  23. Long Trail Brewing; Bridgewater Corners VT
  24. Gordon Biersch Brewing; San Jose CA
  25. Rogue Ales/Oregon Brewing; Newport OR
  26. Great Lakes Brewing; Cleveland OH
  27. Lagunitas Brewing; Petaluma CA
  28. Firestone Walker Brewing; Paso Robles CA
  29. Sweetwater Brewing; Atlanta GA
  30. Flying Dog Brewery; Denver CO
  31. BJs Restaurant & Brewery; Huntington Beach CA
  32. Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants; Louisville CO
  33. Bridgeport Brewing; Portland OR
  34. Odell Brewing; Fort Collins CO
  35. Victory Brewing; Downingtown PA
  36. Mac and Jack’s Brewery; Redmond WA
  37. Big Sky Brewing; Missoula MT
  38. Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants; Chattanooga TN
  39. Karl Strauss Breweries; San Diego CA
  40. Breckenridge Brewery; Denver CO
  41. Lost Coast Brewery; Eureka CA
  42. Otter Creek Brewing; Middlebury VT
  43. Utah Brewers Cooperative; Salt Lake City UT
  44. North Coast Brewing; Fort Bragg CA
  45. Blue Point Brewing; Patchogue NY
  46. Boulder Beer; Boulder CO
  47. Pete’s Brewing; San Antonio TX
  48. McMenamins; Portland OR
  49. Anderson Valley Brewing; Boonville CA
  50. The Saint Louis Brewery; St Louis MO

From the press release:

“In 2007, 35 of the top 50 brewing companies were small and independent craft brewers. In 2008 there were 37,” states Paul Gatza, Director of the Brewers Association. “Craft brewers continue to have success and generate excitement behind the flavorful beer movement, but not without recent challenges including price increases for raw materials and supplies, as well as access to market issues.”

Changes from last year’s list include breweries moving up or down in the rankings based on volume sales. There was one new entrant into the Top 50 Craft list, The Saint Louis Brewery, and two craft brewers have claimed spots in the Top 50 Overall list—Big Sky Brewing Co. and Mac & Jack’s Brewery. Consolidation of MillerCoors, last year’s number 2 and 3 brewers, opened up a slot, and the merger of Widmer Brothers and Redhook into the company now named Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc. opened up another slot filled by emerging small and independent craft brewers.

I’ll have my annual annotated list shortly.

 

Filed Under: Breweries, News Tagged With: Statistics, United States



Comments

  1. Mario (Brewed For Thought) says

    April 13, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    What about the Magic Hat/Pyramid merger? Where woould the Independent Brewers United fit into the list? Do they move into the same category as the big boys?

  2. J says

    April 13, 2009 at 3:00 pm

    My guess is that because it wasn’t finalized until late August of last year, that it was easier to keep them separate for calendar year 2008 and next year we’ll see them listed as one entity.

  3. michael Reinhardt says

    April 13, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    When I go this in my e-mail, I was really surprised at how high Boulevard was on the list. I used to live in Springfield, MO. I just figured that it was close to K.C., so that’s why I saw so much of it. Goes to show you that there’s always something to learn.

  4. beerinator says

    April 14, 2009 at 5:49 am

    Maybe I don’t keep up with this enough, but I thought Kona Brewing was allied with Widmer and Redhook? Or at least they were tied into an AB distribution deal which was enough to get Goose Island removed from the craft list.

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