I was going to save this for tomorrow, but it seems to be making the rounds this afternoon, so what the hay! Here it is the Brewer’s Association top 50 list. First is Craft Breweries by volume, and the last is all breweries by volume. Any Surprises?…
Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies
(Based on 2010 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 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR 6 Independent Brewers United (IBU)* Burlington VT 7 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY 8 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI 9 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA 10 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO 11 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE 12 Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co. Juneau AK 13 Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT 14 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA 15 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA 16 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY 17 Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA 18 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR 19 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME 20 Summit Brewing Co. St. Paul MN 21 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI 22 Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH 23 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA 24 Kona Brewery LLC* Kailua-Kona HI 25 Rogue Ales Newport OR 26 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA 27 Sweetwater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA 28 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD 29 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA 30 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA 31 BJ’s Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. Huntington Beach CA 32 Stevens Point Brewery Co. Stevens Point WI 33 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO 34 BridgePort Brewing Co.* Portland OR 35 Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants Louisville CO 36 Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont CO 37 Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY 38 Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe Eureka CA 39 Big Sky Brewing Co. Missoula MT 40 North Coast Brewing Co. Inc. Fort Bragg CA 41 Mac and Jack’s Brewery Redmond WA 42 The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc. Maplewood MO 43 Bear Republic Brewing Co. Cloverdale CA 44 Karl Strauss Brewing Co. San Diego CA 45 Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO 46 Utah Brewers Cooperative Salt Lake City UT 47 Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants Chattanooga TN 48 Saint Arnold Brewing Co. Houston TX 49 Real Ale Brewing Co. Blanco TX 50 Ninkasi Brewing Co. Eugene OR *Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies notes: Spoetzl is part of Gambrinus Company; IBU January-August only prior to sale to North American Breweries (NAB); Kona January-September only prior to sale to Craft Brewers Alliance (CBA); BridgePort is part of Gambrinus Company.
Top 50 Brewing Companies
(Based on 2010 beer sales volume)
Rank Brewing Company City State 1 Anheuser-Busch Inc. St. Louis MO 2 MillerCoors Brewing Co. Chicago IL 3 Pabst Woodbridge 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 North American Breweries* Rochester NY 9 Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc.* Portland OR 10 Spoetzl Brewery* Shiner TX 11 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR 12 Independent Brewers United (IBU)* Burlington VT 13 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY 14 Minhas Craft Brewery Monroe WI 15 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI 16 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA 17 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO 18 Goose Island Beer Co. Chicago IL 19 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE 20 Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co. Juneau AK 21 Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT 22 August Schell Brewing Co. New Ulm MN 23 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA 24 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA 25 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY 26 Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA 27 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR 28 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME 29 Summit Brewing Co. St Paul MN 30 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI 31 Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH 32 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA 33 Iron City Brewing Co. Pittsburgh PA 34 Kona Brewery LLC* Kailua-Kona HI 35 Rogue Ales Newport OR 36 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA 37 Winery Exchange Inc. / World Brews Novato CA 38 Sweetwater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA 39 Mendocino Brewing Co. Ukiah CA 40 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD 41 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA 42 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA 43 BJ’s Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. Huntington Beach CA 44 Stevens Point Brewery Co. Stevens Point WI 45 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO 46 BridgePort Brewing Co.* Portland OR 47 Cold Spring Brewing Co. Cold Spring MN 48 Rock Bottom Brewery Louisville CO 49 Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont CO 50 Straub Brewery Saint Marys PA *Top 50 Brewing Companies notes: NAB includes IBU August-December; CBA includes Kona October-December; Spoetzl is part of Gambrinus Company; and IBU is January-August only (sale to NAB); Kona is January-September only (sale to CBA); BridgePort is part of Gambrinus Company. Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for the Top 50 rankings.
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
I think the news here is that Goose Island isn’t on the list of top 50 craft breweries. Ouch. That was quick!
You might say that Goose Island is… taking the piss?!?!
/bad pun
Anyway, I started to swell up with pride to see Schlafly at #42 until I realized it’s just a ranking by sales. It’s still great that they made the list and I’m glad that they’re doing that well. I suppose I was hoping for some sort of subjective “Best Beers” Top 50, which would be impossible to do and would no doubt make a lot of people angry. Which would make it great discussion fodder.
Well they are and they aren’t. AB Inbev is number one on the non craft inclusive list. 😉
I’m surprised that Lagunitas made it. I’ve always had this (obviously wrong) impression that they were just a little brewery from Northern California. They must have seriously expanded their capacity since I visited them in 2008.
Lagunitas is going through a huge expansion right now. Unfortunately their beers taste like it too. Little drop in quality. I’m certain they will get it turned around however.
Just bought some Undercover and hope it doesn’t dissapoint.
You’ll have to let me know John. I heard that this year’s Hairy Eyeball wasn’t that great, however I have yet to independently verify that.
The good old Redstripe stand out, not bad a beer.
Didn’t see Redstripe on the list. Think this is just North American Breweries.
I think he assumed that your graphic for the post represented the beers on the list since that is the only place I can see Red Stripe also. 🙂
You know us Will…We’re all over the map! You should never make that assumption! 😉
where is Anderson Valley…don’t they have a bear on their logo?
They’re not on the list, but at number 43 we have Bear republic, so we’re covered.