The Brewers Association (BA), the trade association representing small and independent American craft brewers, has released annual production figures for the US craft brewing industry.
Photograph: Brewers Association
The number of operating craft breweries continued to climb, reaching an all-time high of 9,683. This includes 2,071 microbreweries, 3,467 brewpubs, 3,900 taproom breweries, and 245 regional craft breweries.
The total US operating brewery count was 9,812, up from 9,730 in 2022. Throughout the year, there were 495 new brewery openings and 418 closures. 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 approximately 4%.
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% increase from 2022.
“2023 was another competitive and challenging year for small and independent brewers,” said Bart Watson, vice-president of strategy and chief economist at the Brewers Association. “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% from 2022. But craft’s overall beer market share by volume grew to 13.3%, up from 13.1% in 2022. Craft’s declines were smaller than overall beer volume losses.
The overall beer market shrank 5.1% by volume in 2023. Retail dollar value was estimated at $28.6bn, representing a 24.5% market share and 3% growth over a comparable value in 2022. Sales growth was stronger than volume primarily due to pricing, but also due to slightly stronger on-site sales growth versus distribution.
“As always, the beverage alcohol market and consumer demand continue to evolve,” said Watson. ”Many brewers are accordingly updating their operations to match those changes, focusing on their business models, go-to-market strategies, and brand strategies to help their businesses match those shifts.”
The Brewers Association has also released its annual list of the top 50 producing craft brewing companies and overall brewing companies in the US, based on beer sales volume. The list can be viewed here.
