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Where is Beertown, USA
According to the Brewers Association, the average American lives within 10 miles of a brewery. Some Americans are luckier than others.
There are many great beer cities such as San Francisco, Philadelphia and Boston. You’ll even find incidences among beer enthusiasts in Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington and Denver, Colorado often battling over bragging rights as “Top Beer City, USA.” They’re all out of contention for top honors when it comes to actually calculating the number of breweries per capita in America’s towns.
Denver isn’t even in the running when compared to Portland, Oregon’s per capita rating. And if you crank the numbers Portland, Maine actually beats out Portland, Oregon!
Yes, San Diego has lots of breweries too, but there’s a lot of people living in these cities. What city can claim to be Beertown, USA?
First of all, I’m going to make some rules in order to be in the running:
- Rule #1 – “Brewery” means an actual brewing facility where beer is brewed and fermented.
- Rule #2 – In order to be considered as “Beertown, USA” the town or city must have at least 3 breweries.
- Rule #3 – 2007 U.S. Census estimates are used as population base
- Rule #4 – Brewers Association Beertown.org Brewery Locator is used to determine number of operating breweries in any given town by address listed in their database
- Rule #5 – Don’t slam me if I don’t get it right the first time around – I’m pretty well connected, but I can get it wrong the first time around.
- Rule #6 – Have a beer
As near as I can figure, here are the top 8 Beertowns in the USA - UPDATED DECEMBER 12, 2008 (twice)
#1 Hood River, Oregon 3 breweries in 6,736 1 brewery per 2,345
#2 Durango, Colorado 4 breweries in 16,007 1 brewery per 4,001
#3 Burlington, Vermont 4 breweries in 38,531 1 brewery per 9,633
#4 Boulder, Colorado 9 breweries in 93,552 1 brewery per 10,394
#5 Asheville, North Carolina 6 breweries in 73,875 1 brewery per 12,312
#6 Bend, Oregon 6 breweries in 74,563 1 brewery per 12,427
#7 Portland, Maine 4 breweries in 62,825 1 brewery per 15,706
#8 Portland, Oregon 30 breweries in 550,396 1 brewery in 18,346
Dividing the country west and east of the Mississippi River, the honors seem to go to:
Hood River, Oregon – Beertown, USA – west of the Mississippi
Burlington, Vermont - Beertown, USA – east of the Mississippi
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Comments
Astoria, Oregon has 3 breweries (that I know of: Rogue, Astoria Brewing, Fort George Breweing) and only 10,045 people, which translates to 1 brewery for every 3348 people.
That's just one example though; no doubt there's some town of 100 people with a brewery.
My point is that Portland, Oregon has more breweries than any other city in the *world*. Portland wins. ;-)
I'll make revisions in a few days.
Rogue Public House in Astoria does not have a brewery.
Hood River, Oregon. 6,736 people divided by 3 breweries equals one brewery per 2245.3 people... show us the love Charlie P!
Oh come on you know Portland beats everyone else hands down to be honest Oregon in general kicks the rest of the countries butt.
I often wonder why per capita really matters. As an individual, if I live in a town with 10 breweries, that is better than living in a town with 5 breweries (quality of breweries being equal). It's not like having more people in the city prevents me from going to all of them - we can all share. They are not limited resources that have to be divided up.
Add Bend, OR. Seven breweries and a population of 71k. Portland, incidentally, has 38 brewing facilities (Source: Oregon Brewers Guild), making the actual ratio 1 in 14.5k.
We've added a richer defense of our home town at my blog, Beervana, which includes all the intangibles that we rather objectively conclude puts Portland in the driver's seat on Beer Town, USA.
Hmmm. I don't know if breweries per capita would be a reasonable measure of Beer Town USA. To me cultural factors would have to come into play. Can Beer Town USA actually exist in a place where you cannot purchase a 6 pack of real beer on Sunday? Can Beer Town USA exist in a town where hipsters in trucker hats prefer PBR to a delicious Mirror Pond? I guess we need to find a way to measure the Brewing/Beer drinking Soul of a place. That should be easy
What about brewpubs?
Brewpubs with operating breweries count.
Breweries per capita isn't really a very meaningful way to measure Beer Town. Derek makes a good point. It's not a resource that needs to be shared and divided up between the populace. More breweries equals more choice and more diversity and ultimately leads to a more educated and discerning beer drinking public.
Maybe you should also factor in how much of the beer gets consumed locally. Are the breweries serving the local market or are they producing beer primarily for other markets? What percentage of what's consumed locally is produced locally?
I love these national competitions where everyone tries to find a new method for discovering Beer Town. In Portland, OR we know we have you all beat. 38 breweries and 500k people. 50% of the draft beer served in Portland is produced in Oregon (another Poregon Brewer's Guild fact) and we don't have a macro brewery anymore. We have such a beer culture that we can support 38 local breweries.
As Ken Wells pointed out in Travels With Barley, even the strippers in Portland drink local craft beer. You really think these other cities can top Portland? Ha. Portland still reigns.
