Craft brewing was responsible for a $79.1 billion slice of the U.S. economy last year, plus more than 550,000 jobs, according to research announced this week by the Brewers Association.
Those numbers are based on an analysis of 2018 data provided by BA members. Those members are brewers who are “small”—producing 6 million barrels or fewer—and “independent,” meaning that larger beverage companies can’t own or control more than 25 percent of the brewery.
In 2017 the BA reported an impact of about $76.2 billion. That means the impact grew roughly 4 percent last year. However, that also means that the growth in economic impact is slowing down; the previous year the BA’s estimate had grown more than 12 percent.