If you’re starting to feel like every neighborhood in the U.S. has its own brewery, you might be right. The number of breweries in the U.S. skyrocketed in 2013, according to the Brewers Association, reaching the highest level seen in the country since 1876. The Brewers Association counted 2,722 breweries in operation at the end of December 2013. A whopping 98% of those breweries were small and independent craft breweries, with just 24 large breweries in operation.
And yet, the Brewers Association suggests there’s still room for growth, since we still haven’t reached the historical highest number of breweries in operation in the U.S., which occurred in 1870, when America had 3,286 breweries pumping out suds.
So we still have that to look forward to.