The Brewers Association (BA) released its annual top 50 rankings of craft breweries by beer sales volume in 2020.
BA chief economist Bart Watson set the stage for the rankings by noting the drastic shift in the way Americans purchased alcoholic beverages 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,” Watson said in the press release. “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.”
Although there was some jockeying for position, the top of the list remained largely unchanged, with D.G. Yuengling & Son, Boston Beer Company and Sierra Nevada holding down the top three spots again. (The volume total for Samuel Adams maker Boston Beer included Dogfish Head for the first time since the two companies merged in 2019).
Another first: New Belgium Brewing Company was no longer included in the BA’s top 50 craft brewers list, following the sale of the company to Kirin-owned Lion Little World Beverages. The transaction placed New Belgium outside of the BA’s definition of a small and independent craft brewery (those producing fewer than 6 million barrels annually and not more than 25% owned by a beverage alcohol company that is not itself a craft brewery). In 2019, New Belgium was the fourth largest craft brewery, according to the BA.
However, New Belgium ranked 11th, just behind Sierra Nevada, on the BA’s list of the top 50 overall U.S. brewing companies by beer sales volume in 2020.
Taking over the fourth-place position was Duvel Moortgat USA (Boulevard Brewing Company, Firestone Walker, Brewery Ommegang), followed by Gambrinus (Shiner, Trumer) at No. 5, the CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective (Oskar Blues, Cigar City, Deep Ellum, Three Weavers, Perrin, Utah Brewers Cooperative) at No. 6, Bell’s Brewery at No. 7, Artisanal Brewing Ventures (Sixpoint, Victory, Southern Tier) at No. 8, Stone Brewing at No. 9 and Deschutes Brewery at No. 10.
New Belgium’s exit from the ranking allowed Bend, Oregon-headquartered Deschutes to return to the top 10 after a one-year absence.
Within the top 20, there was quite a bit of movement, with SweetWater (No. 11), New Glarus (No. 12) and Matt Brewing (No. 13), each gaining three spots. Brooklyn Brewery (No. 14) dropped two spots and was the only top 25 brewery to drop in position. The New York City-headquartered craft brewery’s challenges in its typically tourist-heavy home market during the pandemic have been well-documented.
Boston’s Harpoon Brewery cracked the top 15 after gaining two spots, followed by Stevens Point (plus four spots, to No. 16); Fort Collins, Colorado’s Odell Brewing (plus two, to No. 17); Minhas (no change, No. 18).
The biggest gainers within the top 20 were Covington, Louisiana-headquartered Abita Beer, which gained five spots to No. 19, and Hershey, Pennsylvania-headquartered Tröegs Independent Brewing, which jumped seven spots, to No. 20.
St. Paul, Minnesota’s Summit Brewing again claimed the No. 21 spot, followed by Great Lakes (plus one, to No. 22), August Schell (plus two, to No. 23), Indianapolis-headquartered Three Floyds (plus seven to No. 24) and Cincinnati, Ohio’s Rhinegiest (plus one, to No. 25).
Ballast Point returned to the list after a five-year hiatus following its 2015 acquisition by Constellation Brands. Chicago-area upstart Kings & Convicts acquired the San Diego-headquartered craft brewery in December 2019, so 2020 was Ballast Point’s first full year back as a BA-defined craft brewer. Kings & Convicts and Ballast Point landed at No. 30. In 2015, Ballast Point was the country’s eleventh largest craft brewer by volume.
Several other newcomers entered the top 50 — a departure from last year’s list when Stratford, Connecticut-based Two Roads was the only newcomer — including BrewDog’s U.S. operations (No. 41), Toppling Goliath (No. 43), Fremont Brewing (No. 45), Creature Comforts (No. 48), Montauk Brewing (No. 49) and New Holland (No. 50).
In most cases, newcomers to the list vaulted several breweries to reach their spots. Columbus, Ohio-based BrewDog posted the biggest climb on the listing, rising 25 spots from No. 66 in 2019. Decorah, Iowa-based Toppling Goliath climbed 18 spots from No. 61 in 2019, and Seattle, Washington-based Fremont Brewing climbed eight spots from No. 53. Athens, Georgia-headquartered Creature Comforts rose 12 spots from No. 60 in 2019. Holland, Michigan-based New Holland jumped six spots from No. 56 in 2019.
Elsewhere within the bottom half of the top 50, longer-established craft brands lost footing, including Juneau, Alaska-based Alaskan (down four, to No. 26); Portland, Maine-based Allagash (down one, to No. 29); Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based Narragansett (down two, to No. 32); San Francisco, California-based 21st Amendment (down five, to No. 34); Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Surly (down two spots, to No. 36); Newport, Oregon-based Rogue (down one, to No. 37); and Portland, Maine-based Shipyard (down four, to No. 46).
San Jose, California-based Gordon Biersch (No. 27); Seattle, Washington-based Georgetown (No. 28); Eugene, Oregon-based Ninkasi (No. 33); and Stratford, Connecticut-based Two Roads (No. 44) each climbed five spots. Bridgewater Corners, Vermont-based Long Trail (No. 31) climbed six spots. San Diego-based Modern Times (No. 40) climbed four spots.
Eureka, California-based Lost Coast (No. 38) and Houston-based Saint Arnold (No. 42) climbed three spots. Chicago-headquartered Revolution (No. 39) and Longmont, Colorado-based Left Hand (No. 47) each jumped one spot.
In the bottom half of the top 50, only Frederick, Maryland-based Flying Dog (No. 35) held its same spot from 2019.
Falling out of the top 50 in 2020 were San Diego-headquartered Karl Strauss (No. 39 in 2019), which relies heavily on traffic to its brewpubs; Westminster, Massachusetts-based Wachusett (No. 43 in 2019); Hood River, Oregon-based Full Sail (No. 46 in 2019); Cloverdale, California-based Bear Republic (No. 49 in 2019); and Fort Bragg, California-based North Coast (No. 50 in 2019).
The BA also shared the overall top 50 U.S. brewing companies in 2020, ranked by beer sales volumes. The top 10 are as follows:
- Anheuser-Busch InBev
- Molson Coors
- Constellation Brands
- Heineken USA
- Pabst Brewing Company
- Diageo
- D.G Yuengling & Son
- FIFCO USA
- Boston Beer Company
- Sierra Nevada
The BA will release its full 2020 industry report in the May/June issue of The New Brewer magazine. The trade group will also share a “State of the Industry” report in an April 8 webinar.
