Kona Brewing among top 50 breweries
Star-Bulletin staff
The Brewers Association, a Colorado-based industry group, named Big Island brewer Kona Brewing Co. to its list of top 50 overall U.S. brewing companies.
Kona, the only Hawaii brewery to make the list, placed 37th for beer sales volume overall and 24th for craft brewing companies.
In 2007, 1,406 of 1,449 U.S. breweries were craft breweries, making $5.7 billion, an increase of 16 percent from last year, according to a survey released yesterday.
Kona placed 38th overall and 23rd for craft brewers in 2006.
Anheuser-Busch Inc., based in St. Louis, Mo., took first for overall sales, while Boston Beer Co., based in Mass., topped the craft brewer rankings. California hosted eight of the top breweries, while Colorado and Oregon each had five.