Maryland breweries, wineries see sales bump in 2011

Maryland brewery sales increased in 2011.

Maryland breweries grew sales by 23.5 percent in 2011, while state wineries saw a jump of nearly 12 percent.

State breweries sold 3.5 million gallons of beer last year, according to the Comptroller’s new Alcohol and Tobacco Tax annual report. That was up from 2.8 million gallons a year earlier.

The 2011 numbers were driven by out-of-state sales of 2.25 million gallons.

Meanwhile, state wineries sold 345,599 gallons, or 1.7 million bottles, reflecting a 11.6 percent increase from 2010.

In terms of dollars, Maryland winery sales in 2011 reached $19 million, up from $17.2 million a year ago.