Despite the quip about American beer being like making love in a canoe, the US produces a multitude and a variety of brews that belie the homogenised tastes of the most popular brands. At its annual Great American Beer Festival, the Brewers Association awards gold, silver and bronze medals to the best beers produced by the hundreds of breweriers in the US, from the largest to the micro-est.
Compiled by veteran drinks journalist (1) Rick Lyke and his son-in-law Mike Wirth (2), this map charts all the gold, silver and bronze presented by the Brewers Association since 1987. “Looking at the pages of medal winners from the past does not give quite as clear a picture as the state map showing where the winners come from,” says Mr Lyke (on this page of his blog, lyke2drink). “Clearly, beer fans in California, Colorado, Wisconsin, Oregon and Pennsylvania enjoy some of the best beers in the land.”
Top 10 medal-winning states are:
1. California – 474
2. Colorado – 322
3. Wisconsin – 232
4. Oregon – 170
5. Pennsylvania – 162
6. Texas – 133
7. Washington – 114
8. New York – 98
9. Missouri -90
10. Massachusetts – 76
Of course, this does not take into account the population size of the states listed here. The top 10, reshuffled to reflect the number of medals per million of inhabitants, looks quite different, reflecting a dominance by states with a strong micro-brewing tradition:
1. Colorado – 64.4
2. Oregon – 42.5
3. Wisconsin – 38.6
4. Washington – 16.2
5. Missouri – 15
6. Pennsylvania – 13.5
7. Massachusetts – 12.6
8. California – 12.8
9. Texas – 5.6
10. New York – 5.1
Reversing the map slogan, the “worst beer in America” is brewed in the states with the least medals, i.e. West Virginia (0), North Dakota, Oklahoma (both just 1), Alabama, Rhode Island, DC (2 each), South Dakota, Nebraska, Louisiana (4 each) and Connecticut (5).
Most highly decorated beer in America is the Alaskan Smoked Porter (15 medals; 6 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze), followed by the New Belgium Abbey Belgian Style Ale (10 medals; 6 gold, 4 bronze) and the Genesee Cream Ale (10 medals; 2 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze).
Even though these and most other decorated beers are produced by small “craft” breweries, it’s still the large brewing conglomerates that rake in the highest number of medals among them: Anheuser-Busch (65), Miller (55) and Pabst (50).
Many thanks to Mike Wirth for sending in this map (first version sent in late March ‘09, updated version sent in early June ‘09). Mike is a designer, educator and artist. Visit his website here.
(1) presumably a veteran of drinks journalism, and not a journalist of veteran drinks
(2) In its orginial German, Wirt (these days without -h) rather fortuitously means “innkeeper”.
Colorado is America’s Belgium, for true beer lovers!
go Yeti
Comment by der Görzer — March 29, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
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Pingback by DYSPEPSIA GENERATION » Blog Archive » Best Beer Map of America — March 29, 2009 @ 12:50 pm
OK here’s what don’t get. Are the tasters at this festival either drunk when they get to the mainstream american brewers or are they paid off? Since I’ve tried MGD, Bud, Coors and know for a fact that they are some of the worst tasting, as in they have no taste, brews ever. I mean bloody Coors wins gold medals and not North Coast’s Old Rasputin, or New Belgium’s 1554, or even Yingling’s Black and Tan.
Not to turn this into debate about beer on a map blog but really.
Comment by David Schwartz — March 29, 2009 @ 1:24 pm
Beermaking is changing completely in the U.S., and dozens of excellent new beers come out every year. I don’t know if it’s taking off in Europe yet, but the trend towards “microbrew” and even homebrew is growing constantly. In many places in the US, ordering an old-fashioned American beer is like wearing a 70’s leisure suit— it better be a joke or it will bring you shame.
Microbrews have certainly made beer festivals and liquor stores very interesting. They have also led to the creation of many a bar with dozens of fresh, local beers on tap!
