As you savor your favorite craft beer or head to one of the many craft breweries that seem to be opening daily throughout the country, it's logical to assume that the craft beer avalanche has begun to bury the beer giants who have dominated the industry for decades. The most recent statistics, though, show otherwise.
Small or independent craft brewers have undoubtedly made significant inroads into the American beer market, constituting 40 of the Top 50 breweries in volume of beer produced for sale last year, according to the Brewers Association's recently released 2017 statistics. But the traditional giants are standing tall, with control of the biggest chunk of the market, which exceeds $107 billion annually.
Anheuser-Busch, which brews more than 100 brands, including its flagship Budwesier and Bud Light, is No. 1, the Brewers Association's data shows. The brewing giant says it controls 46% of the entire industry's U.S. sales.
Budweiser beer cans are on ice at a concession stand at LECOM Park, the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, in Bradenton, Florida. The brand's brewer, Anheuser-Busch, brews more than 100 brands and controls nearly half of the U.S. beer industry's sales. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
MillerCoors, which owns Blue Moon, Pilsener Urquell and numerous brands besides Miller and Coors products, ranks The traditional giants have bought some craft breweries in recent years, blurring the lines between craft and non-craft brewing companies. Anheuser-Busch bought 10 Barrel Brewing of Bend, Oregon, and Constellation Brands purchased Sand Diego-based Ballast Point for $1 billion.
The Brewers Association, which represents more than 4,000 small and independent craft brewers, says its members' share of the market has been slowly increasing, producing 12.3 percent of beer sold in the USA in 2016. Retail dollar sales of craft beer increased 10 percent in 2016 to $23.5 billion — nearly 22 percent of the $107.6 billion U.S. beer market, the Brewers Association says.
Craft beers are served at the Maine Beer Company in Freeport, Maine. Eight beers are now on tap at the brewery's tasting room. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
Joseph Tucker, the executive director of RateBeer.com, says it's become difficult to classify which companies are craft brewers.
"There are many scales of craft brewer now — from the mom and pop, to breweries selling to entire states, to regional brewers and now international brewers brewing millions of barrels annually that are still qualifying as craft by some definitions," Tucker says. "Ownership also runs the gamut: some small and family-owned, others with industry or non-industry investors and a few publicly traded."
Em Sauter, a certified beer judge and the author of Beer is for Everyone! (of Drinking Age), uses the term macro brewery — often defined as a brewery annually producing more than 6 million barrels of beer — for the beer giants.
"Macro brands can afford the advertising, the eye level space (in retail stores) and the promo gear," she says. "And, for a while, that strategy really worked for them and, frankly, still does although not as well. But now with craft beer and the local movement, people are looking into their backyards and are discovering great beer made down the street as well as a stellar place to hang out on a Saturday afternoon.
"It's a slow burn for craft brewers, and they are slowly chipping away at the big guys," Sauter says. "Craft isn't going to overtake macro brands overnight. But the beer world continues to evolve at a crazy pace. I'm super excited to see where it goes next, wherever that is."
Bottles of Sierra Nevada's pale ale move along a conveyor belt at the company's brewery in Chico, California. (Photographer: Ken James/Bloomberg)
Here are the Top 50 U.S. breweries, ranked by volume of beer produced last year, according to the Brewers Association:
1) Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri
2) MillerCoors, Chicago, Illinois
3) Constellation Brands, Chicago, Illinois
4) Heineken, White Plains, New York
5) Pabst Brewing, Los Angeles, California
6) D. G. Yuengling & Son, Pottsville, Pennsylvania
7) North American Breweries, Rochester, New York
8) Diageo, Norwalk, Connecticut
9) Boston Beer, Boston, Massachusetts
10) Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico, California
11) New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, Colorado
12) Craft Brew Alliance, Portland, Oregon
13) Duvel Moortgat, Paso Robles, California/Kansas City, Missouri/Cooperstown, New York
14) Gambrinus, San Antonio, Texas/Berkeley, California/Portland, Oregon
15) Founders Brewing, Grand Rapids, Michigan
16) Bell’s Brewery, Comstock, Michigan
17) Sapporo USA, La Crosse, Wisconsin
18) Stone Brewing, Escondido, California
19) CANarchy, Longmont, Colorado/Tampa, Florida/Salt Lake City, Oregon/Comstock Park, Michigan
20) Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Oregon
21) Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, New York
22) Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, Delaware
23) Minhas Craft Brewery, Monroe, Wisconsin
24) Artisanal Brewing Ventures, Downingtown, Pennsylvania/Lakewood, New York
25) SweetWater Brewing, Atlanta, Georgia
26) New Glarus Brewing, New Glarus, Wisconsin
27) Matt Brewing, Utica, New York
28) Harpoon Brewery, Boston, Massachusetts
29) Alaskan Brewing, Juneau, Alaska
30) Great Lakes Brewing, Cleveland, Ohio
31) Abita Brewing, Abita Springs, Louisiana
32) Odell Brewing, Fort Collins, Colorado
33) Stevens Point Brewery, Stevens Point, Wisconsin
34) August Schell Brewing, New Ulm, Minnesota
35) Summit Brewing, Saint Paul, Minnesota
36) 21st Amendment Brewery, San Francisco Bay Area, California
37) Shipyard Brewing, Portland, Maine
38) Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, Maryland
39) Full Sail Brewing, Hood River, Oregon
40) Troëgs Brewing, Hershey, Pennsylvania
41) Long Trail Brewing, Bridgewater Corners, Vermont
42) Rogue Ales, Newport, Oregon
43) Rhinegeist Brewery, Cincinnati, Ohio
44) Narragansett Brewing, Providence, Rhode Island
45) Gordon Biersch Brewing, San Jose, California
46) Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, Maine
47) Uinta Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, Utah
48) Ninkasi Brewing, Eugene, Oregon
49) Surly Brewing, Minneapolis, Minnesota
50) Revolution Brewing, Chicago, Illinois
Gary Stoller , CONTRIBUTOR Forbes.com
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