Boulder, Colo. — The Brewers Association (BA)—the trade association representing small and independent¹  American craft brewers—today released annual production figures for the U.S. craft brewing industry.² In 2022, small and independent brewers collectively produced 24.3 million barrels of beer, on par with 2021’s numbers³, and craft’s overall beer market share by volume grew to 13.2%, up from 13.1% the previous year.

The overall beer market* shrank 3% by volume in 2022. Retail dollar value was estimated at $28.4 billion, representing a 24.6% market share and 6% growth over 2021. Sales growth was stronger than volume due to pricing, share shift to smaller brewers—who are more likely to sell onsite and via distributed draught—as well as the continued channel shift back to on-premise, which has a higher average retail value. Craft brewers provided 189,413 direct jobs, a 9% increase from 2021, driven both by growth in the number of breweries and a continued shift to hospitality-focused business models.

“2022 presented small brewers with a number of challenges, including rising operating and material costs and increasing competition, particularly in distribution,” said Bart Watson, chief economist, Brewers Association. “In this maturing and competitive market, collective growth for the category is hard to come by.”

The number of operating craft breweries continued to climb in 2022, reaching an all-time high of 9,552, including 2,035 microbreweries, 3,418 brewpubs, 3,838 taproom breweries, and 261 regional craft breweries. The total U.S. operating brewery count was 9,709, up from 9,384 in 2021. Throughout the year, there were 549 new brewery openings and 319 closings. Openings decreased for a second consecutive year, with the continued decline reflecting a more mature market. The closing rate increased in 2022 but continued to remain relatively low, at approximately 3%.

“The relatively low closure rate reflects both the solid demand for fuller flavored local beer as well as the versatility and flexibility of small brewers,” added Watson.

In addition, the Brewers Association also released its annual list of the top 50 producing craft brewing companies and overall brewing companies in the U.S., based on beer sales volume. Of the top 50 overall brewing companies in 2022, 40 were small and independent craft brewing companies.⁴

“Breweries that managed to move up the list organically are often those that are adding incremental growth to the category,” said Watson. “Both beer and craft need to create new occasions and new beer lovers to find growth.”

• View and download list of top 50 producing craft brewing companies

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies

Rank	Company	City	State
1	D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc	Pottsville	PA
2	Boston Beer Co	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 Company	Shiner, Berkeley	TX, CA
6	Artisanal Brewing Ventures	Dowingtown, Lakewood, Brooklyn	PA, NY, NY
7	Stone Brewing*	Escondido	CA
8	CANarchy	Longmont, Tampa, Salt Lake City, Comstock, Dallas	CO, FL, UT, MI, TX
9	Tilray Beer Brands	Atlanta, Montauk, San Diego	GA, NY, CA
10	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
11	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
12	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
13	Athletic Brewing Company	Milford	CT
14	Matt Brewing Co	Utica	NY
15	Minhas Craft Brewery	Monroe	WI
16	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
17	Gordon Biersch Brewing Co	San Jose	CA
18	Great Lakes Brewing Company	Cleveland	OH
19	Stevens Point Brewery	Stevens Point	WI
20	Allagash Brewing Company	Portland	ME
21	Georgetown Brewing Co	Seattle	WA
22	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
23	Rhinegeist Brewery	Cincinnati	OH
24	Three Floyds Brewing	Munster	IN
25	Troegs Brewing Co	Hershey	PA
26	Summit Brewing Co	Saint Paul	MN
27	Narragansett Brewing Co	Providence	RI
28	Craft ‘Ohana (Maui/Modern Times)	Kihei, San Diego	HI, CA
29	August Schell Brewing Company	New Ulm	MN
30	Kings & Convicts Brewing	San Diego	CA
31	Pittsburgh Brewing Co	Pittsburgh	PA
32	Alaskan Brewing Co	Juneau	AK
33	Kona Brewing Co	Kailua-Kona	HI
34	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
35	Abita Brewing Co	Covington	LA
36	Fiddlehead Brewing	Shelburne	VT
37	Creature Comforts Brewing Co	Athens	GA
38	BrewDog Brewing Company	Canal Winchester	OH
39	Revolution Brewing	Chicago	IL
40	Lost Coast Brewery	Eureka	CA
41	Rogue Ales Brewery	Newport	OR
42	Surly Brewing Company	Minneapolis	MN
43	Ninkasi Brewing Co	Eugene	OR
44	Saint Arnold Brewing Co	Houston	TX
45	IndieBrew	Atlanta, Nashville	GA, TN
46	Shipyard Brewing Co	Portland	ME
47	Jack's Abby Brewing	Framingham	MA
48	North Coast Brewing Co	Fort Bragg	CA
49	Pizza Port Brewing Company	Carlsbad	CA
50	Made by the Water	New Orleans, Apalachicola, Asheville, Charleston	LA, FL, NC, SC

Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies 

Rank	Company	City	State
1	Anheuser-Busch Inc (a)	St. Louis	MO
2	MolsonCoors (b)	Chicago	IL
3	Constellation (c)	Chicago	IL
4	Heineken USA (d)	White Plains	NY
5	Pabst Brewing Co (e)	Los Angeles	CA
6	Diageo (f)	Norwalk	CT
7	D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc	Pottsville	PA
8	FIFCO USA (g)	Rochester	NY
9	Boston Beer Co (h)	Boston, Milton	MA, DE
10	Kirin-Lion / New Belgium Brewing (i)	Fort Collins, Comstock	CO, MI
11	Sierra Nevada Brewing Co	Chico	CA
12	Duvel Moortgat USA (j)	Paso Robles, Kansas City, Cooperstown	CA, MO, NY
13	Founders Brewing / Mahou San Miguel (k)	Grand Rapids, Boulder	MI, CO
14	Gambrinus (l)	Berkeley, Shiner	CA, TX
15	Artisanal Brewing Ventures (m)	Downingtown, Lakewood, Brooklyn	PA, NY, NY
16	Stone Brewing (n)	Escondido	CA
17	CANarchy (o)	Longmont, Tampa, Salt Lake City, Comstock, Dallas	CO, FL, UT, MI, TX
18	Tilray Beer Brands (p)	Atlanta, Montauk, San Diego	GA, NY, CA
19	Sapporo USA (q)	San Francisco	CA
20	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
21	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
22	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
23	Athletic Brewing Company	Stratford	CT
24	Matt Brewing Co (r)	Utica	NY
25	Minhas Craft Brewery (s)	Monroe	WI
26	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
27	Gordon Biersch Brewing Co	San Jose	CA
28	Great Lakes Brewing Company	Cleveland	OH
29	Stevens Point Brewery (t)	Stevens Point	WI
30	Allagash Brewing Company	Portland	ME
31	Georgetown Brewing Co	Seattle	WA
32	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
33	Rhinegeist Brewery	Cincinnati	OH
34	Three Floyds Brewing (u)	Munster	IN
35	Troegs Brewing Co	Hershey	PA
36	Summit Brewing Co	Saint Paul	MN
37	Narragansett Brewing Co	Pawtucket	RI
38	Craft ‘Ohana (Maui/Modern Times) (v)	Kihei, San Diego	HI/CA
39	August Schell Brewing Company (w)	New Ulm	MN
40	Kings & Convicts Brewing/Ballast Point	San Diego	CA
41	Pittsburgh Brewing (x)	Pittsburgh	PA
42	Alaskan Brewing Co	Juneau	AK
43	Kona Brewing Co (y)	Kailua-Kona	HI
44	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
45	Abita Brewing Co	Covington	LA
46	Fiddlehead Brewing	Shelburne	VT
47	Creature Comforts	Athens	GA
48	BrewDog Brewing Co	Canal Winchester	OH
49	Revolution Brewing	Chicago	IL
50	Lost Coast Brewing Co	Eureka	CA

Note: Numbers are preliminary. For additional insights from Bart Watson, visit Insights & Analysis on the Brewers Association website. The full 2022 industry analysis will be published in the May/June 2023 issue of The New Brewer®, highlighting regional trends and production by individual breweries.

* Does not include FMBs/FSBs. With those included, total taxed-as-beer products decreased 4%.

¹ An American craft brewer is a small and independent brewer. Small: Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3% of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer. Brewer: Has a TTB Brewer’s Notice and makes beer.

² Absolute figures reflect the dynamic craft brewer data set as specified by the craft brewer definition. Growth numbers are presented on a comparable basis. See full methodology.

³ Volume by craft brewers represents total taxable production.

⁴ Figure based on companies that met the craft brewer definition for all or part of 2022.

View a list of brands included under the companies in the overall brewing category.

Contact: Meg Papanastassiou (Weldon) (on behalf of the Brewers Association) 970.963.4873 x212.

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