Food & Culture
Washington’s Craft Breweries: Our Pint Runneth Over
Craft brewers keep the kettles cooking
By Rob Smith December 14, 2022
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2022 issue of Seattle Magazine.
Those who want to enjoy a cold craft beer in Washington state have no shortage of options.
The state has 437 craft breweries, according to the 2021 report from the Brewers Association. This trade group based in Boulder, Colorado, represents small and independent craft brewers across the United States. That’s up significantly from 2011, when only 136 breweries were operating.
The state’s largest independent craft brewer based on sales volume is Georgetown Brewing Co., founded 20 years ago by Manny Chao and Roger Bialous. Georgetown is the 25th-largest craft brewer in the country and the only one in Washington state among the nation’s 50 largest. It is the second-largest in the Northwest, behind only Bend-based Deschutes Brewery, which ranks No. 12 overall.
The No. 1 spot is held by D.G. Yuengling and Son Inc., based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1829, it is considered the country’s oldest brewery.
Nationwide, the craft brewing industry contributed $62.1 billion to the economy in 2020 and provided more than 400,000 total jobs, with slightly more than a third of those directly at breweries and brewpubs.
Here’s a by the numbers look at Washington’s brewing scene:
State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2021 – Brewers Association
Join The Must List
Sign up and get Seattle's best events delivered to your inbox every week.
Follow Us
No booze in Seattle? No problem
Seattle is a national leader in the booming nonalcoholic drink category
Kamp Social House in Madison Valley is alive on a Friday night. Customers pile up by the front door and politely squeeze past each other in the narrow path to the host stand, hoping to snag a table, but the place to be is on a bar stool, talking to bartenders Jeannie and Angela. Jeannie…
Stoup to Buy Optimism Brewing
The planned sale allows Stoup to expand with a Capitol Hill location
Two-well known Seattle breweries are joining forces. Ballard’s Stoup Brewing has signed a deal to acquire Optimism Brewing. The acquisition will allow Stoup to open a location at Optimism’s spacious, 16,000-square-foot Capitol Hill space in August. Husband-and-wife team Lara Zahaba and Brad Benson, along with Robyn Schumacher, opened Stoup in 2013 as a cornerstone of…
No Need to Wait Until the Holiday Season to Pop These Bubbles From Washington State
The best sparkling wines for fall
Reality check: sparkling wine doesn’t only have to be uncorked during the holidays or hot weather. In fact, it shouldn’t be reserved exclusively for New Year’s Eve while wearing those stupid glasses molded into the shape of numbers and/or enough sequins to power a drag show. Nor should it only be for summertime wedding toasts…
Wines with Zip to Sip
From the pool to the campfire, enjoy these warm-weather beverages
During the precious warmer months in Seattle, let’s admit that it’s all a little too easy to flick the tab on a tallboy of Elysian Space Dust IPA when the thirst for an adult beverage strikes. It’s lazy, but not all of us have the air conditioning — or motivation — to put forth much…