Taproom breweries are a major part of the U.S. craft beer landscape. The United States had 3,784 taproom breweries in 2025, down from 3,936 in 2024 but above the 3,091 recorded in 2019. These figures come from the Brewers Association National Beer Sales & Production Data and describe U.S. brewery counts by year.
Contents
- Taproom brewery counts over time
- The latest year-over-year change
- Taprooms within the craft brewery mix
- Openings, closings, and operating pressure
- Production and market share
- Who is producing and drinking craft beer
Taproom brewery counts over time
The long-term count shows a substantial expansion in U.S. taproom breweries between 2019 and 2024, followed by a decline in 2025. The Brewers Association National Beer Sales & Production Data recorded 3,091 taproom breweries in 2019, 3,389 in 2020, 3,643 in 2021, 3,771 in 2022, 3,910 in 2023, 3,936 in 2024, and 3,784 in 2025.
The year-by-year series is useful because it separates the recent retreat from the broader period of growth. From 2019 to 2020, the count increased by 298 breweries. It then increased by 254 in 2021, 128 in 2022, and 139 in 2023. The 2024 count was 26 higher than the 2023 count. In 2025, the count was 152 lower than in 2024.
| Year | U.S. taproom breweries |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 3,091 |
| 2020 | 3,389 |
| 2021 | 3,643 |
| 2022 | 3,771 |
| 2023 | 3,910 |
| 2024 | 3,936 |
| 2025 | 3,784 |
The 2025 total remained 693 breweries above the 2019 total. That places the latest count within a larger period of expansion even though it was below the 2023 and 2024 levels. The annual figures are national totals, not estimates for a particular state, city, neighborhood, or individual taproom.
The latest year-over-year change
The Brewers Association National Beer Sales & Production Data reported that taproom breweries were down 2.7% from 2024 to 2025. The reported percentage and the annual counts describe the same direction of movement: 3,936 taproom breweries in 2024 compared with 3,784 in 2025.
The Brewers Association 2025 Midyear Report provides a more current operating snapshot for June. It counted 9,269 operating U.S. craft breweries in June 2025, compared with 9,352 in June 2024, and described the craft brewery count as down 1% year over year. In that midyear report, taprooms were down 1% year over year, while brewpubs and regional breweries were flat year over year. Microbreweries were down 3% year over year.
These measures should be kept distinct. The annual taproom series gives a full-year count for each year through 2025. The midyear figures describe a June-to-June operating comparison and include category-level changes across the broader craft brewery population. A midyear percentage is not the same measurement as a full-year total.
The same June 2025 report said craft volume was down 5% year over year. At the same time, 49% of midyear survey respondents reported growth and 47% reported a decline in production. Among breweries producing under 1,000 barrels annually, 50% reported growth and 43% reported decline. Those survey results describe respondent experiences rather than a count of all taprooms.
Taprooms within the craft brewery mix
The Brewers Association Reports 2024 U.S. Craft Brewing Industry Figures counted 9,796 operating U.S. craft breweries in 2024. Its category totals included 3,552 brewpubs, 2,029 microbreweries, and 279 regional craft breweries. The same report counted 9,922 total U.S. breweries, a broader total than operating craft breweries.
Taproom breweries are therefore one part of a wider brewery ecosystem. The 2024 taproom count was 3,936, while the operating craft brewery count was 9,796. These figures come from different category measures and should not be treated as a simple statement that every operating craft brewery is a taproom brewery or that the categories are interchangeable.
The Brewers Association 2025 Midyear Report offered another way to describe the role of taprooms and brewpubs: together, they made up 15% of craft volume in 2024 and represented 73% of craft businesses in 2024. The report also stated that 9.8% of legal drinking age adults consumed craft beer in the past 30 days in 2024. For comparison, the corresponding 2013 figure was 6.6%.
| 2024 measure | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Operating U.S. craft breweries | 9,796 |
| Total U.S. breweries | 9,922 |
| Taproom breweries | 3,936 |
| Brewpubs | 3,552 |
| Microbreweries | 2,029 |
| Regional craft breweries | 279 |
| Taprooms and brewpubs’ share of craft volume | 15% |
| Taprooms and brewpubs’ share of craft businesses | 73% |
The business-share and volume-share figures highlight a difference in scale: taprooms and brewpubs represented a much larger share of craft businesses than of craft volume in the 2024 measures. That comparison is a description of the Brewers Association’s reported percentages, not a calculation from the category counts above.
