Every year the Brewers Association releases their lists of the top 50 breweries by volume based on overall craft beer sales for the previous year.

We took a quick look at last year’s list to compare the growth of some of our favorite craft breweries in the country and broke down some of the major changes. As a reminder the Brewers Association defines craft breweries as having produced less than 6 million barrels of beer each year and being controlled by or having less than 25% ownership by an outside entity that is not itself a craft brewer.

• The major notably significant absences from the list include the exclusion of Ballast Point and Lagunitas, who for the first time are no longer considered a craft brewery by the Brewers Association’s definition. As reported earlier this year, Constellation purchased Ballast Point for $1 Billion, and Heineken now owns a 50% stake in Lagunitas.
• Breckenridge and Four Peaks also left the top 50 after being acquired by Anheuser-Busch
• Duvel Moortgat jumped up to 6th place, up from 15th, replacing Lagunitas with the addition of Firestone Walker.
• Oskar Blues, now with their Asheville and Austin locations fully operational jumped up from 14th in 2015 to 10th in 2016.
• The join venture partnership of Victory Brewing and Southern Tier under the title Artisanal Brewing Ventures debuted at #13 after their union in February of 2016
• Surly made this year’s top 50 list at #42 after doubling its capacity in 2016
• Also new to this year’s list after being absent in 2015: Sixpoint, Avery, Real Ale and BJ’s Brewery

1	D. G. Yuengling & 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	Duvel Moortgat USA	Paso Robles/Kansas City/Cooperstown	CA/MO/NY
7	Bell’s Brewery, Inc	Comstock	MI
8	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
9	Stone Brewing Co	Escondido	CA
10	Oskar Blues Brewing Holding Co	Longmont	CO
11	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
12	Minhas Craft Brewery	Monroe	WI
13	Artisanal Brewing Ventures	Downington/Lakewood	PA/NY
14	Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	Milton	DE
15	SweetWater Brewing Co	Atlanta	GA
16	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
17	Matt Brewing Co	Utica	NY
18	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
19	Alaskan Brewing	Juneau	AK
20	Abita Brewing Co	Abita Springs	LA
21	Great Lakes Brewing Co	Cleveland	OH
22	Anchor Brewing Co	San Francisco	CA
23	Stevens Point Brewery	Stevens Point	WI
24	August Schell Brewing Co	New Ulm	MN
24	Long Trail Brewing Co	Bridgewater Corners	VT
26	Summit Brewing Co	Saint Paul	MN
27	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
28	Shipyard Brewing Co	Portland	ME
29	Full Sail Brewing Co	Hood River	OR
30	Rogue Ales	Newport	OR
31	21st Amendment Brewery	Bay Area	CA
32	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
33	Ninkasi Brewing Co	Eugene	OR
34	Gordon Biersch Brewing Co	San Jose	CA
35	Allagash Brewing Co	Portland	ME
36	Narragansett Brewing Co	Providence	RI
37	Green Flash Brewing Co	San Diego	CA
38	Tröegs Brewing Co	Hershey	PA
39	Uinta Brewing Co	Salt Lake City	UT
40	Bear Republic Brewing Co	Cloverdale	CA
41	Karl Strauss Brewing Co	San Diego	CA
42	Surly Brewing Co	Minneapolis	MN
43	Sixpoint Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
44	Left Hand Brewing Co	Longmont	CO
45	Lost Coast Brewery	Eureka	CA
46	Revolution Brewing	Chicago	IL
47	North Coast Brewing Co	Fort Bragg	CA
48	Avery Brewing Co	Boulder	CO
49	Real Ale Brewing Co	Blanco	TX
50	BJ’s Brewery	Huntington Beach	CA

 

Additionally, The Brewers Association also shared their overall top 50 beer producers by volume in America, which includes non-craft brands, here’s how those rankings shook out.

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 & Son, Inc	Pottsville	PA
5	North American Breweries (d)	Rochester	NY
6	Boston Beer Co (e)	Boston	MA
7	Sierra Nevada Brewing Co	Chico	CA
8	New Belgium Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
9	Lagunitas Brewing Co (f)	Petaluma	CA
10	Craft Brew Alliance (g)	Portland	OR
11	Gambrinus (h)	San Antonio	TX
12	Duvel Moortgat USA (i)	Paso Robles/Kansas City/Cooperstown	CA/MO/NY
13	Ballast Point Brewing Co (j)	San Diego	CA
14	Bell’s Brewery, Inc (k)	Comstock	MI
15	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
16	Founders Brewing Co (l)	Grand Rapids	MI
17	Stone Brewing Co	Escondido	CA
18	Oskar Blues Brewing Holding Co (m)	Longmont	CO
19	Sapporo USA (n)	La Crosse	WI
20	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
21	Minhas Craft Brewery (o)	Monroe	WI
22	Artisanal Brewing Ventures (p)	Downington/Lakewood	PA/NY
23	Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	Milton	DE
24	SweetWater Brewing Co	Atlanta	GA
25	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
26	Matt Brewing Co (q)	Utica	NY
27	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
28	Alaskan Brewing Co	Juneau	AK
29	Abita Brewing Co	Abita Springs	LA
30	Great Lakes Brewing Co	Cleveland	OH
31	Anchor Brewing Co	San Francisco	CA
32	Stevens Point Brewery (r)	Stevens Point	WI
33	August Schell Brewing Co (s)	New Ulm	MN
33	Long Trail Brewing Co (t)	Bridgewater Corners	VT
35	Summit Brewing Co	Saint Paul	MN
36	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
37	Shipyard Brewing Co (u)	Portland	ME
38	Full Sail Brewing Co	Hood River	OR
39	Rogue Ales	Newport	OR
40	21st Amendment Brewery	Bay Area	CA
41	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
42	Ninkasi Brewing Co	Eugene	OR
43	Gordon Biersch Brewing Co	San Jose	CA
44	Allagash Brewing Co	Portland	ME
45	Narragansett Brewing Co	Providence	RI
46	Green Flash Brewing Co (v)	San Diego	CA
47	Tröegs Brewing Co	Hershey	PA
48	Uinta Brewing Co	Salt Lake City	UT
49	Bear Republic Brewing Co	Cloverdale	CA
50	Pittsburgh Brewing Co (w)	Pittsburgh	PA

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