Even the majors are getting in on this, putting out specialty brews and marketing them aggressively. Some of these are actually quite delicious, but a lot of people will see “Anheiser-Busch” or “Pabst” on the label and dismiss it.
Comment by Andrew — March 29, 2009 @ 1:30 pm
David,
They have categories for beers like Coors and Bud, so presumably they win those. Hopefully. And we don’t know how far back this medal count goes.
Then again, according to its label, MGD is the “Champagne of Beers.” LOL
Comment by Andrew — March 29, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
Would it not also be telling to work out (by state) medals per # of breweries rather than medals per millions of inhabitants?
Comment by dusty — March 29, 2009 @ 2:05 pm
And, there is something wrong with the normalized to population numbers. Utah has somewhere just under 3 million people, which with 45 awards, puts it somewhere a little higher than Missouri
Comment by Jeffrey McBEth — March 29, 2009 @ 2:36 pm
Oh, and with somewhere between 50-60% of the population claiming to not drink alcohol at all, that number looks a bit more wobbly.
Comment by Jeffrey McBEth — March 29, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
Please create a map that combines the beer awards and the results of the last election. Alternatively, a beer award map with county-level projection. Thanks!
Comment by Brucker — March 29, 2009 @ 2:55 pm
I’m a fan of Icthyosaur from Nevada and Abita from Louisiana.
I love that Abita Purple Haze raspberry stuff.
Comment by dziban303 — March 29, 2009 @ 4:01 pm
What’s in common with beer and finance ? Bubbles…and devastating ” Burps !”…
Comment by lp — March 29, 2009 @ 6:38 pm
Jeffrey,
There is a quirk in Utah’s odd liquor laws that gives micro brew pubs a nice niche. Which is why we actually have a lot of great local beers for our population, particularly our drinking population.
Comment by zhoen — March 29, 2009 @ 6:50 pm
the Genesee Cream Ale (10 medals; 2 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze)
I’m a big fan of Genny. It’s a good, cheap beer. But that’s all it is! It proudly announces its awards on every package, but it’s a skewed result. It’s won all those awards because it has no competition in the “Cream Ale” contest.
I’ve worked in liquor stores for a dozen years, and I’ve never seen another “cream ale.” I’ve been buying Genny for 20 years, and I can’t even tell you what “cream ale” even means.
I can throw a baseball farther than anybody else who has my Social Security number! But that doesn’t make it a meaningful statistic.
Comment by Bill the Splut — March 29, 2009 @ 8:02 pm
Andrew: We have a similar thing happening in Australia & Tasmania. Lots of smaller micro-breweries have sprung up, producing some spectacular beers. Previously in Tasmania, we had Boags, and Cascade, serving draught & lager.
Thank christ we have some options now (especially after a trip to Bavaria opened my horizons).
Very interesting map.
Comment by wayne — March 29, 2009 @ 9:05 pm
Re: (1) presumably a veteran of drinks journalism, and not a journalist of veteran drinks
Also, presumably, “veteran drinks journalist” isn’t when a soldier or anyone with years of experience imbibes a reporter.
Also, Wirt may be an innkeeper, but Wort (pronounced “wirt” is the early form that beer takes before hops and yeast are added. Rather fortuitous indeed.
Comment by Brian Yaeger — March 29, 2009 @ 9:59 pm
Go Washington!
Comment by Benjamin Lukoff — March 29, 2009 @ 11:02 pm
You might want to run those medals-per-million numbers again; they’re way off. First place should be Alaska with 78.68 (pop. 686293, medals 54).
Comment by MCB — March 30, 2009 @ 8:10 am
“Beermaking is changing completely in the U.S., and dozens of excellent new beers come out every year. I don’t know if it’s taking off in Europe yet, but the trend towards “microbrew” and even homebrew is growing constantly.”
The trend didn’t need to take off in Europe – it never left. Europe never had prohibition.
