With Raleigh's "beer week" around the corner, where does N.C. rank in number of breweries

Raleigh Beer Week starts on September 18th - 25th.

By Dathan  | September 15, 2016

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With Raleigh "Beer Week" coming up next week, it seemed like a good time to delve into the state craft beer sales and production stats from last year. With thanks to the Brewers Association, it’s relatively easy to find out where North Carolina ranks in terms of number of breweries, annual production of barrels produced each year and our rank in terms of gallons of beer consumed by adults 21-years of age and older.

The statistics from the BA are for 2015, so some of these exact brewery numbers might be slightly askew, but pretty close. What I’ve done below is ranked the top 10 in the number of breweries, but still ranked the other stats so you can see where NC ranks across the U.S.

The Top 10 should come as no surprise to the beer connoisseur out there. There was one shock to me, and that was the number of barrels produced by the state of Pennsylvania, which came in at No. 1 with a whopping 4,059,330 barrels per year.  And that’s a huge contrast compared the state of Washington, whose 305 breweries almost doubles the breweries in Pennsylvania, but only produces 426,462 barrels per year, ranking them 19th in the country.

Another shocker was if you think the great state of California would be No. 1 in gallons per year drank by adults – you’d be wrong. Californians only drink a total of 4.3 gallons per year, bringing them in at No. 12 on the list. But it’s Vermont that leads the pack, with its adults consuming 17.4 gallons per year per adult. I guess if you can get your hands on The Alchemist and Hill Farmstead on a daily basis, you’d be drinking 17 gallons a year too!

Top 10 states with the most breweries:

10. Illinois
Number of craft breweries: 157
Breweries per capita*: 1.7 (ranks 26th)
Barrels of craft beer produced per year: 595,237 (ranks 13th)
Gallons per 21+ adult: 2

9. North Carolina
Number of craft breweries: 161
Breweries per capita*: 2.2 (ranks 19th)
Barrels of craft beer produced per year: 675,469 (ranks 11th)
Gallons per 21+ adult: 2.9

8. Pennsylvania
Number of craft breweries: 178
Breweries per capita*: 1.9 (ranks 23rd)
Barrels of craft beer produced per year: 4,059,330 (ranks 1st)
Gallons per 21+ adult: 13.3 (ranks 3rd)

7. Texas
Number of craft breweries: 189
Breweries per capita*:1 (ranks 42nd)
Barrels of craft beer produced per year: 1,135,043
Gallons per 21+ adult: 1.9 (ranks 23rd)


6. Michigan
Number of craft breweries: 205
Breweries per capita*: 2.9 (ranks 6th)
Barrels of craft beer produced per year: 769,897 (ranks 10th)
Gallons per 21+ adult: 3.3 (ranks 13th)

5. New York
Number of craft breweries: 208
Breweries per capita*: 1.4 (ranks 33rd)
Barrels of craft beer produced per year: 1,086,718 (ranks 7th)
Gallons per 21+ adult: 2.3 (ranks 21st)

4. Oregon
Number of craft breweries: 228
Breweries per capita*: 7.7 (ranks 2nd)
Barrels of craft beer produced per year: 1,081,152 (ranks 5th)
Gallons per 21+ adult: 11.3 (ranks 5th)

3. Colorado
Number of craft breweries: 284
Breweries per capita*: 7.3 (ranks 3rd)
Barrels of craft beer produced per year: 1,775,831 (ranks 2nd)
Gallons per 21+ adult: 14.1 (ranks 2nd)

2. Washington
Number of craft breweries: 305
Breweries per capita*: 5.9 (ranks 6th)
Barrels of craft beer produced per year: 426,462 (ranks 15th)
Gallons per 21+ adult: 2.5 (ranks 19th)

1. California
Number of craft breweries: 518
Breweries per capita*: 1.9 (ranks 1sy)
Barrels of craft beer produced per year: 3,799,785 (ranks 2nd)
Gallons per 21+ adult: 4.3 (ranks 12th)

*per 100,000 21+ adults
Source: Brewers Association