California’s craft beer scene: The 2021 stats are in
It's no secret that the last two years have been rough for California breweries, but the newest numbers are in and the future looks rosier. Here are the details.
It’s no secret that the pandemic era has been hard on breweries. The lockdowns of 2020 brought a historic drop in beer sales, as restaurants, bars and taprooms closed their doors, and breweries had to find new ways to sell their beer.
So where are we now and where do we go from here? Hold on to your hats: There is good news ahead.
Each year, the Brewers Association, a trade organization that represents small, independent breweries throughout the U.S., compiles its list of the top 50 craft brewers and a separate list of the top 50 breweries, a category that includes all American breweries. Watching the list year after year gives you a good idea of who’s doing well, who’s growing and who’s slipping. But the newest report, which covers 2021, is particularly important because it’s an indicator of which breweries are successfully recovering from the pandemic.
Overall, craft beer sales grew 8 percent from 2020 to 2021. That’s reason to celebrate, even though 2020’s precipitous drop — 10 percent — means we have not quite caught up to pre-pandemic levels. But craft beer now accounts for just over 13 percent of the total beer market, which is impressive. I’ve been watching the world of beer long enough to remember when 10 percent felt impossible, and business analysts kept insisting craft beer was just a fad. Clearly, they were wrong — and we have 9,000 American breweries to prove it.
California continues to play a dominant role in U.S. brewing, with 10 craft breweries in the top 50 and four in the top 10. (California breweries also made a strong showing on the “all breweries” list, with 10 among the top 50.)
California’s biggest craft brewery is Sierra Nevada Brewing, which took the No. 3 spot. Closely behind is Firestone Walker and Trumer, although both are part of larger businesses owning multiple breweries; Firestone Walker is owned by Duvel Moortgat USA (No. 4), and Trumer is part of Gambrinus (No. 5).
The Bay Area’s Gordon Biersch, a longtime lager brewery, is this year’s star, rising from No. 27 to No. 15 and providing ample evidence that people really are drinking more pilsners and other lagers. The other Bay Area brewery on the list is the 21st Amendment Brewery, which continues to shine at No. 42. Other Northern California breweries making the list include Lost Coast ( No. 37) and North Coast (No. 50). Anchor Brewing, as part of Sapporo’s multiple breweries, made the “all breweries” list at No. 47.
And in the not-Californian-but-extremely-fascinating-anyway category: Connecticut’s Athletic Brewing — which only brews non-alcoholic beer — made its list debut at No. 27.
There’s more good news at the individual brewery level, too. While the number of brewery openings has slowed since its 2018 peak, considerably more new breweries opened (646) than closed (178) in 2021. You might think that opening a brewery during a pandemic might not be the best idea. But as I’ve discovered during my monthly brewery day trip series, many breweries-in-planning decided they had nothing to lose by moving forward — and the results have been promising.
Brewery openings should continue through 2022, and I’ll be keeping an eye on several. Brewing with Brothas founders Denzel Jackson and Bookie Tinsley are hoping to open the first brewery in East Palo Alto, their home town. Meanwhile, the two have been making beer at other breweries — including a Silicon Valley collaboration beer for the 2022 San Francisco Beer Week — to support their project. For now, you can follow their journey on Instagram @brewing.with.brothas.
In San Francisco, Olfactory Brewing is moving into Triple Voodoo’s old digs and hopes to be up and running later this year. And new breweries may be headed to Livermore and Foster City soon.
Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.