I saw an interview once with the guy who ran Brooklyn Brewery. He said that before prohibition, there were something in the area of 4500 ‘microbrews’ in Brooklyn. Prohibition pretty much wiped them out and paved the way for America’s ‘lawnmower beers’.
Comment by Terry — March 30, 2009 @ 9:03 am
Why is a simple ordinary choropleth map being presented as “strange”? Do Americans regard beer as inherently strange?
I can’t speak for the European continent, but in Britain at least, simple commerce achieved the same effect allegedly caused by Prohibition in America. By the Sixties, the available supply consisted of almost nothing but poor-quality beer sold by one of a small number of large companies. The Campaign for Real Ale turned the country around, and the healthy number of small breweries producing high quality beer today is as much a story of decline and recovery as in America.
Comment by derek — March 30, 2009 @ 10:59 am
Now if we could only get India to start drinking beer … and then making good beers. I’ve only ever seen two Indian beers: Kingfishers (which is swill in spite of its higher alcohol content), and Fosters (“but it’s BREWED in India”).
Comment by Russell Nelson — March 30, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
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Your reshuffling is interesting when you look at just the top 10, but it might be even more so if you look at all states. i.e. Michigan, w/ about 10m residents, should be at 7.2 (above New York and Texas) on your normalized list. cheers!
Comment by eliz — March 30, 2009 @ 2:20 pm
It makes you wonder how Macrobrews such as “Bud Lite,” “Coors,” and “Miller” became popular in the first place.
Has anyone ever questioned why a 12 pack of beer imported from Germany costs an American the same as a 12 pack of microbrew that was made in the USA? Wouldn’t it be more expensive for the Germans to brew and ship their product thousands of miles to the USA? This does not make sense……
In any case, go microbrews!
Comment by Bourgoises Pig — March 30, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
I know there’s outrage about the macrobrews, but I’m pretty sure the awards they win are in macro categories…/categories dedicated to a style of beer mostly only made by the macros.
Comment by Seth R. FEldman — March 30, 2009 @ 4:26 pm
There used to be quite acceptable West Virginia beers before Adolph Coors was allowed to colonize the East.
Comment by Rodger — March 30, 2009 @ 4:36 pm
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Pingback by Putting Brew on the Map « The Heavy Table — March 30, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
Seriously, though, you’re gonna get on DC’s case for not having a decent microbrew? We don’t even have a vote! Tell you what: you give me statehood, I’ll happily start a brewery.
And you can make fun of it.
Comment by Bill — March 30, 2009 @ 11:11 pm
Virginian, where are we.let’s start brewing some nice beer now.
Comment by an — March 30, 2009 @ 11:28 pm
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Pingback by Five Acres with a View » Best Beer Map of America — March 31, 2009 @ 12:25 am
Wirth has really done a great job of presenting this data. I’ve reposted this as fun on my blog, but thinking about how well the macrobrewers have done, I wonder if there could be a long tail discussion lurking somewhere within this map.
Comment by W Kraemer — March 31, 2009 @ 2:05 am
You’ve left off Alaska from your list of per-capita states. According to your medals-per-million people criteria, Alaska should be first. Its 686,000 people and 54 medals (thank you, Alaska Brewing Company) convert to 78.7 medals per million people.
Comment by J. Brooks — March 31, 2009 @ 7:05 am
The main tragedy in the UK is not the quality of the beer, but the fact that you can’t get it in the pubs. Very few pubs serve cask-conditioned ale properly, or indeed at all. I find I can only get what I want by buying bottled-conditioned beer from supermarkets and drinking it at home, which is very nice, but not the same atmosphere as a good pub.
Comment by Graham Asher — March 31, 2009 @ 9:13 am
The GABF is held in Colorado, and I suspect (although I have no evidence) a slight home-state bias. But maybe that’s just because I have always firmly believed that Oregon has the best beer in the country, and probably in the world. Full Sail Amber for me, please.
Incidentally, some ridiculously high percentage of America’s hops is grown in the Northwest, in Washington’s Yakima Valley and Oregon’s Willamette Valley, which is part of the reason for their dominance in beer quality.
