This morning, national trade organization, the Brewers Association (BA), released its annual lists of the country’s top 50 craft brewing companies and overall U.S. beer entities. Rankings for both lists were based on sales-volume figures obtained by the BA for calendar year 2024.
The Brewers Association defines a “craft brewer” as a small and independent brewing company producing less than six million barrels of beer per year that is less than 25 percent owned or controlled by a beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.
Of the top 50 craft breweries, three have ties to San Diego County. The highest-ranking of that trio is Athletic Brewing, an operation founded in Milford, Connecticut, which has since taken over Ballast Point Brewing’s properties in Miramar and grown into a bi-coastal force as well as the country’s top producer of non-alcoholic beer. Athletic rose two spots on the list from the previous year to come in eighth, while also placing 18 on the overall brewery list.
Maui-based Craft ‘Ohana, the parent company of local operation Modern Times Beer, came in at 17 on the craft list and 28 overall, up nine spots and eight spots, respectively, from 2023. Meanwhile Carlsbad-based Pizza Port Brewing made the list for the third consecutive year, jumping nine spots to 38 on the craft list, while debuting at 49 on the overall list.
Escondido-based Sapporo-Stone Brewing, which does not meet the BA’s craft definition, was also on the rise, up five to number 14 on the overall rankings.
The top five spots on the craft-brewery list were occupied by the same interests as the previous year save for a newcomer in the number-four spot. D.J. Yuengling & Sons came in first, followed by Boston Beer Co., Sierra Nevada Brewing, Tilray Brands and Duvel Moortgat USA. In 2021, Tilray purchased Green Flash Brewing and its acquired Alpine Beer Co. brands, shuttering the former’s Mira Mesa production facility before moving production out of state.
Anheuser-Busch, MolsonCoors, Constellation, Heineken USA and Pabst Brewing were the top five corporations on the overall list for another straight year.