725 New US Breweries Planned as of June 2011

You know, I was impressed by the fact that there are currently 1,790 breweries in the United States. What’s even more impressive is that another 725 new US breweries are in planning, as we speak. Just over the last year, 165 new breweries were established in America and apparently, growth shows no signs of slowing.
Thus far in 2011, the volume of our beloved craft beer sold has increased by 14 percent. By the same time last year, growth had only hit 9 percent. Looks to me and the folks at The Brewers Association that things are looking up for craft breweries. Even in a time when employment is uncertain across most of our country, the craft beer industry presently provides about 100,000 jobs. That’s a number our economy can be thankful for.