Before you say anything, I know this is old news. The list below of the Top 50 Craft Brewers based on 2009 sales was released by the Brewer’s Association in April, and these stats have been covered on more than a couple of sites. But not here, until now.
The reason I’m posting the list here is because I keep going back to it. I’ll read about a brewery and want to see where it is on the list, or I get to thinking about the similarities between Victory and Stone, only to realize one is much larger than the other. Or I want to see again how Sam and the gang at Dogfish Head is actually taking over the world with weird beers. Or to muse why Bell’s is #12 yet I can’t get it in New Jersey. And, thanks to Mike at Thank Heaven for Beer, to wonder where the hell Yuengling is on the list (I suspect they’re over the 2 milllion barrel limit to qualify as a craft brewery, but still). You might call it an obsession or a yardstick, but either way, I’m tired of Googling it.
So I’m parking it here. Do you see any surprises on the list?…
Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies
(Based on 2009 beer sales volume)
| Rank | Brewing Company | City | State |
| 1 | Boston Beer Co. | Boston | MA |
| 2 | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Chico | CA |
| 3 | New Belgium Brewing Co. | Fort Collins | CO |
| 4 | Spoetzl Brewery | Shiner | TX |
| 5 | Pyramid Breweries Inc. | Seattle | WA |
| 6 | Deschutes Brewery | Bend | OR |
| 7 | Matt Brewing Co. | Utica | NY |
| 8 | Magic Hat Brewing Co. | Burlington | VT |
| 9 | Boulevard Brewing Co. | Kansas City | MO |
| 10 | Harpoon Brewery | Boston | MA |
| 11 | Alaskan Brewing Co. | Juneau | AK |
| 12 | Bell’s Brewery, Inc. | Galesburg | MI |
| 13 | Kona Brewing Co. | Kailua-Kona | HI |
| 14 | Full Sail Brewing Co. | Hood River | OR |
| 15 | Stone Brewing Co. | Escondido | CA |
| 16 | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery | Milton | DE |
| 17 | The Brooklyn Brewery | Brooklyn | NY |
| 18 | Abita Brewing Co. | Abita Springs | LA |
| 19 | Summit Brewing Co. | Saint Paul | MN |
| 20 | Anchor Brewing Co. | San Francisco | CA |
| 21 | Shipyard Brewery | Portland | ME |
| 22 | New Glarus Brewing Co. | New Glarus | WI |
| 23 | Great Lakes Brewing Co. | Cleveland | OH |
| 24 | Rogue Ales/Oregon Brewing Co. | Newport | OR |
| 25 | Long Trail Brewing Co. | Bridgewater Corners | VT |
| 26 | The Lagunitas Brewing Co. | Petaluma | CA |
| 27 | Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. | San Jose | CA |
| 28 | SweetWater Brewing Co. | Atlanta | GA |
| 29 | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Paso Robles | CA |
| 30 | Victory Brewing Co. | Downingtown | PA |
| 31 | Flying Dog Brewing Co. | Frederick | MD |
| 32 | BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery | Huntington Beach | CA |
| 33 | Odell Brewing Co. | Fort Collins | CO |
| 34 | Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants | Louisville | CO |
| 35 | BridgePort Brewing Co. | Portland | OR |
| 36 | Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe | Eureka | CA |
| 37 | Big Sky Brewing Co. | Missoula | MT |
| 38 | Stevens Point Brewing Co. | Stevens Point | WI |
| 39 | Mac and Jack’s Brewery | Redmond | WA |
| 40 | Karl Strauss Brewing Co. | San Diego | CA |
| 41 | The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc. | St. Louis | MO |
| 42 | Blue Point Brewing Co. | Patchogue | NY |
| 43 | Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants | Chattanooga | TN |
| 44 | Oskar Blues Brewery | Longmont | CO |
| 45 | North Coast Brewing Co. | Fort Bragg | CA |
| 46 | Breckenridge Brewery | Denver | CO |
| 47 | Utah Brewers Cooperative | Salt Lake City | UT |
| 48 | Saint Arnold Brewing Co. | Houston | TX |
| 49 | Boulder Beer Co. | Boulder | CO |
| 50 | Bear Republic Brewing Co. | Cloverdale | CA |
.
The other half of the list looks at all brewers in the US and sorts them by sales volume. No real difference, except it’s fun to see Pabst in 3rd place (which surprises me a little) and a couple of really good brewers in the top 10. It makes beer in America look like it’s headed in the right direction, even if the top 2 macrobrewers on the list dwarf the other 48.
Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies
(Based on 2009 beer sales volume)
| Rank | Brewing Company | City | State |
| 1 | Anheuser-Busch InBev | St. Louis | MO |
| 2 | MillerCoors Brewing Co. | Chicago | IL |
| 3 | Pabst Brewing Co. | Woodridge | IL |
| 4 | D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc. | Pottsville | PA |
| 5 | Boston Beer Co. | Boston | MA |
| 6 | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Chico | CA |
| 7 | New Belgium Brewing Co. | Fort Collins | CO |
| 8 | Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc. | Portland | OR |
| 9 | Spoetzl Brewery (part of Gambrinus) | Shiner | TX |
| 10 | High Falls Brewing Co. | Rochester | NY |
| 11 | Minhas Craft Brewery | Monroe | WI |
| 12 | Pyramid Breweries (part of IBU) | Seattle | WA |
| 13 | Deschutes Brewery | Bend | OR |
| 14 | F.X. Matt Brewing Co. | Utica | NY |
| 15 | Magic Hat Brewing Co. (part of IBU) | Burlington | VT |
| 16 | Boulevard Brewing Co. | Kansas City | MO |
| 17 | Harpoon Brewery | Boston | MA |
| 18 | Alaskan Brewing Co. | Juneau | AK |
| 19 | Bell’s Brewery, Inc. | Galesburg | MI |
| 20 | Goose Island Beer Co. | Chicago | IL |
| 21 | Kona Brewing Co. | Kailua-Kona | HI |
| 22 | Full Sail Brewing Co. | Hood River | OR |
| 23 | Stone Brewing Co. | Escondido | CA |
| 24 | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery | Milton | DE |
| 25 | Iron City Brewing Co. | Pittsburgh | PA |
| 26 | August Schell Brewing Co. | New Ulm | MN |
| 27 | The Brooklyn Brewery | Brooklyn | NY |
| 28 | Abita Brewing Co., L.L.C. | Abita Springs | LA |
| 29 | Summit Brewing Co. | Saint Paul | MN |
| 30 | Anchor Brewing Co. | San Francisco | CA |
| 31 | Shipyard Brewing Co. | Portland | ME |
| 32 | New Glarus Brewing Co. | New Glarus | WI |
| 33 | Great Lakes Brewing Co. | Cleveland | OH |
| 34 | Rogue Ales/Oregon Brewing Co. | Newport | OR |
| 35 | Long Trail Brewing Co. | Burlington | VT |
| 36 | The Lagunitas Brewing Co. | Petaluma | CA |
| 37 | Mendocino Brewing Co. | Ukiah | CA |
| 38 | Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. | San Jose | CA |
| 39 | SweetWater Brewing Co. | Atlanta | GA |
| 40 | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Paso Robles | CA |
| 41 | Victory Brewing Co. | Downingtown | PA |
| 42 | Flying Dog Brewing Co. | Frederick | MD |
| 43 | BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery | Huntington Beach | CA |
| 44 | Odell Brewing Co. | Fort Collins | CO |
| 45 | Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants | Louisville | CO |
| 46 | Straub Brewery | Saint Marys | PA |
| 47 | BridgePort Brewing Co. (part of Gambrinus) | Portland | OR |
| 48 | Lost Coast Brewery & Cafe | Eureka | CA |
| 49 | Big Sky Brewing Co. | Missoula | MT |
| 50 | Stevens Point Brewery Co. | Stevens Point | WI |
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
This list makes me a little sad. Not one brewery from Milwaukee. Talk about the collapse of an industry. Its like looking at a list of the top 50 steel mills and realizing none of them are in Pittsburgh, or the US for that matter. Actually the only two breweries that are even located in Wisconsin on both lists are Stevens Point and New Glarus. What happened?
I wonder if one of the smaller guys will buy up some of that brewing capacity that’s in Milwaukee one day. It would be wonderful to see MKE resurrected as a craft brewing powerhouse. I guy can dream I guess.
Agreed!
I don’t like that Pyramid is still listed as a Washington Brewery. Not only have they not brewed their “beer” here for years, we don’t want to claim them.
I never realized Boulevard was so big. We just started getting them out here, and I’ve become quite the fan
I was surprised by Boulevard and Deschutes, mostly because they aren’t big in New Jersey. The Pyramid thing is like saying Rolling Rock is brewed in PA – it’s now in Newark NJ thanks to InBev.
And you’re correct; Yuengling doesn’t fall under the “Craft Brewer” category. I also find it remarkable that they’re that big, and only distribute to a handful of states.
