The Brewers Association today released its annual list of the top 50 overall brewing companies and the top 50 producing craft brewing companies in the U.S., based on beer sales volume produced or sold in the US (including imports).
The top ten ranking of the overall brewing companies has not changed in relation to last year. Largest brewing group was again Anheuser Busch, followed by MolsonCoors, Constellation Brands, Heineken, Pabst Brewing, Diageo, Yuengling, FIFCO USA, Boston Beer and Sierra Nevada Brewing.
Major differences came with the Craft Brewing Alliance (CBA) that ranked 13 in 2019 and has totally dropped out of the list, after being swallowed by AB InBev. (inside.beer, 30.9.2020)
Dogfish Head Brewing that ranked 23 in 2019 has also disappeared this year from the list as it has merged with Boston Beer Company that ranked 9. (inside.beer, 9.5.2019)
New on the list is Kings & Convicts Brewing which jumped to rank 39 after having purchased Ballast Point Brewing from Constellation Brands in December 2019 (inside.beer, 4.12.2019)
Artisanal Brewing Ventures (ABV), an umbrella company of like-minded breweries including Sixpoint Brewery, Southern Tier Brewing Co. and Victory Brewing Co. has jumped from rank 20 to rank 17 after adding Bold Rock to its portfolio in November 2019.
The breweries with the most positive development relative to its peers in 2020 were Troegs Brewing (+8), Three Floyds Brewing (+8), Long Trail Brewing (+7), Abita Brewing (+6), Gordon Biersch Brewing (+6), Georgetown Brewing (+6) and Ninkasi Brewing (+6).
Anchor Brewing/Sapporo USA saw the sharpest decline last year. The brewing group backed by Japanese brewer Sapporo, has fallen from rank 19 in 2019 to rank 48 in 2020. However, this will most probably reverse again in the coming years when Sapporo will build or acquire a brewery on the west coast. (inside.beer, 12.3.2021)
“The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed where Americans purchased alcohol in 2020. Breweries who had established packaging and distribution capacity were best positioned to take advantage of the boom in off-premise sales and weather market uncertainty,” said Bart Watson, chief economist, Brewers Association. “These businesses also saw variation in performance based on geography and business model, with different parts of the country seeing very different beer trends, and draught-heavy breweries suffering.”
Please find below the 2020 list of the top 50 overall brewing companies based on beer sales volume (in brackets ranking in 2019 and the change from 2019 to 2020):
01 (01, +-0) Anheuser-Busch
02 (02, +-0) MolsonCoors
03 (03, +-0) Constellation
04 (04, +-0) Heineken USA
05 (05, +-0) Pabst Brewing
06 (06, +-0) Diageo USA
07 (07, +-0) D. G. Yuengling and Son
08 (08, +-0) FIFCO USA
09 (09, +-0) Boston Beer
10 (10, +-0) Sierra Nevada Brewing
11 (11, +-0) New Belgium Brewing / Kirin
12 (14, +02) Founders Brewing / Mahou San Miguel
13 (12, -01) Duvel Moortgat
14 (15, +01) Gambrinus
15 (17, +02) CANarchy
16 (16, +-0) Bell's Brewery
17 (20, +03) Artisanal Brewing Ventures
18 (18, +-0) Stone Brewing
19 (21, +02) Deschutes Brewery
20 (24, +04) SweetWater Brewing
21 (25, +04) New Glarus Brewing
22 (26, +04) Matt Brewing
23 (22, -01) Brooklyn Brewery
24 (27, +03) Harpoon Brewery
25 (30, +05) Stevens Point Brewery
26 (29, +03) Odell Brewing
27 (28, +01) Minhas Craft Brewery
28 (34, +06) Abita Brewing
29 (37, +08) Troegs Brewing
30 (31, +01) Summit Brewing
31 (33, +02) Great Lakes Brewing
32 (35, +03) August Schell Brewing
33 (41, +08) Three Floyds Brewing
34 (36, +02) Rhinegeist Brewery
35 (32, -03) Alaskan Brewing
36 (42, +06) Gordon Biersch Brewing
37 (43, +06) Georgetown Brewing
38 (38, +-0) Allagash Brewing Company
39 (--, new) Kings & Convicts Brewing/Ballast Point
40 (47, +07) Long Trail Brewing
41 (40, -01) Narragansett Brewing
42 (48, +06) Ninkasi Brewing
43 (39, -04) 21st Amendment Brewery
44 (45, +01) Flying Dog Brewery
45 (44, -01) Surly Brewing
46 (46, +-0) Rogue Ales Brewery
47 (--, new) Lost Coast Brewery
48 (19, -29) Anchor Brewing Co / Sapporo USA
49 (50, +01) Revolution Brewing
50 (--, new) Modern Times Beer
The list of the Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies differs from above’s list as all breweries which are not 1. small (annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less), 2. independent (less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled by a beverage alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer) and 3. produce beer (has a TTB Brewer’s Notice) will drop out of the list.
According to these criteria, the 20 largest craft brewers in the United States are
1 (1, +-0) D. G. Yuengling and Son
2 (2, +-0) Boston Beer
3 (3, +-0) Sierra Nevada Brewing
4 (5, +01) Duvel Moortgat
5 (6, +01) Gambrinus
6 (8, +02) CANarchy
7 (7, +-0) Bell's Brewery
8 (10, +02) Artisanal Brewing Ventures
9 (9, +-0) Stone Brewing
10 (11, +01) Deschutes Brewery
11 (14, +03) SweetWater Brewing
12 (15, +03) New Glarus Brewing
13 (16, +03) Matt Brewing Co
14 (12, -02) Brooklyn Brewery
15 (17, +02) Harpoon Brewery
16 (20, +04) Stevens Point Brewery
17 (19, +02) Odell Brewing
18 (18, +-0) Minhas Craft Brewery
19 (24, +05) Abita Brewing Co
20 (27, +07) Troegs Brewing Co
Most significant change was that New Belgium Brewing (rank 4 in 2019) dropped out of the list after the brewery was bought by Australian-based Lion Little World Beverages, the global craft beer division of Australasian brewer, Lion, which is part of Kirin from Japan. (inside.beer, 19.11.2019) The brewery is therefore no longer see as an independent brewery.
Dogfish Head Brewing (ranked 13 in 2019) has also disappeared this year from the list as it has merged with Boston Beer Company (rank 2 in 2019 and 2020). (inside.beer, 9.5.2019)
