Best selling craft beer by volume

Boston Lager followed distantly by everything else.

 

I would be willing to guess that @jesskidden will be able to answer this question.

My guess is that it is either Sam Adams Boston Lager or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. No, know that Yuengling is ‘allowed’ to be considered a craft brewery it might be Yuengling Lager?

Cheers!

 

The majority of craft brewers are privately held, and exact sales figures aren't typically published. There are some marketing research publications that list their statistics, most of which are very costly - like this one for around a thou. Sometimes business articles on a particular brewery will give some estimate (say, an article on SN might note that SNPA is 60% of their sales and Torpedo is close to 20%, and SN is close to 1m bbl./yr, so do the math).

IRI Symphony figures for some types (but not all) off-premise retailers are printed in industry publications like Modern Brewery Age. They give a close feel for brands v. other brands, but without on-premise sales and liquor store sales, they are nowhere near exact.

In the case of the best selling craft brand, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Samuel Adams Boston Lager were usually said to be running neck and neck for #1 - but lately the spot's been SNPA's alone. Marketing research stats also get info based on barcode scans, so many brands are listed such as "Samuel Adams Variety Pack" or "Sierra Nevada seasonal".

 

JK, how does Yuengling Lager compare to Boston Lager/SNPA?

Cheers!

 

Possibly Fat Tire.

 

Looks like it's more than 3 times the sales of either SNPA or SABL. But just because the B.A. is changing its definition doesn't mean that IRI will add Yuengling to their "Craft" numbers (even tho' they do list brands like Goose Island and the CBA labels).

 

I'm no math genius here, but if Sierra Nevada sells about a million barrels a year, that means the 60% attributed to SNPA comes out to about 600,000 barrels of sales being that beer?

 

“But just because the B.A. is changing its definition doesn't mean that IRI will add Yuengling to their "Craft" numbers…” Interesting point. Because of the recent thread about the Brewers Association redefining what constitutes a craft brewery I was ‘focused’ on that topic. Yep, it comes down to who is the ‘authority’ that defines a craft brewery.

At this point in time I am inclined to think that the Brewers Association is that ‘authority’ but …

Cheers!

 

You are correct sir. I believe they did about 180,000 barrels of Torpedo last year, which is crazy. That beer alone would be a Top 15 craft brewery by volume.

 

Well, as I said, the info is available, collected in one spot, but for a price. (If it turned up in a simple Google, how would the market research firms be able to charge $1000?). I keep a running collections pdf and Word files of stats articles on individual breweries articles, etc. for my own research. For instance, (sorry the link didn't "take" in my first post and some thought it was a math assignment ) in the Forbes article on SN discussed in this thread.

As noted, the most commonly quoted IRI data (as used by MBA) is merely a very rough guide - since it only collects data from certain retailers, and no on-premise sales. I think that, for example, the figures for SABL and SNPA might be closer (and maybe even the beer flipped?) if on-premise was counted, since it seems to me that BL probably has a much larger o-p market than SNPA. Also, IRI beers are listed in order of dollar sales, and the typical volume used is the "case" (or "case equivalent" - 2.25 gallons), not barrels - which is common in the 2nd and 3rd tiers and beverage industry pubs.

Here's the IRI Craft Top 10 for 2013, in the "Food" store category (followed by the Top 10 with the "seasonal" and "variety" beers deleted. Sorry for the "All Caps" - it's a copy paste).

Even Boston Beer Co.'s (one of the few publicly held "craft" brewers) Annual Report doesn't give that info. Again, keep track of the brewing industry publications & websites, and the general business and local press, etc.

 

Interestingly enough, I have to agree with this because according to the folks at Highland Brewing, they are the 3'rd largest craft brewer on the East Coast. Looking at the list at Huffington Post, they didn't crack the top 6 East Coast Brewers, so I'm thinking they don't publish their figures as Highland Brewing is privately owned.

or

They're lying.

Edit: Now with SN coming to town and cranking up their brand new facility and New Belgium working on their new brewery, this may all change. But that is what Highland Brewing was saying on their last plant tour I was on, this summer.

 

Looking at the list from Jesskidden above (bottom list removing seasonals), the top 5 look somewhat accurate...SNPA, SABL, on down to Shiner. The bottom of the list seems highly questionable to me though. Isn't Stone IPA more readily sold than Lagunitas? How about Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. Is that not considered a craft beer? That beer easily sells more volumen than at least 3-4 at the bottom of that list.

 

I can tell you right now with 100% confidence that Highland doesn't sell more beer than Sam Adams, Flying Dog or Victory. Probably Troegs as well. Maybe not even as much as Terrapin. Just saying, they aren't top 3.

 

How about Magic Hat and Saranac? They still sell alot of beer don't they (I know they're out of favor with the BA crowd, but that isn't the question).

 

Shoot, forgot about Dogfishhead...there's another bigtime east coast brewer. Not sure how Highland is slanting there claims but I don't get it.

 

In statistics, it's all up to what your criteria are, so according to their criteria and the way the put their statistics together, they very well may be the #3 brewery on the East Coast.

 

Yea, I'm trying to recall her exact wording. However, I know that she asked us what we thought the breweries above them were the answer was Sam Adams and Sweetwater. That is even more interesting because Sweetwater isn't on that list either. I wonder if this has changed now, will have to ask next time I'm up there and try to get some clarification.