Your Favorite Brewery is This Freakin’ Small!

How Big are These Microbrewers?

Brewers/Industry October 13, 2005
Written by matta

Tampa, FLORIDA -

On the heels of a related topic that I started earlier in the week, "Your Favorite Brewery is this freaking Small!!!" (<a hrefhttp://www.ratebeer.com/Forums/Topic-38743.htm>http://www.ratebeer.com/Forums/Topic-38743.htm) I have found the 2004 barrelage numbers (bbls) of beer output in a single year for the breweries that perhaps most interest us as RateBeerians.

This is a short list of our most admired microbreweries, and some of these breweries have just barely graduated from microbrewery status and have evolved into mid-size breweries. There are also some midsize breweries for comparison. These are the breweries that many of us most revere for their creativity and innovation; the ones that we hold closest to our hearts. These are the Mom and Pop breweries that we love to send to one another in trade or are excited to share at tasting functions.

A brewery is classified as a mid-sized brewery once it hits 15,000 barrels (bbls) of beer production in a single year. Consider this: there are 31.5 gallons of beer in a single barrel. 15,000 (bbls) equals 472,500 gallons of beer, or approximately 30,484 15.5-gallon kegs. Or, since one case of beer, 24 -12oz bottles, also holds 2.25 gallons, there are roughly 189,000 cases of beer produced in every 15,000 barrels of beer. Those numbers don’t really seem that big considering the wide distribution and full-size publicity that some of these small breweries generate.

2004 American Brewers Association (bbls) of Output

1,380,000 (bbls) – Yuengling & Son

1,267,000 (bbls) - Boston Beer

589,937 (bbls) - Sierra Nevada

331,000 (bbls) – New Belgium Brewing

83,599 (bbls) – Anchor Brewing

47,479 (bbls) – Bells / Kalamazoo Brewing

38,924 (bbls) – Rogue Ales

31,974 (bbls) – Stone Brewing

26,420 (bbls) – Lagunitas Brewing

24,800 (bbls) – New Glarus Brewing

20,200 (bbls) – Dogfish Head Brewing

18,000 (bbls) – Sweetwater Brewing

17,793 (bbls) – Boulder Beer

17,750 (bbls) – Victory Brewing

17,553 (bbls) – North Coast Brewing

** True Microbreweries, under 15,000 (bbls) in 2004**

13,200 (bbls) – Clipper City Brewing

10,654 (bbls) – Smuttynose Brewing

10,442 (bbls) – Sprecher Brewing

10,000 (bbls) – Stoudts Brewing

9,120 (bbls) – St. Arnold Brewing

8,984 (bbls) – Left Hand Brewing

8,000 (bbls) – Pike Brewing

6,860 (bbls) – Troegs Brewing

6,800 (bbls) – Bear Republic Brewing

6,408 (bbls) – Avery Brewing

6,002 (bbls) – Great Divide Brewing

5,600 (bbls) – Ballast Point Brewing

5,378 (bbls) – Brewery Ommegang

4,955 (bbls) – New Holland Brewing

4,500 (bbls) – Legend Brewing

4,500 (bbls) – Middle Ages Brewing

4,217 (bbls) – Arcadia Brewing

4,040 (bbls) – Allagash Brewing

3,920 (bbls) – Upland Brewing

3,500 (bbls) – Three Floyds Brewing

3,200 (bbls) – Founder Brewing

3,166 (bbls) – Grand Teton Brewing

3,000 (bbls) – Trout River Brewing

2,944 (bbls) – Weyerbacher Brewing

2,500 (bbls) – Southern Tier Brewing

2,388 (bbls) – Dick’s Brewing

1,640 (bbls) – Green Flash Brewing

1,100 (bbls) – Dunedin Brewery

It is impressive to think about how many of these breweries create the biggest buzz with us beer geeks! I would suspect that many of us didn’t even realize “Your favorite brewery is actually this freaking SMALL!”

So let’s keep converting our macro-drinking friends and family into appreciating craft beer drinkers. Craft beer saw more than 7 percent growth in 2004 thanks to people like us. I, for one, am very excited to compare these numbers with those for 2005! It is going to be a wonderful thing to see these breweries, and many more evolve with today’s more discerning drinkers!

Cheers,

Matt A.

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Comments

	shortbus901 says: That is pretty damn eye opening! It's an interesting ride to be on for sure! 124 months ago
	chrismasters says: We've got a microbrewery in our town and I'm pleased to say it's taken off. There were a few dodgy moments but it seems to be pretty successful now. I've got nothing against the big <a rel="follow" href="http://www.makro.co.uk/servlet/PB/menu/1023202_l2/index.html">beer suppliers but the littler ones have a lot of personality and don't get enough attention. 166 months ago
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