Americans spent about $28.0 billion on craft beer at retail in 2025, according to the Brewers Association, underscoring the substantial consumer market that small and independent brewers continue to occupy even as beer volumes decline.

The figure represented a 2.8% decrease from 2024. Yet craft beer still accounted for 24.8% of the $113 billion U.S. beer market by retail dollar sales, according to the association's latest national industry statistics.

That combination tells an important story about the state of American craft brewing. Consumers bought less craft beer by volume in 2025, but the decline in retail spending was smaller than the decline in physical sales. Higher prices and the industry's exposure to taprooms and brewpubs helped support the dollar value of the category even as fewer barrels were sold.

The $28 billion figure represents retail dollar sales of beer produced by brewers that meet the Brewers Association's definition of an American craft brewer.

Under that definition, a craft brewer must be small and independent. Small means annual beer production of no more than 6 million barrels. Independence generally requires that less than 25% of the brewery be controlled or owned by a beverage alcohol industry member that is not also a craft brewer. The definition also requires the business to meet the association's criteria for being a brewer.

This means the figure does not represent every beer that consumers might informally describe as craft. It is tied to the Brewers Association's defined group of qualifying breweries and its six industry segments, which include microbreweries, brewpubs, taproom breweries and regional breweries, along with contract brewing companies and alternating proprietors.

The $28 billion total is therefore useful as a measure of the retail value of the small and independent U.S. craft brewing segment, rather than as a measure of all specialty, premium or craft-style beer sold nationally.

Craft brewers produced 22.034 million barrels in 2025, according to the Brewers Association's revised annual figures. Craft volume declined 4% from the previous year, while overall U.S. beer production and imports fell 5.7%.

Because craft contracted more slowly than the broader beer market, its share of U.S. beer volume increased slightly to 13.4%.

The difference between craft's 13.4% volume share and its 24.8% retail dollar share is significant. It shows that a barrel of craft beer generates more retail spending on average than the overall beer market. That does not mean every craft product carries the same premium, since products, package sizes and sales channels differ considerably.

It does, however, help explain why craft beer can represent nearly one-quarter of beer spending while accounting for a much smaller proportion of physical volume.

The Brewers Association said price increases and somewhat stronger growth in on-site sales relative to distributed sales were the primary reasons retail dollar sales declined less than volume in 2025. Taprooms and brewpubs are particularly relevant because beer sold directly to consumers on-site generally carries a higher unit price than beer moving through traditional distribution channels.

Retail dollar sales should not be confused with brewery revenue, production value or wholesale sales.

The Brewers Association's published methodology for estimating craft beer retail markets uses information on pricing, sales volume and the share of sales occurring through different channels, including both on-premise and off-premise markets. Its published methodology has drawn on Brewers Association data together with government and commercial market sources to estimate the value ultimately paid by consumers.

Production statistics are measured differently. The Brewers Association says its brewery production data are founded on its Beer Industry Production Survey and ongoing data collection by association staff. For its 2025 annual report, production volume represents total taxable production.

These distinctions matter because retail spending can move differently from physical output. A decline in barrels sold does not necessarily produce an equally large decline in consumer spending when prices or the mix of sales channels change.

The association also notes that its absolute figures reflect a dynamic data set based on which businesses meet its craft brewer definition, while growth rates are calculated on a comparable basis. Its 2025 figures exclude flavored malt beverages and wine- or spirits-based ready-to-drink and ready-to-serve products.

The latest numbers also illustrate why industry estimates can change after their initial release.

Following the completion of its 2025 Beer Industry Production Survey, the Brewers Association revised data for a small number of regional craft brewers in May 2026. Those revisions affected several national measures, including production, market share, retail value and employment estimates.

The association said its annual survey relies on self-reported information and that figures are periodically updated when data requiring revision are identified.

The revised numbers therefore provide a better basis for assessing the full 2025 market than preliminary figures published before the annual survey process was completed.

The decline in sales came during a period of consolidation in the number of American craft breweries.

The Brewers Association counted 9,578 operating craft breweries in 2025, down 2.9% from 9,796 in 2024. The 2025 total included 3,784 taproom breweries, 3,525 brewpubs, 1,994 microbreweries and 275 regional craft breweries.

The association recorded 300 brewery openings and 481 closures during the year. Both figures were lower than their respective 2024 totals, but closures continued to exceed new openings.

Production performance also varied by brewery model. Brewpub production fell 1.7% in 2025, while taproom breweries declined 3.9%. Regional breweries were down 4.1%, and microbreweries recorded the steepest decrease at 8.9%.

The figures point to an industry in which performance increasingly depends not only on how much beer breweries can distribute, but also on how effectively they can sell directly to consumers through hospitality-oriented operations.

Another figure associated with U.S. craft brewing is much larger than $28 billion, but it measures something entirely different.

The Brewers Association estimates that craft brewing contributed $71.8 billion to the U.S. economy in 2025. That figure includes the broader economic contribution of craft beer as it moves through breweries, wholesalers and retailers, as well as non-beer products such as food and merchandise sold by brewpubs and taprooms.

It should not be interpreted as craft beer retail sales or added to the $28 billion retail figure. The two measures answer different questions. Retail dollar sales estimate what consumers spend on craft beer, while economic impact attempts to capture a broader set of economic activity connected with the industry.

For assessing the size of craft beer as a consumer category, the $28 billion retail sales figure is the more relevant measure.

Craft beer entered 2026 from a different position than during the rapid expansion of breweries that characterized much of the previous decade. Production was falling, brewery numbers were contracting and the broader U.S. beer category was also losing volume.

Yet the 2025 results show that craft beer continued to command a substantial share of consumer spending. Its 24.8% share of beer retail dollars was far larger than its 13.4% share by volume, while its volume decline remained smaller than the contraction recorded across the overall beer market.

The $28 billion in retail sales therefore captures both sides of the industry's position. Craft brewing remained a major part of the U.S. beer business in 2025, but it did so within a market where consumers were buying fewer barrels and where the number of operating craft breweries was beginning to move lower.