Breweries of Instagram

Which breweries are winning Instagram? Craft beer is a great fit for Instagram. Breweries can show off their brewery and latest brews, and keep fans updated on what they’re up to. Only the larger breweries tend to have much of a marketing budget, but others can compensate by taking some time to engage with their followers.

Here are the top 18 craft breweries ranked by number of followers (let us know if we missed anyone!):

No big surprises on this list. Most of these breweries are also in the top 50 craft breweries by volume. Exceptions include Firestone Walker, Cigar City, Mikeller, and Modern Times. Firestone Walker and Modern Times are growing very quickly, so it makes sense that they have a large presence on Instagram.

It’s not all about the follower count though. Some relatively small breweries have outsized buzz among beer geeks. Others are just really good at social media and make engaging with their fans a priority. Making excellent beer also helps. We did a super scientific poll on Instagram with a post asking people to “tag a brewery whose Instagram game is on point.”

Here are the craft breweries that got at least two mentions:

I think we have a clear people’s choice winner with J. Wakefield Brewing.

Personally I’ve noticed them and Troegs being very active engaging with people on Instagram, and both have excellent content.