Production at craft breweries outside of the Brewers Association’s (BA) craft brewer definition collectively declined -6% on a comparable basis, to nearly 7.6 million barrels in 2023, according to data shared in the May/June edition of the New Brewer Magazine. The loss of more than 1 million barrels comes amid volume declines and sell offs of once acquired craft brands.
The BA excludes companies from its craft brewery data set that are at least 25% owned by larger brewing companies and caps production for BA-defined craft breweries at 6 million barrels. Notbale craft brands outside of the BA’s definition include New Belgium, Bell’s Brewery, Goose Island, Lagunitas, and Blue Moon, among several others.
New Belgium Brewing Company – the combination of Fort Collins, Colorado-based New Belgium and Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Bell’s Brewery, under the ownership of Japanese brewing giant Kirin – continued its ascension, trailing Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) by just 200 barrels for the No. 2 spot among big beer craft producers. The combination of New Belgium and Bell’s produced 1.85 million barrels, a +10% year-over-year (YoY) increase.
The New Belgium portfolio, driven by its Voodoo Ranger IPA line, increased production +12%, to 1.383 million barrels of beer. Output for Bell’s Brewery increased +5%, to 467,000 barrels, bouncing back from a -9% decline in 2022, to 445,000 barrels.
A-B’s declines came from the combination of volume losses at all but three of its brands, as well as the sale of underperforming craft brands to Tilray Brands.
A-B’s 2 Largest Brands Grow, Declines For Nearly All Other Brands
The world’s largest beer manufacturer’s two largest craft properties, Goose Island (+6%) and Kona and the former Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) portfolio (+23%), all grew on a comparable basis.
Goose Island, riding the growth of its Beer Hug IPA franchise, posted a second consecutive year of +6% growth, reaching 525,000 barrels of beer. It was the first time Goose Island had crossed the 500,000-barrel threshold since 2019.
A-B’s Kona volume includes only mainland volume, as its Hawaii business was divested in 2020 to satisfy federal regulators during its acquisition of the remaining stake in CBA. A-B’s Kona and the former CBA brands accounted for 380,000 barrels, a +23% increase in output on a comparable basis. Notably, with the sale of former CBA brands Widmer Brothers and Redhook and divestments of the Kona Hawaii production and Appalachian Mountain Brewery, the Kona/CBA volume is down from 640,000 barrels in 2022.
The only other A-B brand to post volume growth in 2023 was Wicked Weed, with output increasing +4%, to 120,000 barrels. It’s the second consecutive year the North Carolina-based brewery recorded a more than 100,000-barrel output.
All other A-B craft brands were in the red:
- Elysian Brewing, -7%, to 285,000 barrels, dipping below 300,000-barrels for the first time since 2019;
- Golden Road Brewing, -9%, to 195,000, falling below the 200,000-barrel mark for the first time since 2018;
- Karbach Brewing, -13%, to 135,000 barrels;
- Four Peaks Brewing, -7%, to 130,200 barrels;
- Devils Backbone, -13%, to 65,000 barrels;
- Platform Beer Co., -25%, to 15,000 barrels.
A-B’s divestments and volume losses led to Molson Coors claiming the distinction of the largest big beer craft producer, even as the company’s portfolio of craft brands collectively declined -10%, to around 2.27 million barrels.
Blue Moon Down to 1.6M Barrels, Down 625K Barrels FroM Peak
Molson Coors-owned Blue Moon, the top-selling craft brand nationwide in scan data, remained the largest non-BA craft brand. Blue Moon’s output declined -9% YoY, to 1.6 million barrels. Since reaching a peak output of 2.225 million barrels in 2015, the brand has lost 625,000 barrels.
Molson Coors has stated its intentions of turning around the Blue Moon franchise, rebranding Blue Moon LightSky as Blue Moon Light and launching a non-alcoholic version of Belgian White.
All other Molson Coors craft brands recorded volume declines in 2023:
- Leinenkugel’s, -10%, to 475,000 barrels, falling below the 500,000-barrel mark and down from its 1-million-barrel peak in 2015;
- Terrapin, -11%, to 80,000 barrels;
- Hop Valley, -21%, to 75,000 barrels;
- Revolver, -5%, to 28,500 barrels;
- Atwater, -3%, to 15,000 barrels.
Lagunitas, Founders, Stone Post Declines
Heineken-owned Lagunitas declined -11% in 2023, to 765,000 barrels. The Petaluma, California-based craft brand has tumbled from more than 1-million-barrel peak in 2019, with losses exceeding 300,000 barrels since.
Last week, Heineken announced plans to shutter its Chicago production facility and transfer production to Petaluma. The company has refreshed its c-suite in recent years and is in the process of rolling out a packaging refresh.
Mahou San Miguel-owned Founders Brewing declined -10%, to 408,896 barrels. It’s the second consecutive year of double-digit declines for Founders. Since reaching a 592,000-barrel high in 2020, Founders has lost more than 183,000 barrels. Sibling brand Avery Brewing declined -8%, to 44,606 barrels, losing its 2022 volume gains.
Production for Sapporo-owned Stone Brewing, which fell out of the BA’s craft data set after its 2022 sale, declined -6%, to 320,288 barrels. Stone’s -6% decline in 2023 mirrored 2022’s losses, when the brewer was the seventh largest BA-defined craft brewery. Sapporo-Stone ranked as the nineteenth largest overall U.S. brewing company last year.
Anchor Brewing, which Sapporo ceased operations of last year and announced plans to offload its assets, produced 15,000 barrels in its final year.
FIFCO USA’s craft beer production continued its steep declines, falling -47%, to 9,000 barrels. FIFCO-owned Magic Hat produced 9,000 barrels (-42% YoY) in 2023, while Pyramid brewed 2,000 barrels (-60%) of beer. The numbers were a far cry from the 181,000 barrels of Magic Hat produced and 94,000 barrels of Pyramid brewed in 2014. Both brands have tumbled down the priority list for the company, whose focus in beer is on Labatt and Genesee and primarily on flavored malt beverages such as Seagram’s Escapes.
Constellation Brands sold its remaining craft brands, Funky Buddha and Four Corners, to their former owners in 2023. Funky Buddha’s output declined -38%, to 23,400 barrels last year, while Four Corners’s volume declined -6%, to 9,380 barrels.