Craft beer sales continue to bubble up

Craft beer sales keep climbing as consumers continue to seek out increasingly diverse offerings from local and regional breweries.

Craft brewers sold an estimated $14.3 billion in beer in 2013, according to the Brewers Association, up from 20% over $11.9 billion in 2012. Brewers produced nearly 8% more craft beer last year than in 2012, the trade group says.

Overall, craft beer's share of the total U.S. beer market grew to more than 14%; it accounted for about 10% of the nearly $100 billion in beer sales in 2012, the association says.

Total beer sales of $93 billion were essentially flat in 2013, according to food industry tracking and consulting firm Technomic, despite an increase in craft beer sales. And while craft beer volume rose, total beer production fell 1.4%, the firm's State of the Industry report says.

Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams beers, remains the largest craft brewery on the Brewers Association's annual Top 50 list, just released. It's been the largest craft brewer since the association began keeping a chart in 1995, says Bart Watson, staff economist with the Brewers Association.

Now in its 30th year, Boston Beer Co. continues to diversify its beers to reflect the evolving marketplace, founder/brewer Jim Koch says. "We've seen the craft beer drinker evolve from novice to tastemaker," he says. "Today's drinkers have a global palate and are coming to expect more interesting and in-depth flavors from brewers — similar to what they're discovering in the food universe."

Boston Beer Co., which shipped about 3.4 million barrels in 2013, a 25% increase over 2012, ranks No. 5 among all U.S. brewers, behind Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, Pabst Brewing Co., and D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc., according to the association's overall Top 50 brewing list.

Just below Boston Beer Co., on the craft brewers Top 50 were Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., New Belgium Brewing Co., and the Gambrinus Co., which owns Spoetzl and Bridgeport breweries, as well as Pete's Brewing. Those four brewers have held the top four spots over the last five years.

Biggest climbers on the craft brewery list include Ballast Point Brewing Co., up 17 points to No. 29, Southern Tier Brewing Co., up 6 points to No. 31, Sweetwater Brewing Co. and Left Hand Brewing Co., each of which moved up five spots to Nos. 19 and 38, respectively. Firestone Walker Brewing Co. and Founders Brewing, both rose four spots to Nos. 16 and 26, respectively.

Top 50 craft brewing companies

(Based on 2013 beer sales volume)

1. Boston Beer Co. (Boston)

2. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Chico, Calif.)

3. New Belgium Brewing Co. (Fort Collins, Colo.)

4. Gambrinus (San Antonio)

5. Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Petaluma, Calif.)

6. Deschutes Brewery (Bend, Ore.)

7. Bell's Brewery, Inc. (Galesburg, Mich.)

8. Duvel Moortgat USA (Kansas City, Mo. & Cooperstown, N.Y.)

9. Brooklyn Brewery (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

10. Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, Calif.)

11. Matt Brewing Co. (Utica, N.Y)

12. Harpoon Brewery (Boston)

13. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Milton, Del.)

14. Shipyard Brewing Co. (Portland, Maine)

15. Abita Brewing Co. (Abita Springs, La.)

16. Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (Paso Robles, Calif.)

17. Alaskan Brewing Co. (Juneau, Alaska)

18. New Glarus Brewing Co. (New Glarus, Wis.)

19. SweetWater Brewing Co. (Atlanta)

20. Great Lakes Brewing Co. (Cleveland)

21. Anchor Brewing Co. (San Francisco)

22. Long Trail Brewing Co. (Bridgewater Corners, Vt.)

23. Summit Brewing Co. (St. Paul, Minn.)

24. Oskar Blues Brewery (Longmont, Colo.)

25. Full Sail Brewing Co. (Hood River, Ore.)

26. Founders Brewing Co. (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

27. Rogue Ales (Newporr, Ore.)

28. Victory Brewing Co. (Downingtown, Penn.)

29. Ballast Point Brewing Co. (San Diego, Calif.)

30. Ninkasi Brewing Co. (Eugene, Ore.)

31. Southern Tier Brewing Co. (Lakewood, N.Y.)

32. Cold Spring Brewing Co./Third Street Brewhouse (Cold Spring, Minn.)

33. Flying Dog Brewery (Frederick, Md.)

34. Odell Brewing Co. (Fort Collins, Colo.)

35. Stevens Point Brewery Co. (Stevens Point, Wis.)

36. Bear Republic Brewing Co. (Cloverdale, Calif.)

37. Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe (Eureka, Calif.)

38. Left Hand Brewing Co. (Longmont, Colo.)

39. CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc. (Chattanooga, Tenn. & Louisville, Colo.)

40. Breckenridge Brewery (Denver)

41. Karl Strauss Brewing Co. (San Diego)

42. Blue Point Brewing Co. (Patchogue N.Y.)

43. Sixpoint Brewery (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

44. BJ's Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. (Huntington Beach, Calif.)

45. North Coast Brewing Co. (Fort Bragg, Calif.)

46. Uinta Brewing Co. (Salt Lake City, Utah)

47. Allagash Brewing Co. (Portland, Maine)

48. Saint Arnold Brewing Co. (Houston)

49. Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. (San Jose, Calif.)

50. 21st Amendment Brewery (San Francisco)

Source: Brewers Association