Alaska’s brewery landscape expanded sharply over the long term. The TTB Brewery Count by State lists 3 craft breweries in 1992 and 80 total breweries in 2024, while the TTB state beer reports show quarterly production, taxable removals, and stocks for Alaska in late 2023 and the first three quarters of 2024.
Contents
- Alaska brewery count over time
- The early craft-brewery period
- Growth from 2010 through 2024
- Alaska beer production in 2024
- Taxable removals by quarter
- Stocks on hand and quarterly context
Alaska brewery count over time
The TTB Brewery Count by State records 20 Alaska breweries in 2010. The count then rose to 23 in 2011, 25 in 2012, and 25 again in 2013. It reached 28 in 2014, followed by 35 in 2015 and 36 in 2016.
The later part of the series shows faster expansion. Alaska had 45 breweries in 2017, 51 in 2018, and 59 in 2019. The count was 66 in 2020, 72 in 2021, 75 in 2022, 79 in 2023, and 80 in 2024.
Here is the complete 2010–2024 series from the same source:
| Year | Alaska breweries |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 20 |
| 2011 | 23 |
| 2012 | 25 |
| 2013 | 25 |
| 2014 | 28 |
| 2015 | 35 |
| 2016 | 36 |
| 2017 | 45 |
| 2018 | 51 |
| 2019 | 59 |
| 2020 | 66 |
| 2021 | 72 |
| 2022 | 75 |
| 2023 | 79 |
| 2024 | 80 |
The measure in this series is a brewery count, not a production total, sales total, or estimate of the number of beer brands. The year identifies the corresponding entry in the TTB Brewery Count by State series.
The early craft-brewery period
The earlier craft-brewery figures show that Alaska’s scene was already present in the 1990s, but it did not rise in a straight line. The TTB Brewery Count by State lists 3 craft breweries in 1992 and 4 in 1993. The count returned to 3 in both 1994 and 1995, then increased to 5 in 1996.
Growth accelerated in 1997 and 1998, when Alaska had 11 and 16 craft breweries, respectively. The count then moved down to 14 in 1999 and up to 19 in 2000. In 2001 and 2002, the series lists 17 craft breweries in each year.
The first decade of the series continued to fluctuate. Alaska had 19 craft breweries in 2003, 15 in 2004, and 13 in 2005. The count rose to 15 in 2006, slipped to 14 in 2007, and then reached 15 in 2008 and 16 in 2009.
The early-year sequence is useful because it separates long-term expansion from year-to-year movement:
| Period | Craft breweries recorded |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 3 |
| 1993 | 4 |
| 1994 | 3 |
| 1995 | 3 |
| 1996 | 5 |
| 1997 | 11 |
| 1998 | 16 |
| 1999 | 14 |
| 2000 | 19 |
| 2001 | 17 |
| 2002 | 17 |
| 2003 | 19 |
| 2004 | 15 |
| 2005 | 13 |
| 2006 | 15 |
| 2007 | 14 |
| 2008 | 15 |
| 2009 | 16 |
These are historical counts reported in the TTB series. They should be read as records for the named years, not as independently verified current totals.
Growth from 2010 through 2024
The supplied TTB-derived comparisons summarize the scale of the later increase. Alaska’s brewery count rose by 60 from 2010 to 2024, described in the source calculations as a 300% increase. The same comparison describes the 2024 count as 4.0 times the 2010 count.
The change was not evenly distributed across the period. From 2010 to 2016, the count increased by 34, a 170% gain in the supplied TTB-derived calculation. That moved the series from 20 breweries to 36. From 2017 to 2019, the count increased by 8, a 17.8% gain in the supplied comparison, moving from 45 to 59.
The annual entries also show the strongest consecutive additions in specific parts of the series. The count rose by 7 between 2014 and 2015, by 9 between 2016 and 2017, and by 8 between 2017 and 2018. It rose by 8 again between 2018 and 2019, then by 7 between 2019 and 2020. Later increases were 6 from 2020 to 2021, 3 from 2021 to 2022, 4 from 2022 to 2023, and 1 from 2023 to 2024.
