The Brewers Association released their in the U.S. by sales volume (2009 volume). They released two lists: one reporting on the top 50 craft brewing companies, and one reporting on the top 50 overall brewing companies. The Northwest (including WA, OR, MT, & AK) has 7 companies in the craft brewers list, and 8 companies in the top 50 overall brewers list. One thing that sticks out to me every year when this list is released is that Mac & Jack’s is the only draft-only, non-chain company to make the list. Many of these companies are included in large part due to their bottle/can distribution, but Mac & Jack’s is on there because they dominate with tap handles in the Seattle and Washington market. It is pretty impressive what they have built up.
These are the 7 Northwest companies ranked in the top 50 Craft Brewing Companies list:
Pyramid Breweries – Seattle, WA – 5th largest craft; 12th largest overall
Deschutes Brewery – Bend, OR – 6th largest craft; 13th largest overall
Alaskan Brewing – Juneau, AK – 11th largest craft; 18th largest overall
Full Sail Brewing Company – Hood River, OR – 14th largest craft; 22nd largest overall
Rogue Ales – Newport, OR – 24th largest craft; 34th largest overall
Big Sky Brewing – Missoula, MT – 37th largest craft; 49th largest overall
Mac and Jack’s Brewery – Redmond, WA – 39th largest craft; 51st largest overall
Craft Brewers Alliance, which includes Redhook and Widmer, does not qualify as a craft brewery per the , but they rank as the 8th largest brewery on the overall list.
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Here are some additional interesting facts from the Brewers Association:
- Growth of the craft brewing industry in 2009 was 7.2% by volume and 10.3% by dollars compared to growth in 2008 of 5.9% by volume and 10.1% by dollars.
- Craft brewers sold an estimated 9,115,635 barrels* of beer in 2009, up from 8,501,713 in 2008.
- Overall, US beer sales were down 2.2% in 2009.
- Imported beer sales were down 9.8% in 2009, equating to a loss of 2.8 million barrels.
- The craft brewing sales share in 2009 was 4.3% by volume and 6.9% by dollars.
- Craft brewer retail dollar value in 2009 was an estimated $6.98 billion, up from $6.32 billion in 2008.
- 1,595 breweries operated for some or all of 2009, the highest total since before Prohibition.
* 1 barrel = 31 US gallons
I really have a problem with the BA definition of craft brewery, as I’ve written before when they changed it. If CBA (Redhook/Widmer) is not a craft brewer because of their one-third ownership by A-B/InBev, why is Full Sail also not excluded, since 35 percent of the beer they make is for SABMiller/Coors? (Sorry, Henry’s is NOT a craft beer.)
I don’t like the obvious politics in this decision (which also excludes Ommegang from the list, by the way, because of its foreign ownership). Let’s face it — larger craft breweries are jealous of CBA having the A-B distribution system, the best in the U.S.