Also, it’s inaccurate to say that the states with the fewest awards brew the worst beer – for the most part, they just brew the least beer.
Comment by Dan — March 31, 2009 @ 12:51 pm
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Pingback by Vodkapundit » Bottom’s Up — March 31, 2009 @ 8:49 pm
Interesting analysis of how Prohibition wiped out the microbrew. Makes sense. But sad.
My wife loves Bud Light. The reason she loves it? It’s watery and doesn’t taste like beer. (Did I mention she doesn’t like beer?) That’s why the macrobrews do well; lots of people aren’t beer aficionados. I’ll drink Bud or Miller if there’s nothing else, but I sure as heck won’t pretend it’s a quality (or even half-decent) product.
Comment by Andy — March 31, 2009 @ 9:27 pm
Let’s not forget that teenagers and college students in the USA will eat or drink anything. I cannot imagine students on a limited budget reaching for a decent, more expensive microbrew.
Fortunately, as people get older and realize that they cannot drink as much as they used to, the focus shifts to quality rather than quantity.
I would not shed a tear if Miller, Coors, and Anheuser-Busch go out of business. Like GM and Chrysler, they fail to look at the superior competition and improve the product.
@Andy (post #36): If you want beer with excellent taste and no effect, drink in Utah.
Comment by Bourgoises Pig — April 1, 2009 @ 4:45 pm
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Pingback by Beerolympics - Wisconsin takes the bronze « The TrogloPundit — April 2, 2009 @ 10:40 pm
The US has, by far, more variety of beer today than anywhere else in the world. In fact, homebrewers here are shepherds to the many forgotten styles of yesterday. The macros have so many medals because they compete in the style categories that they alone inhabit, i.e. Light American Lager. However, as someone else pointed out, some of their beers targeted at the micro crowd (i.e. Amber Bock from Miller, etc.) are winning awards against true micros. Regarding the Oregonian comment that suggested hometown bias in Denver, all entries are blind tasted, i.e. they come in cups with numbers and nothing else. Judges have no clue whose beer they’re tasting. The good news in the US is that the boom of the early 90’s (where anyone who opened a brewery and produced swill would succeed) has passed, and now we are in a time when the best of the best are moving ahead. Long live excellent, fresh, local beer!!!
bmc
Comment by bmacpiper — April 3, 2009 @ 12:42 am
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I would not be convinced about the sincerity of the Macrobreweries until they were to change the quality and taste of their flagship brands. The macros will continue to see their market share erode – regardless what they may try. The sincerity to make a better product is not there. They should have learned from Microsoft’s mistakes….
IMHO, the best beers are the ones that still follow the German Reinheitsgebot. The best Weiss beers I have ever tasted were in Germany, the beer was uncontrollably foamy. Why is it so hard to find an American Weissbier that has more foam than a semi-flat Pilsner?
Comment by Bourgoises Pig — April 3, 2009 @ 4:15 pm
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For the purposes of this map, Northern & Southern California should be counted as two separate states. When medals are factored in for population, California (#1, by far, with 474 total medals), drops to 8th place, with just 12.6. However, 2/3rds of our total state population reside in Southern California, while I’d estimate at least 3/4ths our of medal winning beers (and quite possibly more like 19/20ths) are from Northern California. If we were split into two separate states (at the Monterey-San Luis Obispo County Lines; the previous demarcation between “free” California Territory, and “slave” Calfornia Territory ie., Black slavery was briefly permitted in the southern portion of the California Territory), Northern California would easily jump to 25, thus knocking then-hapless Washington state, with its 16.2 rating, into a distant 5th place. It is nearly certain Southern California would not make the top ten. I hesitate to assume they’d even make the top twenty, with an enormous population almost totally oblivious to the finer things in life. Individuals up here quaff finely honed products of such hallowed brewing establishments as the Mendocino Brewing Company, the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (in fairness, residents of Southern California are probably not unfamiliar with this establishment, seeing as how its signature Pale Ale has become trendy, and trendiness is one of the only values those people are capable of comprehending, when they’re not shooting each other over sneakers, or debating the finer points of when to stab someone because his “bitch” had apparently “dissed” one these erstwhile gentlemen), the Anchor Brewing Company, and San Jose’s own Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, among many, many other generally smaller establishments. The degenerate proles of Southern California chug Smirnoff Ice.
Needless to say, I am a supporter of statehood for Northern California (“Jefferson?”), in a very general way, not just with regard to this map.
Comment by Kevin Riley O'Keeffe — April 13, 2009 @ 1:49 pm
Yuengling lager.
Thank heaven I live in Penna.
Comment by N. O'Brain — April 13, 2009 @ 6:46 pm
Ouch. This comment is directed entirely/solely to Mr. O’Keefe: WTF? I’m a native of SoCal and now permanent resident of NorCal, and I know SoCal bashing is the favorite pastime of “enlightened” “Free Californians” such as yourself. But you just made yourself look ignorant at best, racist at worst, and like a mentally-challenged person, to use PC terms, in reality.
I, too, abhor how SoCal “breweries” (fronts that use contract brewers and marketing magic) only know how to make “California Blondes.” But are you completely oblivious to world-class breweries below San Luis Obispo such as Firestone-Walker, Stone, Port/Lost Abbey, Green Flash, and, the 2008 GABF winner of small brewery of the year, AleSmith?
Not to mention lesser-known and up’n'coming breweries like Craftsman, The Bruery, Telegraph, and Alpine?
And why on earth would you list Gordon-Biersch (purveyors of fine wheat beers and garlic fries) but leave off Russian River, Bear Republic, and 30 other phenomenal breweries that anyone who truly appreciates craft beer knows about but perhaps you don’t.
Man, I never saw myself commenting on this awesome map, but I couldn’t keep mum. Besides, if nothing else, to me and most others, this map represents proof that good beers can come from anywhere. Even Missouri.
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Pingback by Fly Fishing Gear » Blog Archive » With Trout Season Opener Fast Approaching, We Think a Beer Seems Appropriate — April 23, 2009 @ 7:08 am
In the section where you compare number of metals per million inhabitants, you have forgotten about Delaware. With 19 medal won (according to the map) and a current population of 873,092 (according to the US census Bureau) that means that Delaware averages 21.7 medals per million inhabitants. This of course would put Delaware at number 4 on your top ten.
Delaware might be small but it is also a “Small Wonder.”
Thanks for the delicious map
Comment by Concerned Delawarean — May 27, 2009 @ 3:35 am
Any rating system that puts Genesee Cream Ale in 3rd place with 10 medals is worthless.
Comment by Jeff — May 29, 2009 @ 7:51 pm
I came here expecting a picture of Canada. I left sober…
Comment by CanadianGuy — May 29, 2009 @ 8:15 pm
hey you shortchanged Michigan – and probably others. Michigan has about 7.2 medals per million people… looks like you only bothered to recalculate the states that were already in the top ten. do it again?
Comment by brad — May 29, 2009 @ 8:49 pm
Living in Milwaukee, I’ve been forced to take the Miller tour everytime someone from out of town visits me. I can tell you that the Miller they give you at the end of the tour (fresh off the line) tastes much MUCH better than the stuff you get in the store… dare I say it even has flavor. Maybe this is the stuff they give the beer tasters?
That said (and contrary to popular belief) Miller is an inside joke in Milwaukee and ordering one will mark you as an out-of-towner. Real Milwaukeeans know that the best beer is made by Lakefront, Sprecher or New Glarus. In fact, Milwaukeeans know to pretty much avoid any beer that actually has Milwaukee in the name (Milwaukee’s Best, Milwaukee’s Classic, Old Milwaukee, etc.)
