USA, PA: Craft beer means $2 bln to PA economy

Craft beer was a $2 billion industry in Pennsylvania in 2012, ranking it No. 4 nationally, a trade group said. The Keystone State ranks only behind three more populous states — California ($4.7 billion), Texas ($2.3 billion) and New York ($2.2 billion) — but ahead of Colorado ($1.6 billion), where the craft brewing industry has a major foothold, according to the Boulder, Colorado-based Brewers Association, Philadelphia Business Journal reported on December 31.

Pennsylvania had 20,867 people working in the craft-beer trade in 2012, earning $666.4 million in wages. Through 2012, it had 102 breweries, up from 93 the previous year. In craft-beer production, Pennsylvania is behind only California.

Downingtown, PA-based Victory Brewing Co. is the state’s largest craft brewer. A “craft brewer,” as defined by the Brewers Association, produces fewer than 6 million barrels a year. (Pottsville-based D.G. Yuengling & Son is the state’s largest overall brewer.)

Overall, American craft brewers contributed $33.9 billion to the U.S. economy in 2012.

According to the Brewers Association, economic impact figures are derived from the total impact of beer brewed by craft brewers as it moves through the three-tier system (breweries, wholesalers and retailers), as well as all non-beer products that brewpub restaurants sell.

“With a strong presence across the 50 states and the District of Columbia, craft breweries are a vibrant and flourishing economic force at the local, state and national level,” said Bart Watson, staff economist, Brewers Association.

There are 2,347 craft brewers nationwide, including brewpubs, microbreweries and regional craft breweries.

They produced 13.2 million barrels of beer in 2012, up from 11.5 million in 2011. Craft beer is the fastest-growing segment of the beer industry.

Still, Craft brewers are a relatively small part of the overall beer industry, accounting for retail sales of $11.9 billion. The overall beer industry had sales of $99 billion last year.

03 January, 2014