Craft beer billboard hits, the Top 50

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Ahead of the Craft Brewers Conference (May 2-5 in San Diego), the Brewers Association has been doing an industry data dump (like this and this).

The latest one is the chart at left (we added the background of a new Flying Fish fermenter).

The list of Top 50 craft brewers (by sales) is populated with a lot of names you'd expect, and the compass points in directions you'd likewise guess to be there,  i.e. California and Colorado.

Regionally, you'll find F.X. Matt (No. 6), Dogfish Head (No. 12), Brooklyn Brewery (No. 13), Victory (No. 27) and Blue Point (No. 34).

There is another ranking worth noting, Alaska Brewing at No. 14.  (And what follows isn't commentary on their beer.)

Alaska has less than a third of the population of Brooklyn (a borough), and about a 12th of that of New Jersey (an East Coast state); it's median income is $64,000, compared with $70,000 for the Garden State.

Yet, it's a bigger craft beer producer.  Draw your own conclusions.

But ...

Keep those phone calls and emails pouring in to lawmakers in Trenton. The legislation to change the regulations is still pending.