The Top 50 Breweries of 2010 (by production)

Courtesy of Flickr user, Justinwkern, creative commons

I present to you my top 50 breweries of 2010 by production. [Ed. Note: This is NOT a top 50 list of the “best” breweries.]

Below is the result of weeks of research and communication with breweries about 2010 production. I make no claims to 100% accuracy as there are estimates (both from myself and the breweries themselves) included in the determination of these rankings.

Some caveats and assumptions:

Because it is very challenging to get information on a specific brewery/brand basis for the top producers like AB-Inbev, MillerCoors and North American Breweries, these breweries are held out of the small brewery rankings for the most part Genesee and Leinenkugel’s are two glaring omissions that come to mind. Because Magic Hat and Pyramid data was available through 2009, it was easy enough to project 2010 production so I’ve included them.
Some breweries in this list contract beer for others. Some of that contract production may be included or excluded depending on the brewery. If I do this again, I will be more conscious of that.
I have cut the list off at the top 50 because I question the accuracy/data a bit after that. There are other breweries that produced more than 30,000 barrels that fall below the top 50.
Both lists include breweries that are not considered, by definition, “craft” breweries.
Where the production of two breweries is close and an estimate is present, I have made it a tie between the two breweries.
The top dozen or so beer vendors included in the top list are largely ranked based on Symphony IRI data.

More analysis will come later this week or next week.

Update: After receiving a tip, I contacted Blue Point Brewing and learned that they had 30%+ growth last year, moving up past 40k barrels. I’ve adjusted the lists to reflect this change so they now go to 51.

Update II: After a couple discussions, I can’t help but wonder whether I am leaving out some contract brewers like City Brewing, Cold Spring Brewery, etc. Again, do not take these lists as gospel though I stand by them as a fairly accurate first attempt.

The Top 50 Brewing Companies/Beer Vendors of 2010

1. Anheuser-Busch InBev
2. MillerCoors Brewing
3. Crown Imports (Corona, St. Pauli, etc.)
4. Heineken USA Inc.
5. Pabst Brewing
6. North American Breweries (Genesee, Independent Brewers United, etc.
7. Diageo USA
8. Boston Beer Co.
8. D.G. Yuengling & Son
10. Mark Anthony Brands (Mike’s Hard, Peroni, etc.)
11. Phusion Projects (Four Loko)
12. Sierra Nevada Brewing
13. New Belgium Brewing
14. Craft Brewers Alliance (Redhook, Widmer, Kona)
15. Gambrinus Company (Spoetzl, BridgePort, Pete’s)
16. Minhas Craft Brewery
17. Deschutes Brewery
18. F.X. Matt Brewing
19. Bell’s Brewery
20. Boulevard Brewing
21. Harpoon Brewery
22. Goose Island Beer Company
23. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
24. Alaskan Brewing
24. Long Trail/Otter Creek Brewing
26. August Schell Brewing
27. Stone Brewing
28. Gordon Biersch Brewing
28. Abita Brewing
30. Brooklyn Brewery
31. Lagunitas Brewing
32. Full Sail Brewing
33. Shipyard Brewing
34. Summit Brewing
35. Great Lakes Brewing
35. New Glarus Brewing
37. Anchor Brewers and Distillers
38. CraftWorks Restaurants and Breweries, Inc. (Rock Bottom, GB Restaurants, etc.)
39. Rogue Ales
40. Firestone Walker Brewing
41. SweetWater Brewing
42. Flying Dog Brewery
43. Mendocino Brewing
44. Victory Brewing
45. Lost Coast Brewery
46. Odell Brewing
47. BridgePort Brewing
48. BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery
49. Straub Brewery
50. Blue Point Brewing
51. Oskar Blues Brewery

The Top 50 Small Brewing Companies of 2010

2,000,000+ barrels

1. Boston Beer Co.
1. D.G. Yuengling & Son

500,000+ barrels

3. Sierra Nevada Brewing
4. New Belgium Brewing

200,000+ barrels

5. Spoetzl Brewery
6. Minhas Craft Brewery
7. Widmer Brothers Brewing
8. Deschutes Brewery

150,000+ barrels

9. Pyramid Breweries
10. Redhook Ale Brewery
11. Magic Hat Brewing
12. F.X. Matt Brewing
13. Bell’s Brewery
14. Boulevard Brewing
15. Harpoon Brewery

