Craft brewers are defined by the Brewers Association as "small, independent and traditional," meaning they produce less than 6 million barrels of beer a year, are not more than 75 percent owned by another beverage industry company and use "traditional or innovative brewing ingredients."
But Rob Fullmer of the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild says they like to keep the regulations a little more lax.
"We feel it’s more of a consumer thing." Fullmer says. "Our licenses dictate a microbrew is less than 200,000 barrels. Beyond that you’re considered a production brewery, but it’s still small."
But as far as what makes a brew "craft," Fullmer considers it buyer's choice. The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in California, for example, which Forbes recently called "the king of craft beer," produces around 1 million barrels a year.
What makes a beer local is a bit easier.
"Our guild supports breweries that are owned and operated in Arizona, and we leave it at that." Fullmer says. The Arizona Craft Brewers Guild counts 76 craft breweries in its membership.
The Arizona Liquor Board has issued 93 licenses to microbreweries, 18 of those in Tucson.