I think concentration of AHA memberships and beer events are important. I think that shows you how many people in an area are really interested in beer beyond the average consumer. A lot of people drink craft beer, and "clusters" in all sorts of industries (especially export industries) arise for any number of reasons including distribution/transportation, laws, taxes, governments, lower business-to-business costs, or supply chains.
Hey, Portland Maine has six (6) breweries, NOT 4! Shipyard, Grittys, Gearys, Allagash, Casco Bay, and Sebago. If you count Peaks Organic brewed here, then 7 but they are owned out of state. So with 6:
1 per 10,479 or NUMBER 4 in the nation.
PLEASE fix this!!!
Sorry that makes Portland Maine number 5 nationwide.
But Bar Harbor Maine has always had top honors with 3 breweries per 2752 (2007 census) residents. That is 1 brewery per 917 people!!!
Please check my facts on line:
Atlantic Brewing, Bar Harbor Brewing, and Maine Coast Brewing.
From beertown.org
1. D.L. Geary Brewing Co Inc.
38 Evergreen Dr
Portland ME 04103
USA
Phone: 207-878-2337
Fax: 207-878-2388
www.gearybrewing.com
Type: Regional
2. Gritty McDuffs - Portland
396 Fore St
Portland ME 04101-4026
USA
Phone: 207-772-2739
Fax: 207-772-6204
www.grittys.com
Type: Brewpub
3. Sebago Brewing Co & Corporate Offices
48 Sanford Drive
Gorham ME 04038
USA BUT Brewing in Portland, too.
Phone: 207-856-2537
Fax: 207-856-2533
www.sebagobrewing.com
Type: Micro
4. Allagash Brewing Co
50 Industrial Way
Portland ME 04103
USA
Phone: 207-878-5385
Fax: 207-878-5385
www.allagash.com
Type: Micro
5. Shipyard Brewing Co
86 Newbury St
Portland ME 04101-4219
USA
Phone: 207-761-0807
Fax: 207-775-5567
www.shipyard.com
Type: Regional
6. Casco Bay Brewing Co
57 Industrial Way
Portland ME 04103-1071
USA
Phone: 207-797-2020
Fax: 207-797-2020
www.cascobaybrewing.com
Type: Contract (ok if contract does not count, then 5 total, but they brew in Portland)
Brewster. Thanks so much for your input! Just checked out Sebago. On their website they are clear: Production Facility and Corporate offices
48 Sanford Drive 04038
Our new production facility is where we brew all of our beer.
And yes, contract brewing company's offices don't count as a brewing facility. So we're still at four for Portland, Maine. A great beer place!
Brewster: regarding Bar Harbor you say:
But Bar Harbor Maine has always had top honors with 3 breweries per 2752 (2007 census) residents. That is 1 brewery per 917 people!!!
Please check my facts on line:
Atlantic Brewing, Bar Harbor Brewing, and Maine Coast Brewing.
I wish what you say were true but our records show that Maine Coast Brewing closed in 2007. If there is evidence to the contrary, I'd love to know.
Charlie/everybody;
I would suggets that you may be looking at this the wrong way. Craft Brewing has never been about volume, or in this case per capita numbers, but about QUALITY.
Here is my challenge to you. Reevalaute Beertown status based on quality of beer per capita. I've done it and I know what cities are swimming in great beer and which ones offer their masses mostly medicore malt beverages.
How to accomplish this? Gather the MSA statistics on one side of the ledger. On the other take all the quality assements the breweries in those MSAs can receive and assign point values for those awards over the past 3 years. I've simplified this process by using 4 large and very qualitative awards (as opposed to popularity contests like Rate Beer - no offense Rate Beer, love what you do for the world of beer). Specifically GABF awards, World Beer Cup, Brewing Industry International and BTI World Beer Awards. Assigning point values such as 3 points for Gold, 2 for silver and 1 for Bronze allows you to see who is garnering points for quality of their beer. It's a simple matter from there to determine what cities have the brewers that are racking up the points for quality. The results may suprise, delight or disappoint you. Portland OR comes across as a town about numbers (don't get me wrong, variety is the spice of life) rather than quality. Madison WI with such outstanding brewers and big award winners as Capital, Great Dane and the near by New Glarus is a top five candidate for Beertown (Beerhalla). Apply the rest of the rules as appropriate; at least 3 breweries per town, etc. Don't count awards for nationally produced brews (Miller Coors would sweep in Milwaukee if that were the case).
Try it. Let's compare results.
-Matt
With 59,220 people, 1 brewery and 2 brewpubs (1 brewery per 19,740) should put Frederick, Maryland close to the top 10.
I'm just sayin'...
Jeff you dont know what you are talking about. In beer town USA being my home town of Hood River, Oregon you can definitely purchase a 6 pack of real beer on a Sunday. Get it straight Oregon whoops your ass we have the best beer no doubt.
come out t Ft. Collins, CO and we'll serve you up some GREAT beers. Maybe not the most per capita but maybe the most creative brewers around.
Keep posting because I love beer trips and I'm always looking to plan my next adventure
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