The top 50 US craft brewers

14-Mar-2019 - Last updated on 14-Mar-2019 at 10:57 GMT

Pic:getty/industryview

The Brewers Association – the US trade organization for craft brewers – has released its annual lists of the top 50 craft brewers and top 50 overall brewing companies in the US.

Out of the top 50 overall brewing companies, 40 are classed by the Brewers Association as craft brewers.

The rankings are based on sales volume.

The definition of a craft brewer is one that is small (with annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less) and independent (less than 25% of the brewery is owned or controlled by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer); and has a TTB Brewer's Notice and makes beer.

The US' overall top 10 brewers, according to the BA's figures, are Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, Constellation, Heineken, Pabst Brewing Co, D.G.Yuengling & Son, Guinness brewer Diageo, FIFCO USA, Sam Adams maker Boston Beer Co and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

There are three craft brewers in this top 10: D.G. Yuengling & Son; Boston Beer Co; and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

The top five US craft brewers remain unchanged from last year's list: these are D.G. Yuengling & Son (Pottsville, PA); Boston Beer Co (Boston, MA); Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Chico, CA); New Belgium Brewing Co. (Fort Collins, CO); and Duvel Moortgat (Paso Robles, CA).

A full State of the Industry report will be released at the 2019 Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America (Denver, Colorado, April 8-11).

A 2018 industry analysis will follow in the May/June issue of The New Brewer.