Congrats thirsty people of America. The official brewery count in the United States has past 2,000 breweries. Make that 2, 051. The Brewers Association came home from the Craft Brewer’s Conference in San Diego and started some bean counting. The number of craft breweries stands exactly at 2,000. Non-craft (large breweries) 51. That’s brick and mortar. It doesn’t count contract or other forms of operation.
Paul Gatza (of BA) expands on the craft brewery timeline:
1988 – 100
1994 – 500
1996 – 1,000
1999 – 1,500
2008 – 1,500 (there was a dip)
2012 – 2,000
[FullMemo]
