The Top 50 Craft Breweries in the USA Based on Production

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Top producers, not a list of best breweries.

First of all, the list is based on PRODUCTION DATA, not popularity. It is not a comment on which breweries are the best breweries. This list is based on 2024 production volume, so don’t get yourself worked up into a yeasty lather just because your favorite brewery is not on the list. The complete list of 50 is shown below. The Brewers Association analyzed the 2024 production data and assembled this list. It includes only breweries that meet the Brewers Association’s craft brewer definition.

Northwest Represents
Consolidation
Non-Alcoholic Craft Beer
Good News, Bad News
The Top 50

Northwest Represents

Six breweries from the Pacific Northwest made the list this year. Four are from Oregon, and two are from Washington:

• Deschutes Brewery (11)
• Georgetown Brewing (14)
• Great Frontier Holdings (28)
• pFriem Family Brewers (40)
• Fremont Brewing (41)
• Rogue Ales Brewery (50)

Behold the Power of Bodhi – I do not know what percentage of Georgetown Brewing’s production volume is dedicated to Bodhizafa IPA, but I’m guessing it’s a lot. Georgetown ranked 14th on the list, which probably makes Bodhi one of the most-consumed craft IPAs in the nation. Look at the list of top producers; consider Bodhi’s prevalence in the Georgetown catalog. Its ubiquity is a testament to the fact that it’s a great beer. There’s no other way Bodhi would be what it is.

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Consolidation

Some of the breweries near the top of the list represent the consolidation of multiple breweries. Because of the way the Brewers Association defines a craft brewery, these companies qualify as one brewer. Counted as one brewery, even if it’s a company that owns 20 breweries. Some examples:

• Tilray Brands, now the fourth-largest craft brewery, owns about 20 breweries (as we recently reported here).
• Great Frontier Holdings is the parent company of Ninkasi Brewing and Ecliptic Brewing.
• Monster Brewing (the Monster energy drinks company) has a division that owns breweries like Cigar City, Deep Ellum, Oskar Blues, and a few others.
• Duvel Moortgat is the parent company of Firestone Walker, Brewery Ommegang, and Boulevard Brewing.
• Craft ‘Ohana is the result of combining Maui Brewing and Modern Times under one umbrella.

Non-Alcoholic Beer on the List

Athletic Brewing Company now ranks eighth on the list, a testament to the increased popularity of non-alcoholic beers. In my opinion, everybody who is ranked lower than eighth should be moved up a notch. But that’s just my opinion.

The Good News and the Bad

• Craft brewers produced 23.1 million barrels of beer in 2024, a 4.0% decrease from 2023. 
• Craft beer’s share of the overall beer market by volume remained at 13.3%, the same share as in 2023. The overall U.S. beer market declined by 1.2% in volume, but the percentage of people reaching for craft beer remained the same.
• Employment in the craft brewing sector grew to 197,112 in 2024, a 3.0% increase over the previous year. The rise was driven by the shift toward hospitality-focused models such as taprooms and brewpubs, which create more jobs in local communities
• Craft beer’s retail dollar value rose to an estimated $28.9 billion, a 3% increase over the previous year. This growth reflects pricing adjustments and steady performance in onsite sales, which outpaced distributed sales in many markets. Craft beer accounted for 24.7% of the total beer market in retail dollar sales.
• There are 9,612 breweries, but last year was the first year since 2005 that the number of operating craft breweries in the U.S. declined. In 2024, the number of operating U.S. craft breweries was 9,612. That number peaked (in U.S. history) in 2023 at 9,906. 

The Top 50

Here are the top 50 craft beer producers of 2024.

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