According to Just-drinks.com, craft brewing in the U.S. avoided the downward trend that the country’s larger brewers encountered last year.
The Brewers Association, which represents small and independent brewers in the United States, said that craft beer sales in 2011 posted a 15% rise in value and a 13% lift in volumes. Craft brewers accounted for 5.68% of total U.S. beer volumes last year, the trade association said. In 2010, that share totaled 4.97%.
Sales hit $8.7 billion last year, while volume sales for craft beer came in at 11.5 million barrels.
“While the overall beer market experienced a 1.3% volume decrease in 2011, craft brewing saw significant growth, surpassing 5% total market volume share for the first time,” said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. “It’s becoming increasingly clear that Americans are developing a strong taste for high quality, small-batch beer from independent brewers.”
A total of 1,989 breweries were operating in the U.S. in 2011, the trade body said, representing an 11% rise in 2010.
