Yup, I mentioned those upthread.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Thursday, 2 April 2009 01:39 (fifteen years ago) link
from brewer's association http://www.beertown.org/ba/media_2009/Top_50_Release.html
TOP 50 CRAFT BREWING COMPANIES BY BEER SALES VOLUME (BASED ON 2008 SALES)
1 Boston Beer Co. Boston MA2 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA3 New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO4 Spoetzl Brewery Shiner TX5 Pyramid Breweries Inc. Seattle WA6 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR7 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY8 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO9 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR10 Magic Hat Brewing Co. Burlington VT11 Alaskan Brewing Co. Juneau AK12 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA13 Bell's Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI14 Kona Brewing Co. Kailua-Kona HI15 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA16 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME17 Summit Brewing Co. Saint Paul MN18 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA19 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA20 The Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY21 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI22 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE23 Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT24 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA25 Rogue Ales/Oregon Brewing Co. Newport OR26 Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH27 The Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA28 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA29 SweetWater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA30 Flying Dog Brewing Co. Frederick MD31 BJ's Restaurant & Brewery Huntington Beach CA32 Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants Louisville CO33 BridgePort Brewing Co. Portland OR34 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO35 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA36 Mac and Jack's Brewery Redmond WA37 Big Sky Brewing Co. Missoula MT38 Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants Chattanooga TN39 Karl Strauss Brewing Co. San Diego CA40 Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO41 Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe Eureka CA42 Otter Creek Brewing Co. Middlebury VT43 Utah Brewers Cooperative Salt Lake City UT44 North Coast Brewing Co. Fort Bragg CA45 Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY46 Boulder Beer Co. Boulder CO47 Pete's Brewing Co. San Antonio TX48 McMenamins Breweries Portland OR49 Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Boonville CA50 The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc. St Louis MO
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 13:50 (fifteen years ago) link
here's overall rankings: (ha, the first 3 represent like 95% of the market)
TOP 50 OVERALL BREWING COMPANIES BY BEER SALES VOLUME (BASED ON 2008 SALES)
1 Anheuser-Busch InBev St. Louis MO2 MillerCoors Brewing Co. Chicago IL3 Pabst Brewing Co. Woodridge IL4 Boston Beer Co. Boston MA5 D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc. Pottsville PA6 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA7 Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc. Woodinville WA8 New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO9 High Falls Brewing Co. Rochester NY10 Spoetzl Brewery Shiner TX11 Pyramid Breweries Inc. Seattle WA12 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR13 Iron City Brewing Co. Pittsburgh PA14 Minhas Craft Brewery Monroe WI15 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY16 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO17 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR18 Magic Hat Brewing Co. Burlington VT19 Alaskan Brewing Co. Juneau AK20 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA21 Bell's Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI22 Goose Island Beer Co. Chicago IL23 Kona Brewery LLC Kailua-Kona HI24 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA25 August Schell Brewing Co. New Ulm MN26 Shipyard Brewing Portland ME27 Summit Brewing Co. Saint Paul MN28 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA29 Mendocino Brewing Co. Ukiah CA30 Abita Brewing Co., L.L.C. Abita Springs LA31 The Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY32 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI33 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE34 Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT35 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA36 Rogue Ales/Oregon Brewing Co. Newport OR37 Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH38 The Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA39 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA40 SweetWater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA41 Flying Dog Brewing Co. Frederick MD42 BJ's Restaurant & Brewery Huntington Beach CA43 Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants Louisville CO44 BridgePort Brewing Co. Portland OR45 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO46 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA47 Straub Brewery Saint Marys PA48 Cold Spring Brewing Co. Cold Spring MN49 Mac and Jack's Brewery Redmond WA50 Big Sky Brewing Co. Missoula MT
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 13:52 (fifteen years ago) link
Really amazed how well Deschutes is doing on those lists above! Fine brewery, one of the ones I miss most not living in the Pacific Northwest anymore.
― Such A Hilbily (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 14:45 (fifteen years ago) link
it's funny how many of the top-selling crafts are still not available nationwide - as much as possible i try to sample unfamiliar (to me) breweries just about every time i pick up a six, and i've got pretty decent liquor/beer stores around. but all in all about 50% of the craft list i haven't even seen in stores
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:04 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, i've never even heard of new belgium and they're the third-biggest craft brewery by sales?