100,000+ barrels

16. Kona Brewing
17. Goose Island Beer Company
18. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
19. Alaskan Brewing
20. August Schell Brewing
21. Stone Brewing
22. Gordon Biersch Brewing
22. Abita Brewing
24. Brooklyn Brewery
25. Lagunitas Brewing
26. Full Sail Brewing

75,000+ barrels

27. Shipyard Brewing
28. Summit Brewing
29. Great Lakes Brewing
29. New Glarus Brewing
31. Anchor Brewers and Distillers
31. Long Trail Brewing
33. Rogue Ales
34. Firestone Walker Brewing
35. SweetWater Brewing

30,000+ barrels

36. Flying Dog Brewery
37. Mendocino Brewing
38. Victory Brewing
39. Lost Coast Brewery
40. Odell Brewing
41. BridgePort Brewing
42. BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery
43. Straub Brewery
43. Rock Bottom Restaurants
45. Blue Point Brewing
46. Oskar Blues Brewery
47. Stevens Point Brewery
48. Big Sky Brewing
49. Mac and Jack’s Brewing
50. Saint Louis Brewery (Schlafly)
51. Karl Strauss Brewing

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15 thoughts on “The Top 50 Breweries of 2010 (by production)”

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Chance on April 12, 2011 at 3:58 pm said:

From what I have heard about our local BJ’s Restaurants they contract out their brewing. The ones in the Austin area get their beer brewed by Saint Arnold. I’m not sure about other locations though.
Adam Nason on April 12, 2011 at 4:06 pm said:

Yeah, that’s one of the caveats with this list. Whether breweries that contract out should be included or not is up for debate. Whether barrels made under contract for others is up for debate. I’ll take those into account and try to separate them or make those differences more explicit next year if I do this again.
Frank on April 12, 2011 at 9:11 pm said:

No Smuttynose/Portsmouth brewing? Seems like an oversight, as they are in approx. 20 states now.
Adam Nason on April 12, 2011 at 9:27 pm said:

@Frank Portsmouth does about a 1,000 barrels so its production is negligible. Smuttynose is close to 30k barrels but not quite there.
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Jon Piepenbrok on April 13, 2011 at 9:53 am said:

For further reading, the BA announced official figures at the recent Craft Brewers Conf in San Francisco. 2010 rankings of craft breweries by production barrels will be included in the May issue of The New Brewer, and likely posted all throughout the web. This is definitely a good start. Cheers!
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Adam Nason on April 13, 2011 at 10:11 am said:

Thanks, Jon! I gave it a good shot though admittedly not my best shot. Someone brought up The Lion and I realized suddenly that there were probably a slew of contract brewers that I did not account for…

We’ll see if I try it again. Depends how busy I am next winter.
Kevin on April 13, 2011 at 4:34 pm said:

Whoa! I may be a little biased here, but come on! How about some love for the greater Seattle area breweries. To list a few: Hale’s Ales, Pike Brewing Co., Georgetown Brewing Co., Two Beers, Trade Route Brewing Co., Elysian Brewing, Scuttlebutt Brewing Co., Lazy Boy Brewing, Daimond Knot Brewing, etc. I feel that a lot of good breweries should be on this list and for some reason are not. Could you explain how you came up with this list and in particular how you decided on the breweries?
Adam Nason on April 13, 2011 at 5:02 pm said:

Hi Kevin. It’s purely factual, based on production. It is not at all subjective (only in the assumptions, methods used to put the list together). As clearly stated, it is not a Best Breweries of 2010 type of list.
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MR on May 20, 2011 at 4:21 pm said:

I wonder where New Glarus would be if they distributed outside of WI? I would say that it’s pretty impressive to be that high on the list even though they cap distribution to one state.
Frank Stieler on March 1, 2014 at 12:43 am said:

What about Lion brewery in Wilkes-bare pa. Stegmaier and contract brew.