Brewers Association changes definition of what is a craft brewer

USA | As has been expected, the Brewers Association’s board of directors has revised its craft brewer definition at its December 2018 meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona.

It now reads: An American craft brewer is a small and independent brewer.

As to the individual constituents of the definition, “small” implies an annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less. “Independent” means that less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by a beverage alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer. A “brewer” has a tax licence and makes beer.

The “traditional” pillar has been dropped. It became outdated, the Brewers Association (BA) has argued, because craft brewers, as they seek new sources of revenue to keep their breweries at capacity and address market conditions, have created new products that do not fit the traditional definition of beer any longer.

As with previous updates of the craft brewer definition, the BA says, this fourth evolution is more inclusive and adds more breweries to the craft data set.

The original craft brewer definition was formulated in 2006, after the creation of the BA. Since 2006, the craft brewing industry has more than tripled in size and market share. Because of the industry’s evolution, the definition had to evolve too. The definition has now been amended four times (2007, 2010, 2014, 2018) to keep up with innovations and brewing trends.