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:05 (fifteen years ago) link
here in MA we obviously get all the new england/east coast stuff and a pretty wide selection of west coast beers, but for one reason or another i rarely see the larger midwest cos. out here
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:07 (fifteen years ago) link
yea me neither xp
also kind of funny how what i thought were tiny, local, regional-favorite breweries like Long Trail (what i always thought was only for grizzled old new england dudes) are actually right behind big guys like DFH
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:10 (fifteen years ago) link
New Belgium makes Fat Tire, which is showing up in a LOT of Midwest bars and stores. Their marketing must be killer, 'cause I don't think the beer is all that great.
― Such A Hilbily (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:14 (fifteen years ago) link
3 Pabst Brewing Co. Woodridge IL
Woodridge?? I thought they were based in San Antonio, not a suburb I used to bike through when I was a kid.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:17 (fifteen years ago) link
oh yea i've heard of fat tire
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:18 (fifteen years ago) link
Before 2005 or so, you couldn't get New Belgium east of the Mississippi, and I used to hear stories from a friend who lived in Boulder about people driving across state lines to buy cases of Fat Tire, so I was all excited about it when it finally arrived in Chicago. But yeah, I'm not really a fan.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:20 (fifteen years ago) link
speaking of beer guys i brewed my first ever batch of homebrew last week! buddy of mine who's been homebrewing for a while has all the equipment. so we bought of bunch of grain and hops and all and hung out for a few hours boiling and mixing it all up. was a total blast! not nearly as complicated as i thought it would be tho it definitely helped that he knew what he was doing
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:21 (fifteen years ago) link
xp I do think that they were able to drum up a lot of interest through word-of-mouth, though. They rolled it out gradually -- at first just Fat Tire on taps, then 22s in stores, then six-packs of 1554 and other varieties.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:22 (fifteen years ago) link
How come Goose Island doesn't count as a craft brewery?
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:24 (fifteen years ago) link
yea no idea
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:36 (fifteen years ago) link
what did Sundar mean by THE NEW ERA?
― the pinefox, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:38 (fifteen years ago) link
xp I hadn't noticed no Goose island up there. That list seems odd in several places. Is tiny New Glarus really selling more than Rogue or Flying Dog?
― Such A Hilbily (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:44 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, that seemed strange to me, too, since New Glarus isn't distributed outside Wisconsin.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:57 (fifteen years ago) link
other weird one was alaskan brewing co. out of juneau - are they big on the west coast or something? just seems weird that they're selling more than say, stone or DFH (who i see pretty much everywhere)
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:04 (fifteen years ago) link
The definition of a craft brewer as stated by the Brewers Association: AnAmerican craft brewer is small, independent, and traditional. Small: Annualproduction of beer less than 2 million barrels. Beer production is attributed toa brewer according to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Flavored maltbeverages are not considered beer for purposes of this definition. Independent:Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalenteconomic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is notthemselves a craft brewer. Traditional: A brewer who has either an all maltflagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewersbrands) or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beerswhich use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.
Apparently Anheuser-Busch owns 39.5% of Widmer Bros., which in turns owns 35% of Goose Island.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:04 (fifteen years ago) link
Also:
Where can I purchase Alaskan Beer?You're in luck if you live in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Arizona or Colorado because Alaskan beer is both available and popular
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:08 (fifteen years ago) link
These are the breweries that, to my knowledge, I have never heard of:
6 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR7 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY 9 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR12 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA14 Kona Brewing Co. Kailua-Kona HI16 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME18 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA23 Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT24 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA28 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA29 SweetWater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA31 BJ's Restaurant & Brewery Huntington Beach CA33 BridgePort Brewing Co. Portland OR34 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO36 Mac and Jack's Brewery Redmond WA38 Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants Chattanooga TN39 Karl Strauss Brewing Co. San Diego CA40 Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO41 Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe Eureka CA42 Otter Creek Brewing Co. Middlebury VT43 Utah Brewers Cooperative Salt Lake City UT45 Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY47 Pete's Brewing Co. San Antonio TX48 McMenamins Breweries Portland OR49 Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Boonville CA
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:14 (fifteen years ago) link
where do u live jaymc?
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:19 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm guessing not New Jersey, becuase some of those (Petes, Harpoon, Matt's, Long Trail) are ubiquitous around here.
― Bill Magill, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:23 (fifteen years ago) link
Chicago
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:24 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh wait, Pete's = Pete's Wicked Ale? OK, scratch that one off.
