USA: New Belgium ranked no 3 in national brewers' list

New Belgium Brewing Co. recently was ranked No. 3 in the the Brewers Association's national "Tiger List" for 2005. New Belgium is located in Fort Collins.

The list includes the top 10 craft brewers ranked by a combination of size and 2004 growth percentage.

"Displaying aggressive growth, the entire craft beer industry shows the traits of a tiger right now," said Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, in a statement. "Nationwide, we have strong craft beer brands that show impressive growth performance."

Each year the Brewers Association collects volume sales information from the country's 1,400 craft brewers to assess and track the progress of the craft beer segment. In 2004, the overall segment grew by 7.2 percent.

2005 Brewers Association Tiger List
Top ten brewing companies based on an index of size and growth performance. (Some companies operate multiple breweries.)

1. Widmer Brothers Brewing Co (Ore.)
2. Pyramid Breweries (Wa.)
3. New Belgium Brewing Co (Colo.)
4. Boulevard Brewing Co (Mo.)