It’s that time of year again. The Brewers Association, the national trade organization representing American breweries, has released its lists of the top 50 breweries and “craft breweries” in the country, based on barrels of beers sold during calendar year 2015. Four breweries from San Diego County are included in the “craft brewery” list.
Once again, Stone Brewing is tops on the list, but the Escondido-based company slipped from ninth to tenth in the standings…one notch above Miramar-based Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits, which rose a full 20 points from its 2014 position. But wait…after being sold for $1 billion to Constellation Brands late last year, Ballast Point no longer qualifies as a “craft brewer” by the BA’s standards (*). But they are on the list based on the decision to include companies that met the BA’s criteria for all or part of 2015.
Mira Mesa-based Green Flash Brewing Company rose from 48 to 41 this year, while San Diego’s oldest continuously operating brewing operation, Karl Strauss Brewing Company, came in at 46 (down a notch from 45 in 2014). On the list of U.S. breweries, which does not consider businesses’ “craft” nature, Stone placed 15, Ballast Point came in at 17 and Green Flash edged in at 49. All three operations figure to produce far more beer in 2016 once additional brewing facilities and equipment come on-board.
Stone is looking to a third-quarter debut of breweries in both Richmond, Virginia and Berlin, Germany, while Ballast Point recently upped its production capabilities in a big way by adding a 300-barrel brewhouse and securing space in Long Beach for a barrel facility that will give birth to sours. Meanwhile, Green Flash is still hard at work on finishing construction of its East Coast brewery in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
- BA Craft Brewer definition—Small: Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Independent: Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer. Traditional: A brewer that has a majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers whose flavor derives from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation. Flavored malt beverages (FMBs) are not considered beers.