Craft brewers are toasting another gain in market share, saying they now sell more than 4 percent of all the beer brewed in America.

The Boulder-based Brewers Association said craft beers accounted for 4.04 percent of the U.S. market by volume in 2008, up 0.25 percentage point from the year before.

The association says 2008 craft beer sales were up an estimated 5.8 percent by volume to 8.6 million barrels, and 10.5 percent in value to $6.34 billion.

Overall U.S. sales were 213 million barrels and $101 billion. A barrel is 31 gallons.

The association defines a craft brewer as producing fewer than 2 million barrels a year and brewing traditional malt beers. It also has less than a 25 percent stake in the hands of a non-craft brewer.