Alaska’s brewery sector has grown substantially over the past three decades. The state had 62 craft breweries in 2025, produced 133,395 barrels of craft beer, and recorded $259 million in craft-brewery economic impact. Earlier state research also shows rising local production, brewery employment, and craft-beer consumption alongside a decline in big-beer consumption.
Contents
- Alaska brewery snapshot
- How the brewery count changed
- Craft beer production and rankings
- Economic impact and employment
- Consumption and market share
- Where breweries were located
Alaska brewery snapshot
The Brewers Association’s State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 reports 62 craft breweries in Alaska. That count is paired with 11.5 breweries per 100,000 adults age 21+, placing Alaska 37th among states for craft-brewery count but 4th for breweries per capita.
The same 2025 source reports $259 million in economic impact from Alaska’s craft breweries. On a per-capita basis, the impact was $480, and Alaska ranked 46th for total craft-brewery economic impact and 7th for impact per capita. These rankings measure different things: total impact reflects the size of the state’s overall dollar contribution, while per-capita impact adjusts the comparison for population.
The 2025 craft-brewery figures are distinct from the broader brewery counts published by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). The TTB series reports 80 breweries in Alaska in 2024, 79 in 2023, 75 in 2022, 72 in 2021, and 66 in 2020. Because the sources use different categories and measurement periods, their totals should not be treated as interchangeable.
How the brewery count changed
The TTB Brewery Count by State 2010–2024 workbook shows a long increase in Alaska’s reported brewery count. The series rose from 20 breweries in 2010 to 80 in 2024. The annual figures were 23 in 2011, 25 in 2012, 25 in 2013, 28 in 2014, 35 in 2015, 36 in 2016, 45 in 2017, 51 in 2018, 59 in 2019, and 66 in 2020.
The subsequent TTB counts were 72 in 2021, 75 in 2022, 79 in 2023, and 80 in 2024. The sequence shows the strongest expansion in the middle of the period, followed by continued growth at a slower pace after 2019. The TTB figures are establishment counts for the years identified in that workbook; they are not a direct measure of craft-only operations or production volume.
For the earlier period, the TTB Brewery Count by State 1984–2009 workbook reports 18 breweries in Alaska in 2009, 16 in 2008, 15 in 2007, 13 in 2006, 15 in 2005, 13 in 2004, 15 in 2003, 14 in 2002, 17 in 2001, and 19 in 2000. The same source reports 14 in 1999, 16 in 1998, 11 in 1997, 5 in 1996, 3 in 1995, 3 in 1994, 4 in 1993, and 3 in 1992.
Selected TTB brewery counts
| Year | Breweries | Source series |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 3 | TTB, 1984–2009 workbook |
| 2000 | 19 | TTB, 1984–2009 workbook |
| 2007 | 15 | TTB, 1984–2009 workbook |
| 2010 | 20 | TTB, 2010–2024 workbook |
| 2017 | 45 | TTB, 2010–2024 workbook |
| 2020 | 66 | TTB, 2010–2024 workbook |
| 2024 | 80 | TTB, 2010–2024 workbook |
The historical series also illustrates why a single year’s number needs a source label. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s November 2017 Economic Trends reported 35 breweries in 2017 and 14 in 2007, while the TTB workbooks reported 45 and 15 for those same years. Those are different source series, so both sets of figures are retained as published rather than reconciled into one number.
Craft beer production and rankings
Alaska produced 133,395 barrels of craft beer in 2025, according to the Brewers Association’s State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025. That placed the state 32nd for craft-beer production. Measured against adults age 21+, Alaska produced 7.7 gallons of craft beer per adult and ranked 5th for that measure.
The contrast between total and per-capita rankings is important for understanding Alaska’s position. A 32nd-place production ranking describes the state’s total volume relative to other states. A 5th-place ranking for gallons per 21+ adult describes the intensity of production relative to the adult population base. The same distinction appears in brewery count: Alaska ranked 37th for craft-brewery count but 4th for craft breweries per 100,000 adults age 21+.
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s November 2017 Economic Trends provides an earlier production and consumption perspective. Locally produced craft beer sold in Alaska rose from 454,000 gallons in 2007 to 919,000 gallons in 2017. Craft beer consumed in-state rose from 2.3 million gallons in 2007 to 4.2 million gallons in 2017.
That 2017 report also stated that locally crafted beer consumption increased 35 percent from 2013 to 2017. It ranked Alaska 3rd among states for gallons consumed per capita by adults age 21+ and 7th for breweries per capita in 2017. These are historical findings from that report and should not be read as current 2025 rankings.
Economic impact and employment
The Brewers Association reported $259 million in Alaska craft-brewery economic impact in 2025, equal to $480 per capita. Alaska ranked 46th among states for total craft-brewery economic impact and 7th for impact per capita. The figures describe economic impact as reported by that source; they do not represent brewery revenue alone.
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s November 2017 Economic Trends reported that brewery employment increased from 121 jobs in 2007 to 340 jobs in 2017. Brewpub employment reached 921 jobs in 2017. The report also gave Alaska brewery earnings per capita as $239 million in 2016 and ranked the state 5th among states on that measure.
These employment categories are not identical. Brewery employment and brewpub employment are reported separately, and the 2016 earnings figure is a different measurement from the 2025 craft-brewery economic-impact figure. Keeping the years and labels visible avoids treating the numbers as a single continuous time series.
The employment figures show that the sector’s footprint extended beyond the number of production facilities. In 2017, the report counted 340 brewery jobs and 921 brewpub jobs, while also recording a statewide network across 24 communities. That combination points to both manufacturing and customer-facing activity, although the supplied figures do not quantify wages, sales by community, or the number of jobs in each location.
Consumption and market share
The 2017 Alaska Economic Trends report documented a shift in the state’s beer mix. Craft beer consumed in-state increased from 2.3 million gallons in 2007 to 4.2 million gallons in 2017. Locally produced craft beer sold increased from 454,000 gallons to 919,000 gallons over the same period.
At the same time, big-beer consumption fell from 11.9 million gallons in 2007 to 9.6 million gallons in 2017. Despite that decline, big beer still held nearly 70 percent of Alaska’s beer market in 2017. The report therefore describes a market in which craft beer was expanding while the larger traditional segment remained dominant.
The report also stated that locally crafted beer consumption increased 35 percent from 2013 to 2017. That percentage covers the specified 2013–2017 period and should not be extended to later years. The 2007 and 2017 gallon figures likewise describe those two measurement years, not a forecast.
Where breweries were located
In 2017, Alaska breweries and brewpubs were spread across 24 communities, according to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s November 2017 Economic Trends. The statistic indicates geographic reach, but it does not provide a community-by-community count in the supplied figures.
The same source reported 35 breweries in 2017 and 14 in 2007. A later issue, the department’s June 2021 Economic Trends, reported 49 breweries spread across 25 communities in 2020. It also reported that five more breweries opened in fiscal year 2020 in Alaska.
The 2020 figures use a fiscal-year opening measure and a 2020 brewery/community count, so they should be read with those time labels intact. They also differ from the TTB count of 66 breweries in 2020 and from the 2025 Brewers Association craft-brewery count of 62. The variation reflects differences in source definitions, coverage, and reporting periods rather than a basis for combining the totals.
Taken together, the available statistics describe an Alaska brewing sector with a larger establishment count than in the 1990s, high per-capita craft-brewing rankings in 2025, and measurable growth in local production, employment, and craft consumption through the periods reported by Alaska’s labor agency.