Think globally, drink locally: 2006 stats

Every year about this time the Brewers Association releases its statistical review of the craft beer industry from the year prior.

The final tabulations for 2006 are now in.

The craft beer industry grew 12+%. Imports were also up 12%, while mainstream beers, which had been down in 2005, were up 2%.

The Top 3 Domestic Craft Brewing Companies were:

1. Boston Beer Company 1,613,000 bbls
2. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company 638,705 bbls
3. New Belgium Brewing Company 437,400 bbls

The Top 3 Overall Brewing Companies were Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors, with Boston Beer at the 5th position, Sierra Nevada at the 7th spot, and New Belgium 9th.

Clipper City Brewing Company broke into the top 50 tier of craft brewers, achieving the 49th spot, with 14,600 barrels of beer sold. This comes from page 61, The New Brewer (Vol. 24, #3, May/June 2007).

However, on the BA's website Clipper City does not appear in the top 50. It is Uinta Brewing which holds the 49th spot.

[UPDATE 2007.06.04: I sent an email to the magazine's editor asking for a clarification, and received this reply:

The Top 50 list from the press release includes breweries that do not want their specific data listed. The list in The New Brewer has these do-not-publish breweries removed from the tables.

Let me know if you have further questions.

Paul Gatza

Director

Brewers Association

More on the year in review:

• Is there a legal definition of microbrewery?
• Double digit growth
• New advocacy group for small brewers (2005)