{"id":13458,"date":"2016-04-05T16:05:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T23:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/?p=13458"},"modified":"2016-04-05T16:05:52","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T23:05:52","slug":"four-breweries-among-largest-in-us-in-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/2016\/04\/05\/four-breweries-among-largest-in-us-in-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Four breweries among largest in US in 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ba\"<\/a>It\u2019s that time of year again. The Brewers Association<\/strong><\/a>, the national trade organization representing American breweries, has released its lists of the top 50 breweries and \u201ccraft breweries\u201d in the country, based on barrels of beers sold during calendar year 2015. Four breweries from San Diego County are included in the \u201ccraft brewery\u201d list.<\/p>\n

Once again, Stone Brewing<\/a> <\/strong>is tops on the list, but the Escondido-based company slipped from ninth to tenth in the standings\u2026one notch above Miramar-based Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits<\/strong><\/a>, which rose a full 20 points from its 2014 position. But wait\u2026after being sold for $1 billion to Constellation Brands late last year, Ballast Point no longer qualifies as a \u201ccraft brewer\u201d by the BA\u2019s standards (*). But they are on the list based on the decision to include companies that met the BA\u2019s criteria for all or part of<\/em> 2015.<\/p>\n

Mira Mesa-based Green Flash Brewing Company<\/a> <\/strong>rose from 48 to 41 this year, while San Diego\u2019s oldest continuously operating brewing operation, Karl Strauss Brewing Company<\/strong><\/a>, came in at 46 (down a notch from 45 in 2014). On the list of U.S. breweries, which does not consider businesses\u2019 \u201ccraft\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n