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April 7, 2014
Beer Diary:
The 50 Biggest Breweries In America, 2013 Edition
Not a lot of surprises on the latest list from the Brewers Association.by Eddie Glick
The Brewers Association has once again released their list of top breweries in America based on 2013 beer sales volume. Although the list sports a couple of newcomers and some shuffling in the mid ranks, the top 10 remained the same, just like last year. And so, just like last year, I’m supplying some witty comments for each entry, because somebody has to keep these things interesting, right?
Go ahead and check out the BA’s actual list of breweries, as well as a separate list broken out by what they consider craft breweries.
| Rank | Brewing Company | City, State |
| 1 (1) | Anheuser-Busch Inc. Owners of Goose Island, Blue Point, and Shocktop. |
St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2 (2) | MillerCoors (b) Also known as Band of Brewers and Blue Moon Brewing Co. |
Chicago, Illinois |
| 3 (3) | Pabst Brewing Co. (c) The hipster swill might be moving back to the city it made famous? |
Los Angeles, California |
| 4 (4) | D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc. America’s oldest brewery holding strong. |
Pottsville, Pennsylvania |
| 5 (5) | Boston Beer Co. Haven’t had a chance to try their Rebel IPA I’ve seen advertised all over the fucking place. |
Boston, Massachusetts |
| 6 (6) | North American Breweries They own the Dundee, Genesee, Labatt, MacTarnahan, Magic Hat, and Pyramid brands. |
Rochester, New York |
| 7 (7) | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Their new eastern brewing operations keeps them up on the list. |
Chico, California 0 |
| 8 (8) | New Belgium Brewing Co. See number seven. |
Fort Collins, Colorado |
| 9 (9) | Craft Brew Alliance, Inc. (f) They do the Kona, Omission, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers beers. |
Portland. Oregon |
| 10 (10) | Gambrinus (g) They’re responsible for the BridgePort, Shiner and Trumer brands. |
San Antonio, Texas |
| 11 (13) | Lagunitas Brewing Co. Their massive new Chicago brewery’s tap room to open in a couple of months. |
Petaluma, California |
| 12 (12) | Deschutes Brewery Still want to try their Fresh Squeezed IPA, which everyone says is fantastic. |
Bend, Oregon |
| 13 (14) | Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Now in cans. |
Galesburg, Michigan |
| 14 (n/a) | Duvel Moortgat USA Jumps into the top 15 in one fell swoop by buying Boulevard Brewing. |
Kansas City, Missouri and Cooperstown, New York |
| 15 (11) | Minhas Craft Brewery (i) Rule: If you need to put “craft” in your name, you’re not a craft brewery. |
Monroe, Wisconsin |
| 16 (18) | Brooklyn Brewery Considering Brooklyn is the center of the hipster universe, maybe they should buy Pabst. |
Brooklyn, New York |
| 17 (17) | Stone Brewing Co. Next candidate for east coast expansion? |
Escondido, California |
| 18 (15) | Matt Brewing Co. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve every had anything by these guys. |
Utica NY |
| 19 (16) | Harpoon Brewery Looking forward to checking out their brew hall. |
Boston, Massachusetts |
| 20 (20) | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery The exception that proves the rule set in number 15. |
Milton, Delaware |
| 21 (23) | Shipyard Brewing Co. See number 18. |
Portland, Maine |
| 22 (21) | Abita Brewing Co. Their Amber is a drinkable, ubiquitous fallback when you’re out and about on Bourbon Street and the joint you’re in can’t make a decent Sazerac. |
Abita Springs, Louisiana |
| 23 (29) | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Withholding judgment on them until I’ve had more of their stuff. |
Paso Robles, California |
| 24 (24) | Alaskan Brewing Co. Starting to creep over the Mississippi. |
Juneau, Alaska |
| 25 (26) | New Glarus Brewing Co. Only available in Wisconsin and still one of the biggest breweries in America. |
New Glarus, Wisconsin |
| 26 (33) | SweetWater Brewing Co. The south is just starting to awaken to the craft beer scene, hence this brewery’s big jump. |
Atlanta, Georgia |
| 27 (28) | Great Lakes Brewing Co. Their new double IPAs are getting a good response. |
Cleveland, Ohio |
| 28 (25) | August Schell Brewing Co. Did you know there’s more than one kind of Grainbelt? |
New Ulm, Minnesota |
| 29 (30) | Anchor Brewing Co. The grandad of craft brewers still growing. |
San Francisco, California |
| 30 (22) | World Brews/Winery Exchange Not a brewery! Why the fuck is this even listed? |
Novato, California |
| 31 (27) | Long Trail Brewing Co. See number 18. |
Bridgewater Corners, Vermont |
| 32 (32) | Summit Brewing Co. Cranking out some great shit lately. |
St. Paul, Minnesota |
| 33 (36) | Oskar Blues Brewery See number 7. |
Longmont, Colorado |
| 34 (33) | Full Sail Brewing Co. Their taproom is kind of a tourist trap, but you can’t beat the view. |
Hood River, Oregon |
| 35 (41) | Founders Brewing Co. Debuted on the list last year, big jump this year. Next year, the world? |
Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| 36 (31) | Rogue Ales Drop a surprising five spot, since I seem to see them all over the place lately. |
Newport, Oregon |
| 37 (35) | Victory Brewing Co. Dropped two places, but expect a jump next year. |
Downingtown, Pennsylvania |
| 38 (n/a) | Ballast Point Brewing Co. Not all that impressed with their stuff, considering how popular they seem to be. |
San Diego, California |
| 39 (42) | Ninkasi Brewing Co. Aggressive growth from the makers of some aggressive beers. |
Eugene, Oregon |
| 40 (48) | Southern Tier Brewing Co. Big jump from the makers of Pumking. |
Lakewood, New York |
| 41 (38) | Mendocino Brewing Co. Expect them to keep falling. |
Ukiah, California |
| 42 (39) | Cold Spring Brewing Co./Third Street Brewhouse The former Gluek, which was the former G. Gottlieb & Sons. |
Cold Spring, Minnesota |
| 43 (40) | Flying Dog Brewery Whose label art is freakier, theres or Three Floyds? |
Frederick, Maryland |
| 44 (44) | Odell Brewing Co. See number 18. |
Fort Collins, Colorado |
| 45 (46) | Stevens Point Brewery Co. Poster child for contract brewing as a business model, because nobody can be sucking down that much Point Special. |
Stevens Point, Wisconsin |
| 46 (45) | Bear Republic Brewing Co. See number 38. |
Cloverdale, California |
| 47 (37) | Pittsburgh Brewing Co. Steepest drop of all the top 50. Don’t expect to see it next year. |
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| 48 (49) | Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe See number 38. |
Eureka, California |
| 49 (n/a) | Narragansett Brewing Co. See number 18. |
Providence, Rhode Island |
| 50 (n/a) | Left Hand Brewing Co. Surprised it took them this long to crack the top 50. |
Longmont, Colorado |