California has eight or maybe nine.

This seems to be  a day for lists — and this list is enough to drive a business reporter wild. The Brewer’s Association this morning released its annual list of the top craft brewers in the country. Of course, their definitions are somewhat provincial. If a company is partly owned by a  beer giant (Red Hook, Goose Island, Widmer) they aren’t counted, Ditto craft-style beer produced by a major brewer: Coors  Blue Moon (nearly 900,000 barrels).
And finally there are no numbers. We don’t know how many barrels each brewer produced or sold or did whatever with in 2007.

Those numbers usually come out in the early summer issue of Zymurgy.

Twenty-one states are represented in the top 50 brewing companies list, according to the Brewers Association.  California hosts eight top breweries.  Actually, California has 9, since most of the beer that Seattle-based Pyramid produces is brewed in Berkeley (and some in Portland, OR.)

Colorado and Oregon each host five, and Pennsylvania hosts four top  producers. The remainder of the top 50 operate from Minnesota (3), New York (3), Wisconsin (3), Illinois (2), Massachusetts (2), Missouri (2), Vermont (2), and Washington (2). Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas each host one.

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies by Beer Sales Volume
(Based on 2007 sales)

Rank Business Name City State

1 Boston Beer Co. Boston MA
2 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA
3 New Belgium Brewing Co. Inc. Fort Collins CO
4 Spoetzl Brewery Shiner TX
5 Pyramid Breweries Inc. Seattle WA (and Berkeley, CA.)
6 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY
7 Deschutes Brewery, Inc. Bend OR
8 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO
9 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR
10 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
11 Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co. Juneau AK
12 Magic Hat Brewing Co. & Performing Arts Center South Burlington VT
13 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA
14 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI
15 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME
16 Summit Brewing Co. St. Paul MN
17 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA
18 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA
19 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY
20 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA
21 Rogue Ales/Oregon Brewing Newport OR
22 Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT
23 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI
24 Kona Brewing Co. Kailua-Kona HI
25 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE
26 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA
27 Great Lakes Brewing Co./Ohio Cleveland OH
28 The Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA
29 Flying Dog Brewery Denver CO
30 Sweetwater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA
31 Bridgeport Brewing Co. Portland OR
32 Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants Louisville CO
33 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO
34 BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery Huntington Beach CA
35 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA
36 Mac and Jack’s Brewery Redmond WA
37 Lost Coast Brewery and Café Eureka CA
38 Big Sky Brewing Co. Missoula MT
39 Pete’s Brewing Co. San Antonio TX
40 Otter Creek Brewing Co. Middlebury VT
41 Karl Strauss Breweries San Diego CA
42 Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO
43 Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Chattanooga TN
44 Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Boonville CA
45 Boulder Beer Co. Boulder CO
46 North Coast Brewing Co. Inc. Fort Bragg CA
47 McMenamins Portland OR
48 Utah Brewers Cooperative Salt Lake City UT
49 Capital Brewing Co. Middleton WI
50 Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY

Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies by Beer Sales Volume
(2007 sales)

Rank Business Name City State

1 Anheuser-Busch Inc. St. Louis MO
2 Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee WI
3 Coors Brewing Co. Golden CO
4 Pabst Brewing Co. Woodridge IL
5 Boston Beer Co. Boston MA
6 D.G. Yuengling and Son Inc. Pottsville PA
7 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA
8 New Belgium Brewing Co. Inc. Fort Collins CO
9 High Falls Brewing Co. Rochester NY
10 Spoetzl Brewery Shiner TX
11 Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. Portland OR
12 Redhook Ale Brewery Woodinville WA
13 Pyramid Breweries Inc. Seattle WA
14 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY
15 Minhas Craft Brewery Monroe WI
16 Deschutes Brewery, Inc. Bend OR
17 Iron City Brewing Co. Pittsburgh PA
18 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO
19 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR
20 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
21 Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co. Juneau AK
22 Magic Hat Brewing Co. & Performing Arts Center South Burlington VT
23 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA
24 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI
25 Goose Island Beer Co. Chicago IL
26 August Schell Brewing Co. New Ulm MN
27 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME
28 Summit Brewing Co. St. Paul MN
29 Mendocino Brewing Co. Ukiah CA
30 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA
31 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA
32 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY
33 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA
34 Rogue Ales / Oregon Brewing Newport OR
35 Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT
36 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI
37 Kona Brewing Co. Kailua-Kona HI
38 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE
39 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA
40 Great Lakes Brewing Co./Ohio Cleveland OH
41 The Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA
42 Flying Dog Brewery Denver CO
43 Sweetwater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA
44 Bridgeport Brewing Co. Portland OR
45 Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants Louisville CO
46 Gluek Brewing Co. Cold Spring MN
47 Straub Brewery St. Mary’s PA
48 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO
49 BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery Huntington Beach CA
50 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA

For more statistics visit the updated 2007 Craft Beer Industry Statistics Web page. A more extensive analysis of statistics on the craft beer segment in 2007 will be released April 17 during the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego, California. The Association’s full 2007 industry analysis, which shows regional trends and sales by individual breweries, is published in the May/June issue of The New Brewer.

¹ The definition of a craft brewer as stated by the Brewers Association: An American craft brewer is small, independent, and traditional. Small: Annual production of beer less than 2 million barrels. Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for purposes of this definition. Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer. Traditional: A brewer who has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewers brands) or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.

Think we’re awash in a wave of craft beer. True, craft beer ( I like to call it “beer with taste”) – sales are booming. But consider this from America On Line and weep:

Top Searched Beer Brands on AOL Search:
1. Guinness Beer
2. Corona Beer
3. Budweiser Beer
4. Heineken Beer
5. Coors Beer
6. Busch Beer
7. Bud Light Beer
8. Miller Lite Beer
9. Newcastle Beer
10. Harp Beer

And this – Top Beer Import Brands in Supermarkets.

The day is long and we have far to go.

For those of you who care about the business of beer – and that definitely includes me – according to Stan Hieronymus, a beer author and craft beer insider, who writes the Appellationbeer blog, a marketing expert who follows craft beer sales for the Brewers Association told brewers in a closed-circuit teleconference today that sales of craft beer in 2007 boomed.

According to Stan, Dan Wadell of Information Resource Inc., “Craft” beer dollar sales were up 16.7% in 2007, following a 17.9% increase in 2006.

In the last two weeks of 2007 (Christmas/New Year’s holiday sales) “craft” sales were up 15.8%, versus just a 3.1% increase for imports.”

Of course, we know that. We see the long lines of craft beers on supermarket shelves and the shrinking BudMillerCoors et al section. I read the blog late and didn’t think it was a big enough deal to call Julia Herz, the association’s ace media person at home. The association will have official volume sales figures, based on reports from brewers, shortly, But great news, nevertheless.

Let’s see, what does this do? Move the craft beer segment of the total American beer market up to somewhere around 4 percent. Viewed from that perspective, we’re still a drop in the bucket, but a mighty drop are we.

Of course, if one adds beers like Coors Blue Moon to the number, the prcentage grows a bit. According to Stan, Wadell said Blue Moon sales climbed 55 percent in 2007. That would put Blue Moon somewhere close to a million barrels, which would put it right behind number one craft beer, Sam Adams and number two Sierra Nevada. Food for thought.