Independent brewery statistics are easiest to place in context with the broader U.S. beer industry. The TTB Beer Yearly Data reports 2,782 U.S. beer industry members in 2012 and 6,900 in 2021. Across the same period, reported beer production moved from 196,174,279 units to 170,148,590 units, while taxable removals moved from 180,403,067 units to 156,841,421 units.
Contents
- Industry membership
- Production by year
- Taxable removals
- Exports and stocks
- The 2012–2021 timeline
- What the figures show
Industry membership
TTB Beer Yearly Data reports a steady increase in the number of U.S. beer industry members in every listed year. The series begins with 2,782 members in 2012. It then rises to 3,286 in 2013, 3,904 in 2014, and 4,396 in 2015.
Membership reached 4,849 in 2016 and 5,300 in 2017. The count continued upward to 5,700 in 2018, 6,137 in 2019, 6,439 in 2020, and 6,900 in 2021. These are industry-member counts reported by TTB; they are not presented here as a separate count of independent breweries.
| Year | U.S. beer industry members | Beer production (units) |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2,782 | 196,174,279 |
| 2013 | 3,286 | 192,130,392 |
| 2014 | 3,904 | 192,879,520 |
| 2015 | 4,396 | 188,676,739 |
| 2016 | 4,849 | 188,302,024 |
| 2017 | 5,300 | 185,626,505 |
| 2018 | 5,700 | 183,448,653 |
| 2019 | 6,137 | 180,817,016 |
| 2020 | 6,439 | 171,289,741 |
| 2021 | 6,900 | 170,148,590 |
The membership series and the volume series move in different directions. TTB reports more industry members in each successive year, while reported production is lower in 2021 than in 2012. That distinction matters when using national industry data to understand smaller or independent producers: the member count is an establishment-style indicator in this dataset, whereas production is a total volume measure.
Production by year
The TTB Beer Yearly Data places 2012 production at 196,174,279 units. Production was 192,130,392 units in 2013 and 192,879,520 units in 2014. The 2015 figure was 188,676,739 units, followed by 188,302,024 units in 2016.
The reported production total declined to 185,626,505 units in 2017 and 183,448,653 units in 2018. In 2019, TTB reported 180,817,016 units. The next two figures were 171,289,741 units in 2020 and 170,148,590 units in 2021.
For readers comparing brewery scale or market conditions, each figure is tied to its calendar year and is reported in the source’s stated unit. The dataset does not define that unit further, so these statistics should not be converted into barrels, gallons, cases, or another measure. They are best used as the reported production series rather than as a substitute for brewery-level output.
The annual production record also shows why a single headline number can be misleading. The beginning of the period has the highest listed production total, while the end of the period has the highest listed membership count. A larger population of industry members did not correspond to a larger aggregate production figure in these TTB entries.
Taxable removals
Taxable removals are a separate measure from production in the TTB Beer Yearly Data. The 2012 total was 180,403,067 units. TTB reports 178,091,476 units in 2013 and 177,448,153 units in 2014.
The taxable-removal total was 173,939,574 units in 2015 and 174,873,286 units in 2016. It then reached 171,779,164 units in 2017 and 169,602,749 units in 2018. The 2019 total was 167,566,873 units.
The final two years in the series are 158,366,702 units in 2020 and 156,841,421 units in 2021. As with production, these are annual TTB figures and should retain their original unit label.
| Year | Production (units) | Taxable removals (units) |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 196,174,279 | 180,403,067 |
| 2013 | 192,130,392 | 178,091,476 |
| 2014 | 192,879,520 | 177,448,153 |
| 2015 | 188,676,739 | 173,939,574 |
| 2016 | 188,302,024 | 174,873,286 |
| 2017 | 185,626,505 | 171,779,164 |
| 2018 | 183,448,653 | 169,602,749 |
| 2019 | 180,817,016 | 167,566,873 |
| 2020 | 171,289,741 | 158,366,702 |
| 2021 | 170,148,590 | 156,841,421 |
The comparison table keeps production and taxable removals side by side without treating them as interchangeable. A brewery using these statistics for planning should identify which measure answers its question: output reported as production, or the separate taxable-removal total.
Exports and stocks
TTB Beer Yearly Data also reports tax-free export removals. The series starts at 5,031,420 units in 2012. It rises to 5,313,800 units in 2013, then is reported at 4,906,575 units in 2014 and 4,846,412 units in 2015.
Tax-free export removals reach 5,356,269 units in 2016. The subsequent figures are 4,990,428 units in 2017, 4,371,842 units in 2018, and 4,150,095 units in 2019. TTB reports 3,413,771 units in 2020 and 3,146,771 units in 2021.
The same source reports end-of-month stocks on hand, another measure that should not be confused with annual production. Stocks on hand were 126,705,648 units in 2012 and 127,310,061 units in 2013. The 2014 figure was 130,018,668 units, followed by 129,111,119 units in 2015.
End-of-month stocks on hand were 130,476,754 units in 2016 and 129,610,076 units in 2017. TTB reports 129,121,428 units in 2018, 128,610,080 units in 2019, 127,414,050 units in 2020, and 127,133,602 units in 2021.
The 2012–2021 timeline
The complete annual record can be read as four parallel series. Membership rises from 2,782 to 6,900. Production is reported at 196,174,279 units in 2012 and 170,148,590 units in 2021. Taxable removals move from 180,403,067 units to 156,841,421 units. Tax-free export removals move from 5,031,420 units to 3,146,771 units.
The middle years provide important context. In 2016, TTB reports 4,849 members, 188,302,024 units of production, 174,873,286 units of taxable removals, 5,356,269 units of tax-free export removals, and 130,476,754 units of end-of-month stocks on hand. In 2019, the corresponding figures are 6,137 members, 180,817,016 production units, 167,566,873 taxable-removal units, 4,150,095 tax-free-export-removal units, and 128,610,080 stock units.
The 2020 and 2021 entries should remain clearly dated. For 2020, TTB reports 6,439 members, 171,289,741 production units, 158,366,702 taxable-removal units, 3,413,771 tax-free-export-removal units, and 127,414,050 units of end-of-month stocks on hand. For 2021, the figures are 6,900 members, 170,148,590 production units, 156,841,421 taxable-removal units, 3,146,771 tax-free-export-removal units, and 127,133,602 stock units.
What the figures show
For independent brewery research, the clearest pattern in this ten-year record is the separation between industry participation and aggregate volume. TTB reports an increasing number of U.S. beer industry members from 2012 through 2021, alongside lower production totals in the later years of the series.
The volume measures also move together directionally across the listed period: production, taxable removals, and tax-free export removals are all reported at lower 2021 figures than their 2012 figures. End-of-month stocks on hand vary within a narrower band, from 126,705,648 units in 2012 to 130,476,754 units in 2016 and 127,133,602 units in 2021.
These statistics describe the U.S. beer industry as reported in TTB Beer Yearly Data. They do not identify which members are independent, do not provide brewery-level production, and do not establish a market share for craft or independent breweries. For those questions, this national time series is useful background, but it should be kept separate from a specifically independent-brewery count.