DRAFT Magazine

There has never been a better time to be an independent craft brewer. According to a study by the Boulder, Colorado-based Brewers Association, growth rates for U.S. craft brewers hit an impressive 12 percent in 2007, dwarfing the 1.4 percent growth rate of both imports and non-craft domestic brewers. The Brewers Association, which annually polls the nation’s craft brewers to estimate how much beer is being sold by brewpubs, microbreweries and regional craft brewers, found that last year, craft beer sales were about $5.74 billion, an increase from $4.95 billion, and craft brewers sold 864,091 more barrels of beer than in 2006.

Since 2004, dollar sales by craft brewers have increased 58 percent, said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. The strength of this correlates with the American trend of buying local products, and a preference for more flavorful foods and beers.

In 2007, 1,406 of the 1,449 breweries operating across the country were craft breweries, and about 70 percent of those were brewpubs that complete most of their sales on premises. The numbers don’t lie: The growing craft brewing industry is becoming a tour de force in the U.S. beer market, and clearly, business is good.
-Michelle McManimon