The 50 Largest Craft Brewing Companies, According To The ...
Don Tse·2026-04-15·via Forbes - Food & Drink
Sierra Nevada jumped one position to become the second-largest craft brewing company in the United States in 2025.
Courtesy of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
The Brewers Association, the trade association representing America’s small and independent breweries, released its annual craft brewing industry production report, which measures the health of the industry and lists the 50 largest craft brewing companies for 2025.
The Industry Continues To Decline
According the Brewers Association report, the volume of beer produced by the craft brewing industry declined 5.1% in 2025, to 21,856,000 barrels. All segments declined: brewpubs by 1.7%, taprooms by 3.9%, microbreweries by 8.9% and regional breweries by 5.9%.
For the second year in a row, the Brewers Association reported that the number of operating U.S. craft breweries fell. With 9,578 craft breweries operating in the United States, there are 2.9% fewer than in 2024. As with volume of beer produced, the reduction in the number of breweries occurred across all segments: brewpubs by 2.5%, taprooms by 2.7%, microbreweries by 4.4% and regional breweries by 0.4%.
Employment in the industry correspondingly declined. In 2025, the industry was responsible for 189,000 jobs, down 4%—about 8,000 jobs—from 2024.
Signs Of Resilience
The Brewers Association reported that the overall beer category declined by 5.7%. By declining only 5.1%, the craft brewing industry actually gained market share, albeit only slightly, from 13.2% in 2024 to 13.3% in 2025.
Craft beer is usually priced at a premium over multinational brands. So, while the value of craft beer’s retail dollar declined 3.6% to $27.8 billion, it maintained a 24.6% share of total beer retail dollar sales.
While fewer new breweries opened in 2025—only 300—closures also declined. The Brewers Association said that 481 breweries closed in 2025, significantly fewer than the 591 breweries that closed in 2024.
Notable Moves
Industry watchers often look at the movement of breweries up and down the list, seeing what breweries are doing well and which are not.
Some of the more notable moves, as compared to the 2024 list of the 50 largest craft brewing companies were:
Beers with strong brand identity such as Garage Beer and Outlaw (by Tivoli Brewing Company) enjoyed growth. Garage Beer and Tivoli are 22nd and 18th on the list of 50 largest craft breweries, respectively, despite not being on the 2024 list at all.
While D. G. Yuengling and Son maintained its position as the largest craft brewery in American, Sierra Nevada Brewing, which recently celebrated its 45th anniversary, took over second position from Boston Beer, which fell to third.
Athletic Brewing which makes the best-selling family of non-alcoholic beers by dollar, jumped two positions to sixth in 2025, from eighth in 2024.
BrewDog Brewing, once a darling of the industry because of its irreverent attitude and media stunts, fell to the 35th position in 2025 from 30th in 2024. In March 2026, Tilray (which already holds fourth position) announced it would acquire BrewDog assets.
The 50 Largest Craft Brewing Companies
The 50 largest craft brewing companies in America in 2025 were:
