Colorado remains well-represented among the nation鈥檚 top craft breweries.
places five of Colorado鈥檚 breweries among the top 50 in the country for 2016. The ranking is based on a brewery鈥檚 total sales volume for the year.
New Belgium Brewing Company of Fort Collins is the country鈥檚 fourth largest craft brewery, with production facilities in both Colorado and Asheville, North Carolina. Longmont鈥檚 Oskar Blues Brewing Holding Company -- formed from five beer brands -- came in 10th place. Fort Collins-based Odell Brewing Company placed near the middle of the list at 27th. Longmont鈥檚 Left Hand Brewing Company and Boulder鈥檚 Avery Brewing Company rounded out the list at 44th and 48th, respectively.
鈥淐olorado certainly punches above its weight as a brewing state,鈥� says Bart Watson, the Brewers Association鈥檚 chief economist. 鈥淐olorado has a long brewing history, but we鈥檝e also had a very favorable regulatory environment for breweries both small and large and that鈥檚 really allowed the brewing industry to flourish.鈥�
The annual ranking gives a snapshot of how the craft beer industry is changing, Watson says. 2016 saw Anheuser-Busch InBev鈥檚 purchase of Littleton-based Breckenridge Brewery, removing that craft beer maker from the list. More craft brewers are teaming up in regional partnerships, to leverage their resources, Watson says. Their representation on the list, like Oskar Blues with its varied holdings, shows that the model works, Watson says.
鈥淲e have seen a more competitive marketplace with 5,000 plus breweries and a more aggressive posture by the large brewers in the full-flavored beer space,鈥� Watson says.
The Brewers Association defines a craft brewer as any beermaker that churns out fewer than 6 million barrels of beer in a year, is independent -- meaning that less than 25 percent of the brewery is owned by another beer or beverage company that is not itself a craft brewer -- and uses traditional methods and ingredients to produce its beer.
In 2016, the top three breweries in the country are situated in coastal states. D.G. Yuengling & Son of Pottsville, Penn. took the top spot, followed by Boston鈥檚 Boston Beer Company and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company of Chico, Calif.
Colorado鈥檚 craft beer industry employed 21,838 people in 2014, and contributed more than $2.7 billion in economic impact to the state in 2015. The state鈥檚 roughly 280 craft breweries produced 1.7 million barrels of beer in 2015, putting the state third nationwide for craft beer output.
