It’s official! The best craft breweries by state announced
The Brewers Association has released its list of the top producing brewing companies in the US. 40 of the top 50 were small and independent craft brewers.
The number of craft breweries in the United States continued to grow last year, with a net gain of 77. The Brewers Association, an American trade group representing more than 5,400 small and independent craft brewing companies, recently released its list of top producing breweries in the US.
There are now over 9,900 breweries operating in the US, of those 9,761, an all-time high, are craft breweries. They include “2,092 microbreweries, 3,502 brewpubs, 3,910 taproom breweries, and 257 regional craft breweries,” according to the Brewers Association.
The best craft breweries by state
At the top of the list of 50 overall brewing companies that produce the most beer in 2023 are household names like Anheuser-Busch, MolsonCoors, Heineken and Pabst Brewing. But joining them were 40 small and independent craft brewers. These have an annual production of no more than 6 million barrels of beer.
The brewing companies in the top 50 producing craft beer list hail from 29 states, however, a handful of them operate in multiple states. Here are the top ten craft brewers in the US:
| Rank | Brewery | City | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc | Pottsville | PA |
| 2 | Boston Beer Co Boston, Milton | Boston, Milton | MA, DE |
| 3 | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co | Chico | CA |
| 4 | Duvel Moortgat USA | Paso Robles, Kansas City, Cooperstown | CA, MO, NY |
| 5 | Gambrinus | Shiner, Berkeley | TX, CA |
| 6 | Tilray Beer Brands | Atlanta, Montauk, San Diego, Bend, Seattle, Portland, Breckenridge, Patchogue | GA, NY, CA, OR, WA, OR, CO, NY |
| 7 | Artisanal Brewing Ventures | Downingtown, Lakewood, Brooklyn | PA, NY, NY |
| 8 | Brooklyn Brewery | Brooklyn | NY |
| 9 | Monster Brewing | Longmont, Tampa, Salt Lake City, Comstock, Dallas | CO, FL, UT, MI, TX |
| 10 | Athletic Brewing Company | Milford | CT |
“While distribution is as competitive as ever, we continue to see success stories and pockets of growth across the top 50 list,” said said BA’s vice president of strategy and chief economist, Bart Watson. “Even in an era of slow growth, the strongest brands still resonate with beer drinkers, regardless of company size or location.”
Beer production down but craft breweries increase market share
“2023 was another competitive and challenging year for small and independent brewers,” said Watson. While some 23.4 millions barrels were brewed in 2023, beer production for small and independent brewers was collectively down by one percent from the year before.
“Nevertheless, even as growth has downshifted, small brewers have proved quite resilient, as seen in the increase in number of breweries, relatively low closing rates, and gains in onsite sales and jobs,” added Watson.
The market share by volume for craft beers increased from 13.1% to 13.3% and their declines were less than the overall drop in beer volumes according to the Brewers Association.