2 of the top 50 breweries are in Boston, according to the Brewers Association
released its 2016 edition of the top 50 breweries on Wednesday, and both the Boston Beer Company and Harpoon Brewery once again made the cut.
The Brewers Association considered both overall brewing companies and craft brewers, defining the latter as one that is “small, independent, and traditional,” according to the association’s chief economist Bart Watson.
The rankings are based purely on beer sales volume, which measures a brewery’s total amount of production in the past year, including everything from pints to kegs to six packs. Watson said beer sales volume reflects a beer company’s success.
“Revenue could certainly be another measure, but that would vary depending on types of product and retail volume,” he said. “It’s one factor amongst many, but the Brewers Association’s goal is to protect small, independent breweries, so we see beer sales volume as a good metric to represent how they’re doing in the retail space.”
Boston Beer Company, based in Jamaica Plain and responsible for brewing more than 60 styles of Samuel Adams, finished second among craft brewers for the third year in a row, and sixth overall, which is one spot lower than its finish in 2015.
Watson wasn’t surprised that Boston Beer continues to finish near the top of the list year after year. He lauded it as “one of the original pioneers of the craft space.”
The other Bay State brewery on the list, Harpoon, based in the Seaport, ranked 18th among craft brewers, up one spot from its 2015 finish, and 27th overall, down one spot from last year’s 26th rank.
The results of the individual breweries’ sales volume will be announced in the May/June issue of The New Brewer, which has been publishing the lists since the 1980s.
