There may be more breweries in + around Asheville than you can shake a stick at, but the brewing industry’s economic impact is easily quantifiable at a whopping $935 million.

That’s according to the results of the 2021 Asheville Metro Area Breweries Contribution Analysis, which was presented Sept. 29 at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s quarterly Policy on Tap event. The study — which was previously published in 2016 — was conducted by Riverbird Research, a division of the Chamber. The numbers stop at the end of 2019, making all data pre-pandemic for the 4-county Asheville Metro Area of Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson + Madison.

Key findings

The local beer industry is the second-largest manufacturing employer in the Asheville Metro Area.
It supports 3,471 jobs.
The industry generated $33.4 million in local tax revenues.
Brewers have generated $115 million for local, state, and federal governments.
Among manufacturing industries, brewing saw a 357% growth from 2014-2019.
It also added 1,134 jobs — the most among manufacturing industries.
For every direct job in the industry, approximately 1 additional role was created or supported in the local economy.

Want even more? Raise a glass to our local brewers and dig into the full report here.