You gotta get some Bell’s, Jim. They just replaced Founders down in SC as my go-to Michigan beer after some screw up with a distributor. And now I can’t even get my Oskar Blues fix anymore. Distribution systems are screwing things up for everybody.
I hear you about the OB buddy! I could throw a rock and hit the brewery from here(figuratively of course) and Jim can get all the OB stuff he wants! What makes it worse is I used to have full access too. Its a mess.
First off, It’ll be hard to displace Founders in my heart – I love their stuff. That said, i agree – I need some Bell’s. Our folks live in Milwaukee, so I plan to load up this summer when I’m out there. I’ve only had Two Hearted so far, and it was magically delicious.
And I get all the Oskar Blues I want, which is good because it’s cans, but I think I’d trade for Bell’s.
Good to see you posting here, wild man.
Yeah, Founders won’t be replaced in my heart, just in my mouth. Some issue with the distributor forced them to switch, and in good ol’ SC (the whoopie cushion of the U.S.), they have to leave the state for a year before switching distributors. Red’s Rye was my old standby when Barley’s (my local) didn’t have anything on tap that I was craving. Now, Two Hearted has taken its place. It’s not a bad trade, but not one I wanted to have forced on me.
A buddy of mine bought up all the Founders he could find when we got the bad news. It’s fun to find a Breakfast Stout hiding in the cellar once in a while. The NC border is only an hour or so away, so we’ll be bootlegging again just like the old days before too long. We used to bring back trunkloads of Dale’s before we got it down here. Good old days…
Bootlegging is cool. I should make a run to PA (about an hour away) and “import” some Bell’s for myself. I just wish I had a bitchin’ Trans Am with t-tops and a cool cowboy hat.
I also love to find a hidden gem in the boxes in the garage. The other night I pulled out a Nemesis I forgot I had. I put it back because I was just drinking, not savoring, but it’s on the radar now. Love that stuff.
I live in chicago which is Yuengling free zone. Imagine my happiness that at a wdding in Maryland was all the Yuengling lager I wanted!
Of course I don’t get them out here in Idaho, but Jim had some of the lager when he went to Hershey park, and said it was good in context, but probably not so great while sitting in his living room.
Actually, I think Yuengling would be fine at home. I’ve been thinking about picking up a sixer as for session purposes. Normally I’d go Victory Lager, but Yuengling is a nice beer and cheaper to boot.
Around these parts we get Full Sail’s Session line of lagers. $12/ 6pk, and they’re gooooooood. The Black Lager is one of the best I’ve had in that style, ever.
You really like their black session lager? I thought it tasted like Bud with black food coloring in it. Wasn’t real impressed. It is nice that it is cheap. I can pick it up for a buck a bottle. I haven’t tried their regular session beer. Perhaps its better.
I think it’s great, and know many who would agree. It’s a great example of a Schwarzbier in my opinion. Not supposed to be a very robust beer by any stretch of the imagination. Nice and quaffable, with a hint of toasted malts in there. Gold medal at GABF last year too
Not sure what the big deal is about Yuengling. Granted I haven’t tried everything they make, but the Lager and the Porter were good for the price but nothing to jump up and down about otherwise.
Unrelated, it also looks like the Saranac people are kicking butt.
No big deal with Yuengling, its just decent and simple beer. Their lager is a nice summer treat and comes in cans for the lake.
Yeah, I’d probably grab a High Life or PBR over a Yuengling – the beer that tastes like balls.
Great. I just bought a 12 pack of balls (in cans).
LOL! That’s pretty funny, but it begs the question as to how one knows of the flavor of balls to make such a comparison? 🙂
This place gets real weird sometimes.
Obviously you aren’t familiar with my work…
Scott, Daniel uses profanity like other artists might use clay or oil paints. It is his true medium. So when he says a beer tastes like balls, that is out of respect for our PG rated site. I would suggest you take a trip over to Daniel’s site to see the master at work. You might want to put on a rain coat before you visit. It gets a little saucy, like sitting in the front row of a Gallagher show…
Don, I might have to quote that. He might want to put on the other kind of rain coat as well, if you know what I mean…
Ha ha! I love you, Daniel! In a totally hetero way…not that there’s anything wrong with that…
Watch out Daniel. Jim has a Man Crush on you…
Don’t tell him Don, you’ll scare him off!!
I thought he was being literal! 😉 …not that there’s anything wrong with it in case he was.
Now Jim can have the taste of balls without having to drink Yuengling or take yoga classes.
Ho boy.