Number of US Craft breweries continues to climb in 2023
USA | According to the Brewers Association (BA), the number of operating craft breweries continued to climb in 2023, reaching an all-time high of 9,683, including 2,071 microbreweries, 3,467 brewpubs, 3,900 taproom breweries, and 245 regional craft breweries.
As in previous years, the top five craft brewing companies were Yuengling, followed by Boston Beer, Sierra Nevada, Duvel Moortgat and Gambrinus. But the nation’s biggest brewers are Anheuser-Busch, followed by Molson Coors, Constellation, Heineken USA, and Pabst.
In its report, released on 17 April, the BA put the total number of operating breweries at 9,812, up from 9,730 in 2022. There were 495 new brewery openings and 418 closings. Openings decreased for a second consecutive year, with the trend reflecting a more mature market. The closing rate increased in 2023 but continued to remain relatively low, at about 4 percent.
Craft brewers sold more beer onsite
Driven by the growing number of breweries and a continued shift to hospitality-focused business models, craft brewers directly employed 191,421 people in 2023, a 1.1 percent increase from 2022, the BA said.
Commenting on the data, BA’s vice president of strategy and chief economist Bart Watson said: “2023 was another competitive and challenging year for small and independent brewers. Nevertheless, even as growth has downshifted, small brewers have proved quite resilient, as seen in the increase in number of breweries, relatively low closing rates, and gains in onsite sales and jobs.”
Collectively, small and independent brewers produced 23.4 million barrels of beer in 2023, a decline of 1.0 percent over 2022. The overall beer market contracted by 5.1 percent (by volume). As craft’s declines were smaller than overall beer volume losses, craft beer’s market share by volume grew to 13.3 percent, up from 13.1 percent in 2022.
Retail dollar value was estimated at USD 28.6 billion, representing a 24.5 percent market share and 3 percent growth over 2022. Sales growth was stronger than volume growth, primarily due to higher pricing but also due to slightly stronger onsite sales growth versus distribution, the BA explained.
