Craft brewers grew 12 percent by volume in 2006

This comes on top of strong growth in each of the prior three years and illustrates the ongoing surge of consumer interest in craft beers. The Brewers Association estimates 2006 sales by craft brewers at over 6.6 million barrels (7.7 million hl) up from an adjusted total of just under 6.0 million barrels in 2005. The increase totals over 690 000 barrels or 9.5 million case-equivalents. For 2006 craft beer posted an estimated retail sales figure of USD 4.2 billion.

A strong area of distribution for craft beer is grocery, convenience, drug and liquors stores. According to Information Resources Inc. (IRI), “The beer category reaped growth from import (+10.9%) and micro-brew (+16.9%) products [in 2006], while suffering losses across domestic and non-alcoholic varieties.”