For as long as the Brewers Association has been making public data available on beer production we have been reporting on it. And one thing we can say is Pennsylvania really shined from 2016 to 2018; being listed as the number one beer producer in the country.
However, as of 2020, we have placed second overall for production for the second year in a row. Once again in 2020 Pennsylvania fell short of California.
Not only did Pennsylvania remain in the second overall spot, but our craft beer production as a whole dropped as well. In 2020 PA produced a total of 3,156,074 barrels of beer; a decrease of over 450,000 barrels from the previous year. This marks the fifth year in a row PA beer production decreased.
You can see how production has dropped steadily over the last five years:
2016: 3,905,620
2017: 3,724,010
2018: 3,719,475
2019: 3,606,444
2020: 3,156,074
Although, while we did continue to decrease in production, it’s safe to say Covid-19 had a significant impact on this. In 2019 we were separated from the top producing state by 200,000 barrels. In 2020 those numbers remain virtually the same as California saw the same drop in production.
Despite these numbers, Pennsylvania still remains in the top part of the country in many areas. In fact, in most major categories the state ranks no lower than #8. Pennsylvania ranked #3 in the country in economic impact, moved up one spot from #4 to #3 in gallons produced per 21+-year-old adult, and #8 in impact per capita, and moved up two spots from the previous year to #3 in Craft Breweries per state. A total of 43 net new breweries were added from 2019 to 2020.
See all of the 2020 stats for yourself:
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TRENDING UP AND DOWN
From 2019 to 2020 we saw trends heading in both directions.
Trending Up:
Unfortunately, there weren’t too many bright spots in 2020. However, Pennsylvania did see an uptick in two categories. Breweries per capita in the state saw a short rise from 4.1 to 4.6. The number of breweries operating in Pennsylvania also is at an all-time high at 444 and moving from 5th place in the country in 2019 to 3rd place.
Trending Down:
Craft beer’s economic impact on the state did take a hit, which would be expected in a year where most breweries had to switch to takeout only model. The total decreased from 6.3 billion in 20219 to 5.5 billion in 2020.
Brewery growth for the year did continue to see a dip. The data above tracks the number of breweries operating in the state since 2011. As you can see in the chart below, the number of breweries opening year over year in the state has been trending down for the last four years. With 2017 and 2018 being what some could consider “the boom”.
