Brewers Association releases 2025 Top 50 – the breakdown

The Brewers Association dropped its annual production report and Top 50 list today. Short story? 2025 was another down year for craft beer. The longer story is a bit more interesting.

Craft brewers produced 21.86 million barrels in 2025—a 5.1% decline from 2024. That’s a steeper drop than the year before, and the second consecutive year that brewery closures outpaced openings. The number of operating U.S. craft breweries fell to 9,578. (That 10,000-brewery mark just keeps getting more elusive.)

It might feel less brutal when you look at it the way the Brewers Association does: the overall beer market declined 5.7%. Craft actually outperformed.

Market share by volume ticked up—from 13.2% in 2024 to 13.3% in 2025. Retail dollar value fell 3.6% to $27.8 billion, but that drop was cushioned by higher average prices and the continued shift toward taproom sales, where per-unit revenue is higher. Craft held 24.6% of total beer retail dollar sales—essentially unchanged.

The BA calls this a year of correction. We are here for it.

By the numbers. 300 new breweries opened in 2025. 481 closed. For comparison, 518 opened in 2024. The slowdown in new entrants is significant—the easy money in craft brewing is gone, and entrepreneurs know it. The category now belongs to operators who’ve already earned their place and brand loyalty.

The worst-performing segment by production was microbreweries at -8.9%. Brewpubs still have the best market position at -1.7%, which tracks with everything the industry has been saying for two years: if you own the room, you own the relationship, and the relationship is what survives a hard market.

Employment declined to 189,000 jobs—down 4%. In 2024, that number was around 197,000.

What the Top 50 actually tells you.

Yuengling is still #1. Has been since at least 2014 and doesn’t look like America’s oldest brewery will lose that spot anytime soon.

Sierra Nevada is now #2. Boston Beer—Sam Adams—drops to #3 for the first time in recent memory. Sierra Nevada is absolutely the most operationally sound brewery in the country.

Athletic Brewing is #6. Non-alcoholics are still growing. A non-alc is now the sixth-largest craft brewer in the United States. They were #8 last year. The irony is that Athletic is moving in the opposite direction of everyone else’s goals. It’s a structural shift seen at the bar and at home.

Tilray Beer Brands, #4. The most aggressive acquirer in craft beer history. Their Georgia brands—SweetWater and Terrapin—play a big role in this spot. Their portfolio has expanded considerably since last year’s list. In fiscal 2025, Tilray acquired four craft brands from Molson Coors: Hop Valley, Terrapin, Revolver, and Atwater Brewery. In March 2026, they acquired BrewDog—the global brand, UK brewing operations, and 11 brewpubs—for a total of around £33 million, launching what they are calling a ~$500 million global craft beer and beverage platform. They also separately agreed to acquire BrewDog’s U.S. assets, including its brewery, pub, and hotel in Columbus, Ohio, as well as pubs in New Albany, Cleveland, and Las Vegas. Note that BrewDog’s Columbus brewery sits at #35 on this very list as an independent entry—that relationship is about to change. Tilray is global. Big-time global now.

Creature Comforts, Athens, Georgia—#29. They moved up from #31 a year ago.

What’s new on the 2025 list

Artisanal Brewing Ventures, Charlotte, NC—#11. The parent company of Victory Brewing, Southern Tier, Sixpoint, and Braxton Brewing is back on the craft list after being absent in 2024 (they appeared on last year’s overall Top 50 at #21 but didn’t qualify for the craft list).

Garage Beer Co., Columbus, OH—#12. A big new entry here. NFL brothers Jason Kelce (retired Eagles center) and Travis Kelce (Chiefs tight end) joined as majority owners, partners, and active operators, bringing Super Bowl ad buys and a massive New Heights podcast audience and driving the growth of this brand.

Tivoli Brewing Company, Denver, CO—#18. Notable gainer, driven largely by their Outlaw brand. Denver-based, under the radar for most national beer media, and now inside the top 20.

Maine Beer Company, Freeport, ME—#46. One of the most respected craft breweries in New England finally breaks through to the national Top 50. Best known for Lunch IPA and Dinner DIPA, they’ve built an almost cult-level following.

Coronado Brewing Co., Coronado, CA—#49. The San Diego-area institution cracks the list for the first time. Known for Islander IPA and a big Southern California craft loyal draw.

Notable drops and departures.

Craft ‘Ohana → Maui Brewing Company, #17 to #33. The Maui/Modern Times collective that held the #17 spot in 2024 has dissolved in all but name—what remains is Maui Brewing Company on its own at #33. That’s a 16-spot fall and signals that the Modern Times side of that arrangement that is gone from this picture.

Barrel One Collective, #13 to #23. The Massachusetts roll-up that debuted at #13 in 2024 after the Mass. Bay/FinestKind merger has lost ground in year two. Not sure what this signals post-merger.

Great Lakes Brewing Company, #18 to #26. A beloved regional brewery slides eight spots. Cleveland’s flagship has been a Top 50 entrant for years.

Matt Brewing Co., #7 to #14. Seven-spot drop for the Utica, NY brewery.

Surly Brewing Co., #39 to #47. Eight-spot slide for the Minneapolis brewery. Still on the list. Might drop out of the 50 next year.

Fremont Brewing, Seattle, WA—OFF the list. Was #41 in 2024. Shipyard Brewing Co., Portland, ME—OFF the list. Was #45. The brewery screams New England and has been on and off the list for years. Maine Beer Company entering at #46 is perfect timing for the area. Zero Gravity Craft Brewery, Burlington, VT—OFF the list. Made their debut at #47 in 2024. Drake’s Brewing Co./Bear Republic, San Leandro, CA—OFF the list. Was #49. Rogue Ales Brewery, Newport, OR—OFF the list, and gone for good. Was #50 in 2024. On November 14, 2025, Rogue abruptly shuttered its 47,000-square-foot Newport brewery, all its Oregon pubs, and laid off its staff with almost no warning. Ten days later, parent company Oregon Brewing Company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing $16.7 million in liabilities against just $4.9 million in assets. That news shocked the beer world.

What this means.

Well, besides the trend of folks drinking less or not at all, I still think the youngest generation of beer drinkers have no loyalty anymore. Hot take, but it comes from split-second social media culture and reduced attention spans. Perhaps THC—that brewers wanted to legalize for years—is finally eating into beer’s bottom line. That’s an argument for another day.

Beer now has to reflect quality, not science experiments and intellectual property rip-offs. Your taprooms have to be inviting and fun, with staff that actually wants to be there and wants customers to be there.

The correction the BA references is real. But correction isn’t collapse—it’s the market finding its actual size. The breweries on this list, especially the ones moving up, aren’t winning because the industry is healthy. They’re winning because they figured out something specific that works and they kept doing it.

This isn’t like Field of Dreams where “If you make it, they will come.” It’s now “Make it good and fun, and they will come.”

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies