Every year the Brewers Association releases lists of the top breweries based on beer sales volumes.

We took a quick look at last year’s list to compare some of the growth of some of our favorite breweries in the country and broke down some of the major changes.

• Bell’s Brewery, which in 2015 announced a 200,000 square foot expansion, that bumped production up to 1 million barrels a year, jumped up one spot from 8th to become the 7th largest craft brewery in the country. In 2016 Bell’s has already expanded distribution to 9 new states and we have reason to believe more will be announced soon.
• Ballast Point, fresh off the heals of their $1 Billion sale to Constellation, experienced the largest jump from 31st to 11th on the list
• Firestone Walker jumped three spots up to #16 and while their new parent company Duvel Moortgat dropped from 12th to 15th, we expect that acquisition to bump Duvel up considerably in 2016.
• Oskar Blues saw a major leap from 24th, up ten spots to 14th. That ranking will only get higher in the coming years with the upcoming addition of their Austin location.
• It should also be noted, that Founders is no longer listed as a craft brewery this year, due to their sale to the Mahou San Miguel Group. Founders sold a 30% stake in the company, which is just over the 25% ownership cut off for a brewery to be considered independent.
• New to the list this year are Revolution Brewing out of Chicago and Four Peaks Brewing. Four Peaks along with Breckenridge Brewery will see their final appearance on the largest craft breweries by volume list, as they were both purchased by Anheuser-Busch at the end of 2015.

 

	Brewing Company	City	State
1	D. G. Yuengling and Son, Inc	Pottsville	PA
2	Boston Beer Co	Boston	MA
3	Sierra Nevada Brewing Co	Chico	CA
4	New Belgium Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
5	Gambrinus	San Antonio	TX
6	Lagunitas Brewing Co*	Petaluma	CA
7	Bell’s Brewery, Inc	Kalamazoo	MI
8	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
9	Minhas Craft Brewery	Monroe	WI
10	Stone Brewing Co	Escondido	CA
11	Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits*	San Diego	CA
12	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
13	Firestone Walker Brewing Co	Paso Robles	CA
14	Oskar Blues Brewing Holding Co	Longmont	CO
15	Duvel Moortgat USA	Kansas City & Cooperstown	MO/NY
16	Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	Milton	DE
17	Matt Brewing Co	Utica	NY
18	SweetWater Brewing Co	Atlanta	GA
19	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
20	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
21	Great Lakes Brewing Co	Cleveland	OH
22	Alaskan Brewing Co.	Juneau	AK
23	Abita Brewing Co	Abita Springs	LA
24	Anchor Brewing Co	San Francisco	CA
25	Stevens Point Brewery Co	Stevens Point	WI
26	Victory Brewing Co	Downingtown	PA
27	August Schell Brewing Co	New Ulm	MN
28	Long Trail Brewing Co	Bridgewater Corners	VT
29	Summit Brewing Co	Saint Paul	MN
30	Shipyard Brewing Co	Portland	ME
31	Full Sail Brewing Co	Hood River	OR
32	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
33	Southern Tier Brewing Co	Lakewood	NY
34	Rogue Ales Brewery	Newport	OR
35	21st Amendment Brewery	Bay Area	CA
36	Ninkasi Brewing Co	Eugene	OR
37	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
38	Narragansett Brewing Co	Providence	RI
39	Left Hand Brewing Company	Longmont	CO
40	Uinta Brewing Co	Salt Lake City	UT
41	Green Flash Brewing Co	San Diego	CA
42	Allagash Brewing Co	Portland	ME
43	Lost Coast Brewery	Eureka	CA
44	Bear Republic Brewing Co	Cloverdale	CA
45	Troegs Brewing Co	Hershey	PA
46	Karl Strauss Brewing Co	San Diego	CA
47	Breckenridge Brewery*	Littleton	CO
48	North Coast Brewing Co Inc.	Fort Bragg	CA
49	Four Peaks Brewing Co*	Tempe	AZ
50	Revolution Brewing Co	Chicago	IL
	*Craft volume pro-rated in 2015 or will be pro-rated/exiting craft brewer data set in 2016

 

Top 50 U.S. Overall Brewing Companies²

(Based on 2015 beer sales volume)

 

Rank	Brewing Company	City	State
1	Anheuser-Busch, Inc (a)	Saint Louis	MO
2	MillerCoors (b)	Chicago	IL
3	Pabst Brewing Co (c)	Los Angeles	CA
4	D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc	Pottsville	PA
5	Boston Beer Co (d)	Boston	MA
6	North American Breweries (e)	Rochester	NY
7	Sierra Nevada Brewing Co	Chico	CA
8	New Belgium Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
9	Craft Brew Alliance (f)	Portland	OR
10	Lagunitas Brewing Co (g)	Petaluma	CA
11	Gambrinus (h)	San Antonio	TX
12	Bell’s Brewery, Inc (i)	Kalamazoo	MI
13	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
14	Minhas Craft Brewery (j)	Monroe	WI
15	Stone Brewing Co	Escondido	CA
16	Sleeman Brewing Co (k)	LaCrosse	WI
17	Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits (l)	San Diego	CA
18	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
19	Firestone Walker Brewing Co (m)	Paso Robles	CA
20	Founders Brewing Co	Grand Rapids	MI
21	Oskar Blues Brewing Holding Co (n)	Longmont	CO
22	Duvel Moortgat USA (o)	Kansas City	MO
23	Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	Milton	DE
24	Matt Brewing Co (p)	Utica	NY
25	SweetWater Brewing Co	Atlanta	GA
26	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
27	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
28	Great Lakes Brewing Co	Cleveland	OH
29	Alaskan Brewing Co	Juneau	AK
30	Abita Brewing Co	Abita Springs	LA
31	Anchor Brewing Co	San Francisco	CA
32	Stevens Point Brewery Co (q)	Stevens Point	WI
33	Victory Brewing Co	Downingtown	PA
34	August Schell Brewing Co (r)	New Ulm	MN
35	Long Trail Brewing Co (s)	Bridgewater Corners	VT
36	Summit Brewing Co	Saint Paul	MN
37	Shipyard Brewing Co (t)	Portland	ME
38	Full Sail Brewing Co	Hood River	OR
39	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
40	Southern Tier Brewing Co	Lakewood	NY
41	Rogue Ales Brewery	Newport	OR
42	21st Amendment Brewery	Bay Area	CA
43	Ninkasi Brewing Co	Eugene	OR
44	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
45	Narragansett Brewing Co	Providence	RI
46	Pittsburgh Brewing Co (u)	Pittsburgh	PA
47	Left Hand Brewing Company	Longmont	CO
48	Uinta Brewing Co	Salt Lake City	UT
49	Green Flash Brewing Co	San Diego	CA
50	Allagash Brewing Co	Portland	ME

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