[Posted May 1]The nominations are finalized and the ballot is now live. What USA city will be voted BeerCity USA 2012? VOTE NOW. The voting is expected to be heavy and three-time winner of BeerCity USA, Asheville, North Carolina will have its work cut out for it as the excitement for craft beer and craft brewing continues to intensify all across the USA.
Beer fans have already wondered if the North Carolina vote will be diluted now that Raleigh and Charlotte have both generated enough enthusiasm to qualify for the final ballot. San Diego made an early go of it last year but could not sustain the effort to the end; yet San Diego continues to grow by leaps and bounds as craft brewing and craft beer powercity. In this year’s nominating poll, Grand Rapids, Michigan won far more nominating votes than last year’s second place San Diego.
I’ve mentioned this several times in the past, BeerCity USA is about community pride. It’s not just about beer. It’s very different than other polls that rate beer on viral popularity, hops, brand presence, sales, size of brewery, number of breweries, volume produced, volume consumed, ingredients used or bottom line accounting.
BeerCity USA is about showcasing what is really driving the American craft beer phenomenon we are all enjoying. It’s about the view on main street, grass roots, community support; it’s not about mainstream data, averages and statistics.
There are many hundreds of craft beer and brewing communities in America. There’s magic and uniqueness in every one of them.
There’s also a common theme. The enthusiasm is not only dynamic and contagious. The craft beer and craft brewery fan base is at a grassroots level indicative of a genuine support of all of America’s small businesses and the local community spirit that Americans are rediscovering.
Some continue to question the sustainability of the growth in American craft brewing and craft beer. 2011 craft beer volume jumped 13% over 2010 production. There are now over 2,000 breweries in the USA, with more than 1,000 in the planning stages. Yet they only accounted for 5.6% of all the beer enjoyed in the USA last year. Big is REALLY big and small is really small. But with more than 20,000 different brands of craft brewed beer those 20,000+ tiny tremors continue to resonate with American beer fans. I promise you there are a lot of beer drinkers that have yet to discover the value of craft beer and craft brewers!
Meanwhile the grassroots homebrewing movement which began in the 1970s continues to provide sustenance for innovation, excitement and rallying around every neighborhood batch of homebrew. The American Homebrewers Association in reviewing the History of Homebrewing, estimates there are 1,000,000 homebrewers in the USA.
Beer geek city USA? Not at all. BeerCity USA is a reason to applause, celebrate and have fun. Cast your VOTE NOW. BeerCity USA ballot links in this story will take you to the ballot.
Poll opened on May 1 and will close 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time, Sunday, May 13. Poll results will be announced shortly thereafter.
VOTE NOW… Vote Once.
Only one vote per IP address and computer. Sorry - If you are using a company or other network, it is likely only one person on the network will be permitted to vote.
The nominating process for being on the final ballot was live April 15-21. There are thirty-one cities that are on the final ballot. To qualify they had to receive either 100 or more votes in last year’s poll or 100 or more in this year’s nominating poll.
These are the cities that on the 2012 ballot:
- Albuquerque, NM
- Asheville, NC
- Austin, TX
- Bend, OR
- Boston, MA
- Boulder, CO
- Charlotte, NC
- Chicago, IL
- Cincinnati, OH
- Cleveland, OH
- Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
- Denver, CO
- Durango, CO
- Fort Collins, CO
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Jacksonville, FL
- Madison, WI
- Milwaukee, WI
- Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
- Missoula, MT
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix-Tempe-Scottsdale, AZ
- Portland, ME
- Portland, OR
- Raleigh, NC
- San Diego, CA
- San Francisco/Oakland - Bay Area, CA
- Seattle, WA
- St. Louis, MO
- Tampa, FL
- Washington, DC
There are no opportunities write-in cities on this year’s BeerCity USA final ballot.
BeerCity USA 2012 results will be announced shortly after poll closes.
Want news about brewers and beer in your area? Check out these Beer Examiners, Columnists and stories:
- Joe Sixpack, Philadelphia, PA
- Philadelphia Craft Beer Examiner
- The Brews Bros, Phoenix, AZ
- Bend, Oregon, A brewers town
- Cleveland, OH Beer Craft Beer Examiner
- Chicago Craft Beer Examiner
- Chico, California Comfort Food Examiner
- Boston Restaurant Examiner
- Denver Beer Examiner
- Baltimore Drinks Examiner
- Dallas Craft Beer Examiner
- Jacksonville, Florida Craft Beer Examiner
- Madison Hops Examiner
- Madison Craft Beer Examiner
- Missoula, Montana Craft Beer Week
- Sacramento Beer Examiner
- San Antonio Craft Beer Examiner
- Beer in Florida, Brewers in Florida
- Tampa Craft Beer Examiner
Are you a blogger, journalist, examiner writing about BeerCity USA? Let me post a link to your e-story. Contact Charlie Papazian through facebook messaging.
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