Friday, April 23, 2010

Top Craft Brewers

How many of the top ten craft brewers can you name?  The Wall Street Journal had a question and answer with Boston Beer Co.'s Jim Koch, and in a sidebar listed the top ten craft brewers, based on 2009 sales volume.  Here is the list from the article:

Top 10 Craft Brewing Companies

Based on 2009 beer sales volume, with more popular labels noted.
1. Boston Beer Co. (Samuel Adams Boston Lager) Boston, Mass.
2. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale) Chico, Calif.
3. New Belgium Brewing Co. (Fat Tire Amber Ale) Fort Collins, Colo.
4. Spoetzl Brewery (Shiner Bock) Shiner, Texas
5. Pyramid Breweries Inc. (Haywire Hefeweizen) Seattle, Wash.
6. Deschutes Brewery (Mirror Pond Pale Ale) Bend, Ore.
7. Matt Brewing Co. (Saranac Adirondack Lager) Utica, N.Y.
8. Magic Hat Brewing Co. (#9) Burlington, Vt.
9. Boulevard Brewing Co. (Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer) Kansas City, Mo.
10. Harpoon Brewery (UFO Hefeweizen) Boston, Mass.
Source: Brewers Association; brewery Web sites

I'll admit, if given a test to choose the top ten craft brewers, I would have only scored forty percent - Boston Beer Co., Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and maybe Pyramid.   I probably would have guessed Deschutes, but would have also included Stone, Brooklyn Brewing and Widmer.  I didn't know Shiner Bock was so big and have never heard of Matt Brewing.  Is Matt Brewing really bigger than Brooklyn Brewing?  I know these lists are not worth much, but I found it sort of interesting, more for my lack of knowledge than anything else.

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