Sales are Down but way Up

According to the Brewers Association, sales of domestic craft beer rose from 2008 to 2009 by an increased sales volume of 7.2% and by a dollar amount of 10.3% while beer sales as a whole declined by 2.2%, including a 9.8% drop in import volume sales. This drop in beer sales has not been felt since the mid 1950s. For some quick stats see the Brewers Association Fact Sheet.

2009 also saw an increase in the amount of craft brewers from 2008's 1,485 to 1,542. That's an extra 57 craft breweries. Whether those 57 are only just opened on the books or if they're fully operational and getting to market is not known. For those of you who love pie, these graphics break it down.

Anhueser-Busch and MillerCoors who represent 80% of the market were down 2.1% and 1.9% respectively. These large brewers are not worried, however, because they wisely increased prices and cut costs during 2009 to offset these expected declines.

Yeungling and Boston Beer Co 2009 sales caused them to both outgrow their Craft Brewers status which is partly defined as brewing less than 2 million barrels a year (1 barrel = 31 gallons). New brewery O'Fallon Brewery of St. Louis had a 36% increase of sales. Being a start-up, O'Fallon had plenty of room to grow and relied on outsourced contract brewing to meet demand (as opposed to the established Boston Beer Co. that only increased by 2%). Still, O'Fallon admits it had a higher target than 36%.

Other Sources: Here, Here, and Here.