The pattern therefore has two distinct features: a much larger 2010–2024 base of breweries than in the early series, and a slower final step from 79 in 2023 to 80 in 2024. The count alone does not describe each brewery’s output or the amount of beer available to consumers, so production and inventory measures provide a different view.
Alaska beer production in 2024
The TTB 2024 Q1 State Beer Report records Alaska beer production of 37,070.52 barrels in the first quarter of 2024. Production was 45,723.50 barrels in Q2 and 40,564.92 barrels in Q3.
Among these three reported quarters, Q2 had the highest production figure, followed by Q3 and then Q1. The quarterly values are reported separately by the TTB; they are not a full-year total and should not be treated as one.
| 2024 quarter | Beer production, barrels | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 37,070.52 | TTB 2024 Q1 State Beer Report |
| Q2 | 45,723.50 | TTB 2024 Q2 State Beer Report |
| Q3 | 40,564.92 | TTB 2024 Q3 State Beer Report |
The comparison is about reported beer production in Alaska during each quarter. It does not identify which portion was produced by craft breweries, and the supplied figures do not provide a craft-only production breakdown.
Taxable removals by quarter
Taxable removals offer a second quarterly measure in the TTB state reports. Alaska recorded 7,284.18 barrels of taxable removals in Q1 2024, 12,078.59 barrels in Q2, and 10,906.91 barrels in Q3.
The Q2 figure is the largest of the three reported 2024 quarters. Q3 is lower than Q2 but higher than Q1. Because the source labels these as taxable removals, they should remain distinct from production and from stocks on hand.
For historical context, the TTB 2023 Q4 State Beer Report records 7,176.20 barrels of taxable removals in Alaska in the fourth quarter of 2023. That figure is close in scale to the Q1 2024 value, but the two belong to different quarters and years.
The reported taxable-removal figures are:
| Reporting period | Taxable removals, barrels | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | 7,176.20 | TTB 2023 Q4 State Beer Report |
| Q1 2024 | 7,284.18 | TTB 2024 Q1 State Beer Report |
| Q2 2024 | 12,078.59 | TTB 2024 Q2 State Beer Report |
| Q3 2024 | 10,906.91 | TTB 2024 Q3 State Beer Report |
This sequence shows the reported measure rising from Q4 2023 to Q2 2024 before falling in Q3. It does not establish a full-year trend, because only one 2023 quarter and three 2024 quarters are included here.
Stocks on hand and quarterly context
The TTB state reports also record stocks on hand. Alaska’s Q1 2024 stocks on hand were 19,992.79 barrels. The Q2 report lists 17,605.60 barrels, and the Q3 report lists 15,811.74 barrels.
The TTB 2023 Q4 State Beer Report lists 16,856.46 barrels of stocks on hand for Alaska. Across the supplied reporting periods, the highest stock figure is the Q1 2024 value, while the lowest is the Q3 2024 value.
| Reporting period | Stocks on hand, barrels | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | 16,856.46 | TTB 2023 Q4 State Beer Report |
| Q1 2024 | 19,992.79 | TTB 2024 Q1 State Beer Report |
| Q2 2024 | 17,605.60 | TTB 2024 Q2 State Beer Report |
| Q3 2024 | 15,811.74 | TTB 2024 Q3 State Beer Report |
For an additional historical point, Alaska’s Q4 2020 beer production was 35,670.97 barrels according to the TTB 2020 Q4 State Beer Report. That is a production observation for one quarter in 2020, so it should not be combined with the 2024 quarterly figures as if it represented a year or a comparable annual estimate.
Taken together, the available statistics describe three different parts of Alaska beer activity. The brewery-count series tracks the number of breweries by year, including 80 in 2024. The state beer reports track quarterly production, such as 45,723.50 barrels in Q2 2024. They also separately track taxable removals and stocks on hand, with Q2 2024 values of 12,078.59 and 17,605.60 barrels, respectively. Keeping those measures separate is essential when using Alaska craft beer statistics to understand the state’s brewing industry.