Entrepreneurs / Small Business  December 4, 2015

Brewers Association: U.S. brewery count eclipses 1873 record

BOULDER — The craft beer industry has set an American record, with the 4,144 breweries now operating nationwide eclipsing the 4,131 breweries in 1873.

The figures come from a new report released by the Boulder-based Brewers Association on Thursday that shows no end to the boom in sight. That’s because there are now more than two new breweries opening each day across the country.

Of course, per capita, America still has a ways to go to reach 1873 status. Back then, the population of the country was roughly 42 million, meaning there was one brewery for every 10,167 people. Today that ratio stands at one brewery for every 75,290 people.

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Colorado, with more than 300 breweries, is one of 15 states with more than 100. The state was third in barrels brewed by craft brewers in 2014, trailing only Pennsylvania and California. In 1873, New York took those top honors, followed by Pennsylvania and Ohio.

After reaching the high point in 1873, a period of consolidation began reducing the number of breweries in the industry. After prohibition wiped out the industry in the 1920s, the country rebounded to more than 800 in the years following prohibition’s repeal. But by the late 1970s, there were fewer than 50 craft breweries before changes in laws nationally and on the state levels began clearing the way for the current boom.

By 1996, the country boasted 1,000 craft breweries. It took until 2011 for that number to double, but it’s taken just four years for it to do so again.

BOULDER — The craft beer industry has set an American record, with the 4,144 breweries now operating nationwide eclipsing the 4,131 breweries in 1873.

The figures come from a new report released by the Boulder-based Brewers Association on Thursday that shows no end to the boom in sight. That’s because there are now more than two new breweries opening each day across the country.

Of course, per capita, America still has a ways to go to reach 1873 status. Back then, the population of the country was roughly 42 million, meaning there was one brewery for every 10,167 people. Today that ratio…

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