AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A trade group says Ohio is producing more craft beer than all but three other states as its number of craft breweries nears 300.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports new statistics from the Colorado-based Brewers Association show Ohio production was estimated at nearly 1.4 million barrels last year, ranking it behind only Pennsylvania, California and Colorado.

Those numbers get a boost from Ohio having three major breweries: Great Lakes in Cleveland, and Rhinegeist and Samuel Adams in Cincinnati.

Ohio was eighth in the number of craft breweries with 290, up from just 47 back in early 2012. Fifty Ohio breweries opened last year.

The chief economist with the Brewers Association, Bart Watson, says the growth is mostly from smaller new breweries focusing on sales at their facilities and local distribution.

___

Information from: Akron Beacon Journal, http://www.ohio.com