Full Sail, Bridgeport and Breckenridge have been west coast staples since I lived in Seattle in the early 90's, and I can get them in most Minneapolis liquor stores. Are those really not in Chicago? McMenamin's is a chain of brewpubs; no bottling.
― Such A Hilbily (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:25 (fifteen years ago) link
big surprise for me is anderson valley from CA (also strange it doesn't seem to be available in chicago?) being as low as it is - i remember drinking it in cleveland quite a lot and now buy it pretty often in MA
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:30 (fifteen years ago) link
xp I've never seen them, but it's possible they're at some of the larger beer/wine warehouses.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:31 (fifteen years ago) link
Anderson Valley is available in Chicago, though it is not common. Not sure about those other ones.
― Dr. Johnson (askance johnson), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:32 (fifteen years ago) link
I like the regional nature of beer, when I went home to CT for XMas it was like a whole new beer world.
Anderson Valley is available in Chicago, though it is not common.
Yeah, I just did a GIS, and the label looks vaguely familiar. Never tried it, though.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:33 (fifteen years ago) link
I've only ever seen it here at Trader Joes, of all places.
― Dr. Johnson (askance johnson), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:34 (fifteen years ago) link
nu-ilx era.
i was glad to get some bell's hopslam over the weekend before it goes out of season.
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:35 (fifteen years ago) link
This suggests that I should know Lost Coast and Otter Creek, too.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:38 (fifteen years ago) link
― Dr. Johnson (askance johnson), Tuesday, April 14, 2009 11:32 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark
yea, i love this. but i guess i also wish i could get my hometown favorites where i actually live (e.g. no great lakes or bell's in MA, which is a bummer)
also i think one of my favorite things about beer are the seasonal styles - been in spring mode lately drinking a lot of bocks and wheat beers, switching over from strong ales, scotch ales and stouts from the winter
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:38 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh man, how is it? I almost tried it at Hopleaf last week.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:39 (fifteen years ago) link
Anderson Valley Hop Ottin IPA is great! It's findable in Minneapolis, but not common here either.
Hopslam is wicked expensive, but ya get what ya pay for. It's soooo good!
― Such A Hilbily (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:41 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.bigbossbrewing.com/images/header.gif
my new beer crush
― I'm the head soul brother in the US. Where to now? (bernard snowy), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:45 (fifteen years ago) link
Btw, this is what I did have at Hopleaf:
1. Two Brothers Cane and Ebel (love this beer so much)2. Grimbergen Double (great Belgian, very drinkable)3. Bell's Cherry Stout (a little too intense for me)
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:45 (fifteen years ago) link
self-xpost: actually Bad Penny is not that good but I really like the other two, and I'm totally in love with their design sense
― I'm the head soul brother in the US. Where to now? (bernard snowy), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:46 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh I also tried the Dogfish Head Palo Santo, and that was a kick in the ass. And not necessarily in a good way, either. I usually steer clear of ABVs over 10%, though, so maybe I just wasn't used to it.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:47 (fifteen years ago) link
oh man Palo Santo is so good! but I would only ever drink it when I was stoned cuz I wanted to, like, really appreciate the flavor, man, y'know?
― I'm the head soul brother in the US. Where to now? (bernard snowy), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:50 (fifteen years ago) link
(other beers that fall into this category include Old Rasputin and, strangely enough, Rogue Chipotle Ale)
― I'm the head soul brother in the US. Where to now? (bernard snowy), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:52 (fifteen years ago) link
I had this crazy belgian sour beer a few weeks ago, it was amazing. Any recommendations for good sour beers, belgian or otherwise?
― Dr. Johnson (askance johnson), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:53 (fifteen years ago) link
Rogue Chipotle Ale
OK, I need to try this.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:55 (fifteen years ago) link
it really exceeded my expectations -- I thought it was just gonna be some goofy novelty beer, but the flavor was surprisingly well-balanced. would definitely drink it again, preferably in late September with a slice of pumpkin pie close at hand.
― I'm the head soul brother in the US. Where to now? (bernard snowy), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:02 (fifteen years ago) link
yea the chipotle ale is actually pretty good, not just a gimmick
the palo santo would be awesome if you only had like 6 oz of it in a brandy snifter or something. a whole bottle is just too much
― mark cl, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:05 (fifteen years ago) link