America is full of craft breweries. More than 5,000 of them, if you’re the type of person who likes numbers. Which makes you wonder, “where is craft beer most popular in America right now?”
Priceonomics, a data and content marketing agency, answered that exact question using numbers. To judge which state loves craft beer the most, Priceonomics figured out which state has the most breweries per capita. Vermont was the winner, with eight breweries per every 100,000 people.
You know what else Vermont has a lot of? Beards. The state is loaded with “beard beautifiers” and is even hosting the Vermont Beardies competition. I’m not saying the two are necessarily correlated. Perhaps it’s just a spurious correlation.
The correlation should be taken seriously, though (the number of breweries per capita for best beer states, not the beard correlation). More breweries per capita means more people in the population are exposed to the beers. It also means there are more homebrewers, because you can’t have new breweries without homebrewers. More homebrewers in the state, more people exposed to craft beer, and more people who love craft beer in the state. It all makes sense, so start packing your bags for Vermont.
Montana, Colorado, Maine, and Oregon round out the top five states for the most breweries per capita. And Seattle, Washington, Chicago, and Denver were the top cities. Beer is more than beards, but there does seem to be a lot of beards where there are beers.
In other beer news this week:
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to know what the best beer in New York is
New York State has a lot of good breweries. Hell, New York City alone has a lot of good breweries. Part of that is thanks to Gov. Andrew Cuomo easing the rules and regulations regarding brewing, so you might think the guy would be familiar with the best of the best. Apparently not, but he’s very willing to have people tell him which beers to drink.
Through May 17, Cuomo’s office is hosting the “Taste NY Craft Beer Challenge.” It starts with online voting, then the top five beers face a panel of judges for a taste test during American Craft Beer Week. There are 67 breweries competing for Cuomo’s heart, including big guys like Brooklyn Brewery.
My personal recommendation? Go to SingleCut, Cuomo. You won’t be sorry.
LeBron James proves he is most definitely not a beer guy, dumps on Great Lakes Brewing Co.
On his way to smashing Game 1 of the NBA semi-finals against the Toronto Raptors, LeBron James grabbed a beer from a vendor, smelled it, made a face, then gave it back. He later explained that he’s more of a red wine guy.
The beer he rejected was Dortmunder Gold from Great Lakes Brewing Co. — the first modern craft brewery in Ohio. All press is good press though, right?
Everyone is buzzing that pilsner is the next IPA, To Which We Say, Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure
The clickbait headline of the week goes to everyone writing that pilsner is the next IPA. From the Washington Post to the Star Tribune to GQ, people just couldn’t get enough pilsner hype. There’s a good reason for this: Craft pilsners tripled in sales from 2013 to 2016, according to the Brewers Association.
But those pilsners include hoppy beers like the PC Pils from Founders, which is closer in taste to a pale ale than a clean German or Czech pilsner. So yeah, pilsners might be coming into vogue as a style in the craft beer world. But if this trend becomes a full-on pattern, the entire style will shift in a very American craft beer way (read: hops. Lots of hops). In other words, pilsner’s popularity is actually still IPAs.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but something to take note of before screaming about the second coming of pilsner.
