U.S. Hits 2000 Craft Breweries – Is that All?

2000 Craft Breweries in the U.S. is no doubt impressive. Its the most ever and defintley telling of the Craft Beer upswing we’re seeing these days. But there were 1500 in 1999. Yes, numbers dropped significantly post 1999 only to rise back up to that number again in 2008, but a net gain of 500 breweries over the last 13 years is surprising to me.

Given, I was not of drinking age in 1999, and certainly not on the Craft Beer scene, but was 1999 really on par with what we’re seeing in 2012? Well, you tell me.

One explanation is that this number doesn’t include contract brewers – no doubt a phenomenon that has propelled many great breweries of late into local mainstream. Also, maybe 1999 was rad.

Is 2000 huge for a country of 300 million people? Well, there’s about 30 in the Ontario Craft Brewers Association for 12 million people, so proportionally the U.S. seems to have a significantly more dense ratio than us. SO, I guess we better keep craft brewing Ontario.