Cemented on Top: 2019 Top 50 Craft Breweries by Volume

Another aspect that I think is worthy of highlighting is that two ‘conglomerates’ are in the top 10:

· Artisanal Brewing Venture (ABV)

· CANarchy

I wonder if we see more of this sort of action in the next few years? Either ABV and CANarchy swallowing up more companies or development of more ‘conglomerates’?

Cheers!

P.S. I also wonder when ABV will change the “B” from Brewing -> Beverage?

P.S.S. I just recalled the name of another 'conglomerate': Legacy Breweries, Inc. which is the 'holding company' for Ninkasi, Laurelwood, Aspen,..

@rotsaruch

 

I'm kind of surprised Sweetwater was #14 both years. I know they are a big regional brewery and I always see their beers on the shelves but I never actually see anyone buy it or drink it nowadays

 

Why will Dogfish Head volume be combined with BBC for the 2020 list rather than 2019?

 

This is (well was, before the shut down) my prediction. It seems like the tightrope line between independence and economy of scale

 

I don't foresee Gordon Biersch being in the top 50 this time next year...

 

Why leave out Gambrinus - the ex-Corona importer which owns Spoetzl, Trumer (US) and the now defunct BridgePort (which is why it "Portland OR" is noted) - and Duvel Moortgat (Firestone Walker, Ommegang and Boulevard)?

The chain of CraftWorks brewpubs branded "Gordon Biersch" is a different company than the Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. of San Jose.
Gordon Biersch Brewing Company is not affiliated with CraftWorks Holdings
...and the Brewers Association lists the barrelage of each individual CW brewpub location in their annual rankings.

 

Right you are.

JK, what would we do without you on BA?

Cheers!

 

Oh, damn - I thought there was a reason you didn't include them and wondered what it was . It was a pretty interesting point, too, and if the BBC-DFH link up is included for 2020, that makes half of the Top Ten "Craft" breweries "conglomerates".

I guess, technically, even without DFH, BBC is already a collection of companies, to quote their Annual Report: "A&S Brewing Company, which include the Traveler Beer Co.®, the Angel City Brewery®, the Concrete Beach Brewery® and the Coney Island® Brewing Co."

 

Another good catch.

It is more readily apparent when a new corporate name is created (e.g., ABV, CANarchy, Legacy) but you are indeed correct that the older companies of Gambrinus, Duvel Moortgat, BBC (others?) are functionally 'conglomerates' as well.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, even Sierra Nevada, for that matter (that makes it 6 of the Top 10):
Sierra Nevada Makes First-Ever Acquisition, Buys Fast-Growing (3,000 bbl) Sufferfest Beer

 

Glad to see Brooklyn is doing good business, wish they'd bring back their Pennant Ale though

 

Sadly, I think the list has more breweries that I used to drink than who I currently drink (SN, FW). That being said, there are few that I would like to drink, but aren't distributed in CA.

 

Thanks for this. I really enjoyed it.

 

Thank you for the article.

One thing it says in the section #25-50: "These breweries vary greatly in their life cycle, but most if not all have zero expectations of ever growing toward that Top 15 level"

I'm going to say that I'm pretty confident that Modern Times will be in the Top 15 in the next 5-7 years. They are pretty determined and make great beer

 

That's an interesting guess, and not the worst one, but I'm curious how you imagine them approaching that growth. Do you think they'll move into volume packaged distro (12/15 packs? Pretty sure they only distro 4 packs presently) or do you expect them to follow up their Portland location with ever more far flung outposts and stick to a largely direct sales model, but with like 20 locations?

 

I'll add my guess as well, the obvious one is Rheingeist, they are already at the top of that lower eschalon and they have a brand built on volume packs at affordable prices. They've got a good spread of easy drinking styles. And their beer is good.
My dark horse bet would be northcoast brewing. Extra dark horse seeing as they fell to the bottom of the list this year but they are starting to move to 12packs and cans, their basic beers are good to very good (scrimshaw is an amazing pilsner) and they seem to have a good reputation. They might have legit production constraints though, without much room to expand, out where they are in a remote coastal town

 

Rhinegeist only has a 6 state footprint (and some of those are only partial state coverage) so far. So there is plenty of room to expand, if they would choose to. Their fruit ales (Bubbles, Wowie, etc) seem to a growing component of their portfolio.

 

I was surprised at the big drop for Great Lakes. Their whole portfolio is solid and they just expanded into Maryland last year. Maybe they contracted elsewhere? Not sure. I guess they don’t make too many new beers so if they have been in a given market for a long time, The losses may be due to stagnation and loss of interest by finicky craft drinkers chasing new beers perhaps. Their variety pack is one of the Best Buy’s I can get in my area (variety/price/quality).