NOTE: These lists are ranked by production.

(Boulder, CO) – The Brewers Association—the not-for-profit trade group that tabulates production statistics for U.S. breweries—today released its annual lists of the top 50 craft and overall brewing companies in the U.S., based on 2011 beer sales volume. Of the top 50 overall brewing companies, 36 are small and independent¹ craft brewing companies¹,².

“In the last 15 years, craft brewing has gone from one percent of the overall beer market to almost six percent in 2011,” said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. “We attribute a large part of that growth to the many talented brewers who are providing beer lovers with more beer style and flavor choices than ever before.”

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies

(Based on 2011 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 The Gambrinus Company San Antonio TX 5 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR 6 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY 7 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI 8 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA 9 Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA 10 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO 11 Stone Brewing Company Escondido CA 12 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE 13 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY 14 Alaskan Brewing & Bottling Co. Juneau AK 15 Long Trail Brewing Co. Burlington VT 16 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME 17 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA 18 Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH 19 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI 20 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR 21 Summit Brewing Co. St. Paul MN 22 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA 23 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA 24 Sweetwater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA 25 Rogue Ales Newport OR 26 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD 27 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA 28 CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants Chattanooga/Louisville TN/CO 29 Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont CO 30 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO 31 Stevens Point Brewery Co. Stevens Point WI 32 Ninkasi Brewing Co. Eugene OR 33 BJ’s Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. Huntington Beach CA 34 Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY 35 Bear Republic Brewing Co. Cloverdale CA 36 Lost Coast Brewery Cafe Eureka CA 37 Big Sky Brewing Co. Missoula MT 38 North Coast Brewing Co. Inc. Fort Bragg CA 39 Saint Louis Brewery, Inc./Schlafly Bottleworks St. Louis MO 40 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA 41 Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO 42 Founders Brewing Co. Grand Rapids MI 43 Saint Arnold Brewing Co. Houston TX 44 Karl Strauss Brewing Co. San Diego CA 45 Real Ale Brewing Co. Blanco TX 46 Mac and Jack’s Brewery Inc. Redmond WA 47 Smuttynose Brewing Co. Portsmouth NH 48 Utah Brewers Cooperative Salt Lake City UT 49 Left Hand Brewing Co. Longmont CO t.50 Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Boonville CA t.50 Four Peaks Brewing Co. Tempe AZ

Top 50 Brewing Companies

(Based on 2011 beer sales volume)

Rank Brewing Company City State 1 Anheuser-Busch Inc. (a) St. Louis MO 2 MillerCoors (b) Chicago IL 3 Pabst Brewing Co. (c) Woodbridge IL 4 D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc. Pottsville PA 5 Boston Beer Co. Boston MA 6 North American Breweries (d) Rochester NY 7 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA 8 New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO 9 Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc. (e) Portland OR 10 The Gambrinus Company (f) San Antonio TX 11 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR 12 Matt Brewing Co. (g) Utica NY 13 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI 14 Minhas Craft Brewery (h) Monroe WI 15 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA 16 Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA 17 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO 18 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA 19 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE 20 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY 21 Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co. Juneau AK 22 Long Trail Brewing Co. Burlington VT 23 August Schell Brewing Co. (i) New Ulm MN 24 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME 25 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA 26 World Brews/Winery Exchange (j) Novato CA 27 Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH 28 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI 29 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR 30 Pittsburgh Brewing Co. Pittsburgh PA 31 Summit Brewing Co. St. Paul MN 32 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA 33 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA 34 Cold Spring Brewing Co. (k) Cold Spring MN 35 Sweetwater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA 36 Rogue Ales Brewery Newport OR 37 Mendocino Brewing Co. (l) Ukiah CA 38 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD 39 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA 40 CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants (m) Chattanooga/Louisivlle TN/CO 41 Oskar Blues Brewery & Tasty Weasel Tap Room Longmont CO 42 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO 43 Stevens Point Brewery Co. (n) Stevens Point WI 44 Ninkasi Brewing Co. Eugene OR 45 BJ’s Chicago Pizza & Brewery Huntington Beach CA 46 Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY 47 Bear Republic Brewing Co. Cloverdale CA 48 Goose Island Brewing Co. (o) Chicago IL 49 Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe Eureka CA 50 Narragansett Brewing Co. Providence RI

*Top 50 U.S. Overall Brewing Companies notes: (a) includes Bass, Beck’s, Busch, Goose Island, Landshark, Michelob, Rolling Rock, Shock Top and Wild Blue brands. Does not include partially owned Coastal, Kona, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers brands; (b) includes A.C. Golden, Batch 19, Blue Moon, Colorado Native, Herman Joseph, Keystone, Killian’s and Leinenkugel’s brands; (c) includes Schlitz and 28 other brand families; (d) includes Dundee, Genesee, Labatt Lime, Magic Hat and Pyramid brands; (e) includes Kona, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers brands; (f) includes BridgePort, Shiner and Trumer brands; (g) includes Flying Bison brands; (h) includes Mountain Crest and 10 other brand families; (i) includes Grain Belt brand; (j) private label brands; (k) includes Gluek and 17 other brand families; (l) includes Butte Creek, Kingfisher and Olde Saratoga brands; (m) includes A1A, Big River, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, Rock Bottom Restaurants, Ragtime and Seven Bridges brewpubs; (n) includes James Page and Whole Hog brands; (o) sold to Anheuser-Busch in 2011.

The Association’s full 2011 industry analysis, which shows regional trends and sales by individual breweries, will be published in the May/June issue of The New Brewer, available May 22, 2012.

For additional statistics, see the craft brewing statistics, and 2011 craft brewersales numbers.

¹The definition of a craft brewer as stated by the Brewers Association: An American craft brewer is small, independent, and traditional. Small: Annual production of beer less than 6 million barrels. Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for purposes of this definition. Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer. Traditional: A brewer who has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewer’s brands) or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.

²Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for the Top 50 rankings.