Top 50 US Craft Breweries in 2010: Where Are They Located?

Every year at about this time, the Brewers Association puts out their annual list of the Top 50 Breweries in the US and the Top 50 Craft Breweries in the US.  Rankings are based on sales volume from the prior year, with craft beer breweries being defined a "small, independent, and traditional.   For the most part, these lists represent the household names in beer, with a few less know breweries jumping on and off from one year to the next.

Last year, I started tracking where the Top 50 Craft Breweries where located through out the US.  I was curious how they were distributed.  Which states claim the most Top Craft Breweries?  Are there more on the east coast or the west coast?  How many of them are close to me?  With the new BA ranking recently being published, I figured it was time to update the map and share it.

Below is the resulting map showing the locations of all 50 Craft Breweries from this year's BA ranking.

Overall, there were not too many changes to the list with California, Colorado, and Oregon taking the top positions respectively.  Many of the breweries changed positions on the ranking, but between 2009 and 2010, only four names changed on the list: Oregon's Ninkasi Brewery and Texas's Real Ale Brewing were added, while Colorado's Boulder Beer and Washington's Pyramid Brewery (as a result of a merger with Magic Hat) fell off the list.

A run-down of all the states with ranking craft breweries is listed below.

States with Top Craft Breweries in 2010

Rank	State	No. of Breweries	% of Total	YtY Change
1	California	11	22%	-
2	Colorado	5	10%	-1
2	Oregon	5	10%	+1
4	New York	3	6%	-
4	Texas	3	6%	+1
6	Massachusetts	2	4%	-
6	Missouri	2	4%	-
6	Vermont	2	4%	-
6	Wisconsin	2	4%	-
10	Alaska	1	2%	-
10	Delaware	1	2%	-
10	Georgia	1	2%	-
10	Hawaii	1	2%	-
10	Louisiana	1	2%	-
10	Maine	1	2%	-
10	Maryland	1	2%	-
10	Michigan	1	2%	-
10	Minnesota	1	2%	-
10	Montana	1	2%	-
10	Ohio	1	2%	-
10	Pennsylvania	1	2%	-
10	Tennessee	1	2%	-
10	Utah	1	2%	-
10	Washington	1	2%	-1

Harpoon and the Boston Beer Company still remain the closest breweries to me.  What about you?

Slainte!

-JW


"It's amazing to me that we've been able to go from invisible to infinitesimal to today we've gotten all the way to tiny. Someday I hope to get all the way to small."
-Jim Koch