Openings, closings, and operating pressure
The Brewers Association Reports 2024 U.S. Craft Brewing Industry Figures recorded 430 brewery openings and 529 brewery closings in 2024. It reported an approximately 5% brewery closure rate for that year. The same report counted 2024 craft brewing employment at 197,112 jobs.
For 2023, the Brewers Association Releases Annual Craft Brewing Industry Production Report recorded 495 brewery openings and 418 brewery closings. Its reported closure rate was approximately 4%. The report counted 9,761 operating U.S. craft breweries, 9,906 total U.S. breweries, and 3,910 U.S. taproom breweries for 2023.
The opening and closing measures show a different operating pattern in the two annual reports. In 2023, reported openings exceeded reported closings. In 2024, reported closings exceeded reported openings. The figures refer to the brewery industry measures named by the Brewers Association; they are not a taproom-only opening and closing ledger.
The category counts also shifted between the 2023 and 2024 industry reports. In 2023, the report counted 3,502 brewpubs, 2,092 microbreweries, and 257 regional craft breweries. The 2024 report counted 3,552 brewpubs, 2,029 microbreweries, and 279 regional craft breweries. The taproom count was 3,910 in 2023 and 3,936 in 2024 in the annual taproom series.
The Brewers Association 2025 Midyear Report adds a partial-year signal: operating craft breweries were 9,269 in June 2025, compared with 9,352 in June 2024. Its category commentary described microbreweries as down 3% year over year, taprooms as down 1%, and brewpubs and regional breweries as flat. Because these are June comparisons, they should be read alongside, not substituted for, the full-year opening and closing figures.
Production and market share
The Brewers Association Reports 2024 U.S. Craft Brewing Industry Figures reported that craft brewers produced 23.1 million barrels of beer in 2024. Craft volume represented 13.3% of the U.S. beer market, while craft retail dollar sales reached $28.8 billion and represented 24.7% of the total beer market.
The Brewers Association Releases Annual Craft Brewing Industry Production Report reported 23.4 million barrels of craft beer in 2023 and a 13.3% craft market share by volume. It reported a 13.1% craft market share by volume for 2022. The production figures and market-share percentages are annual national measures, not taproom-specific production totals.
The 2025 Midyear Report said craft volume was down 5% year over year. It also reported that taprooms and brewpubs made up 15% of craft volume in 2024. Together, those figures place taproom activity in the context of a craft sector whose national volume measure was weakening in the midyear comparison.
Other 2024 industry figures describe adjacent market activity. The 2024 Year in Beer reported that non-alcohol beer sales were up more than 30% year over year from January through October. This is a January-through-October comparison and refers to non-alcohol beer sales, not taproom brewery counts or craft beer volume.
Who is producing and drinking craft beer
The 2024 craft brewing employment figure was 197,112 jobs in the Brewers Association Reports 2024 U.S. Craft Brewing Industry Figures. The 2024 Year in Beer used a broader measure and reported nearly 460,000 craft brewing jobs. Because the sources use different labels and totals, the figures should be presented as separate reported employment measures rather than combined or averaged.
The 2024 Year in Beer also reported a $77.1 billion economic impact for craft beer. That figure is an economic-impact measure and is not the same as the $28.8 billion in craft retail dollar sales reported in the Brewers Association Reports 2024 U.S. Craft Brewing Industry Figures.
Consumer reach changed across the longer comparison in the Brewers Association 2025 Midyear Report. In 2024, 9.8% of legal drinking age adults had consumed craft beer in the past 30 days, compared with 6.6% in 2013. The periods are ten years apart, and the measure is recent craft-beer consumption among legal drinking age adults; it does not identify taproom visits or purchases.
The 2024 Year in Beer also reported that the Great American Beer Festival attracted more than 40,000 attendees, featured more than 2,500 beers, and included more than 500 breweries. The 2024 World Beer Cup evaluated 9,300 entries and included breweries from 37 countries. These event figures illustrate the reach of beer competition and festivals, but they are not measures of the number of U.S. taprooms.