We also think it’s hilarious that Pabst managed to become a “trendy” beer on the west coast. Most people my age and older see it as “my grandpa’s beer.” Although the college crowd is starting to take to it again.
Comment by nick — May 29, 2009 @ 9:22 pm
Be sure to watch BeerWars. Should be out as a DVD sometime soon.
I live in Pennsylvania, so I know there are a number of fine beers in our state. But I’m surprised that Michigan isn’t in the top 10.
Someone uptopic mentioned Virginia and beer. Virginia has a very good wine industry, and it’s grown dramatically in the last ten years.
Comment by Laurie Mann — May 29, 2009 @ 11:01 pm
Kevin Riley O’Keeffe….
Hapless Washington State? Where did you get your hops?;D
Comment by Sixx — May 30, 2009 @ 12:35 am
Of course WV has 0. It’s illegal here to brew and sell your beer. Many of my friends brew beer that they give to me and they are very good.
Comment by Ctoe — May 31, 2009 @ 3:09 am
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Virginian, where are we.let’s start brewing some nice beer now.
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That was a nice read
Comment by lone — July 3, 2009 @ 11:49 am
Beer Map?? very..very interesting map.
Comment by jack — July 18, 2009 @ 2:09 pm
I am very interested.Thanks for this great post – I will be sure to check out your blog more often.Just subscriped to your RSS feed….
Comment by kopter — July 26, 2009 @ 8:11 am
I agree with dusty (comment #6). Medals per # of breweries (in that state) makes much more sense than medals per person.
If a state had 100 people and all one 100 had their own brewery and only one won an award, the medal per pop would be great (one award for every 100 people), but the ratio per brewery would suck at 1%. Remember what you’re comparing.
Comment by Brian — July 28, 2009 @ 3:04 am
I think your beer map represents some interesting ideas about awards won by brewers at the GABF. With that said, it may not reflect the true opinion of favorite brewers across the good ol’ USA by the greater craft beer appreciating community.
Comment by fattymattybrewing — July 30, 2009 @ 2:38 pm
Good solution, thanks
Comment by öykü — August 2, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
Thanks for the information..nice collection :D
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Pingback by Where are they? « A Night With The Hops — August 9, 2009 @ 8:22 pm
Re: Post #37
Utah microbrews are actually the same alcohol content as the rest of America. It is the Macrobrews, as everyone seems to referring to them here, that are subject to the 3.2% rule and only when they are sold at a grocery store. Go to a liquor store and you will find all of the wonderful beers you love at 5% and even a whopping 9.8% alcohol content..infact, the 9.8% alcohol content is the “Wasatch Devastator”, brewed right in Salt Lake City!
Wow! Ignorance sucks.
Comment by Eve — August 13, 2009 @ 1:00 am
Oh and a fun thing to know about beer strength and Utah… Guinness drought made in Ireland…3.2%!
Comment by Eve — August 13, 2009 @ 1:01 am
Looks like I need to be going to Colorado more! If it was not for Sam Adams I would not have the passion I have today for Beer Brewing!
Comment by Brian Andrew — September 8, 2009 @ 6:25 pm
We just had a micro brew store open in my area. As more and more stores like this open, then more people will be exposed to the home brew experience too.
Comment by Denise — October 16, 2009 @ 2:57 pm
Someone uptopic mentioned Virginia and beer. Virginia has a very good wine industry, and it’s grown dramatically in the last ten years.
Comment by cool — October 24, 2009 @ 6:58 am
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Pingback by Skaitom #21 | Vavavyva.com & Nuodas.lt — November 3, 2009 @ 7:55 pm
why is vermont not higher. there is only approx. 600,000 residents, with 15 medals that would be nearly 30 medals per million!
Comment by kens — November 9, 2009 @ 9:10 pm
Happy to see Texas up there. But for such a large state I believe there should be a greater selection of breweries.
Comment by James — November 16, 2009 @ 2:22 am
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Very interesting perspective. I thought the way you wrote this article was pretty good. Keep the the thoughts coming!
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