It’s a golden age for beer (or maybe more of a blonde or amber age?) Here are the 30 states that drink the most beer, plus the most popular brands in each state.
It’s a golden age for beer (or maybe more of a blonde or amber age?) Here are the 30 states that drink the most beer, plus the most popular brands in each state.
Beer sales took a hit during the pandemic. Even though you may remember drinking lots of it at home in 2020, closures of restaurants, bars and sports venues were rough for the suds industry. People lost their jobs, unsold beer ended up spoiled.
But in 2021, overall U.S. beer volume sales rebounded, and today America’s beer industry contributes more than $331 billion to the U.S. economy and supports more than two million jobs, according to the Beer Institute.
The number of breweries in the U.S. has increased five-fold since 2010, thanks to an increase in the popularity of craft breweries, according to the Brewers Association.
It’s kind of a “golden age” for beer in the U.S., with more choices than ever before, the Beer Institute says. California alone has 1,466 breweries, more than twice any other state. New York has 680, Pennsylvania has 642, and Washington state has 633. But even with all those breweries, California isn’t even one of the 30 biggest drinkers of beer (and the most popular beer in the Golden State is Budweiser.)
Scroll to Continue
So which states drink the most beer? Here’s the per-capita consumption of the 30 biggest beer-drinking states, according to 2020 data from the Beer Institute.
1. New HampshireAnnual gallons per capita: 41.5
Favorite beer: Budweiser
2. MontanaAnnual gallons per capita: 41.1
Favorite beer: Budweiser
Shutterstock
3. North DakotaAnnual gallons per capita: 37.5
Favorite beer: Fargo
Shutterstock
4. South DakotaAnnual gallons per capita: 37.3
Favorite beer: Budweiser
Shutterstock
5. VermontAnnual gallons per capita: 34.0
Favorite beer: Bud Light
6. WisconsinAnnual gallons per capita: 33.7
Favorite beer: Spotted Cow
7. MaineAnnual gallons per capita: 32.5
Favorite beer: Budweiser
Shutterstock
8. South CarolinaAnnual gallons per capita: 32.5
Favorite beer: Budweiser
9. TexasAnnual gallons per capita: 31.9
Favorite beer: Lone Star
Shutterstock
10. MississippiAnnual gallons per capita: 31.6
Favorite beer: Lazy Magnolia
Shutterstock
11. NebraskaAnnual gallons per capita: 31.6
Favorite beer: Nebraska Black Betty
12. IowaAnnual gallons per capita: 31.0
Favorite beer: Budweiser
13. WyomingAnnual gallons per capita: 29.8
Favorite beer: Snake River
Shutterstock
14. AlabamaAnnual gallons per capita: 29.1
Favorite beer: Budweiser
Shutterstock
15. NevadaAnnual gallons per capita: 29.0
Favorite beer: Coors Light
Shutterstock
16. LouisianaAnnual gallons per capita: 28.4
Favorite beer: Abita
17. ColoradoAnnual gallons per capita: 28.1
Favorite beer: Denver Beer Co.
18. DelawareAnnual gallons per capita: 27.9
Favorite beer: Dogfish Head
Eduardo Medrano / Shutterstock
19. KansasAnnual gallons per capita: 27.8
Favorite beer: Coors Light
20. West VirginiaAnnual gallons per capita: 27.8
Favorite beer: Budweiser
21. New MexicoAnnual gallons per capita: 27.7
Favorite beer: La Cumbre
Joshua Rainey Photography / Shutterstock
22. OregonAnnual gallons per capita: 27.7
Favorite beer: Budweiser
23. MinnesotaAnnual gallons per capita: 27.1
Favorite beer: Budweiser
24. ArizonaAnnual gallons per capita: 27.0
Favorite beer: Dos Equis
25. MissouriAnnual gallons per capita: 26.9
Favorite beer: Budweiser
26. OklahomaAnnual gallons per capita: 26.8
Favorite beer: Budweiser
gg-foto / Shutterstock
27. HawaiiAnnual gallons per capita: 26.7
Favorite beer: N/A
Paolo Trovo / Shutterstock
28. AlaskaAnnual gallons per capita: 26.1
Favorite beer: N/A
James Kirkikis / Shutterstock
29. IllinoisAnnual gallons per capita: 25.9
Favorite beer: Goose Island
Shutterstock
30. North CarolinaAnnual gallons per capita: 25.8
Favorite beer: Bud Light
Sources: The Beer Institute, The Brewers Association, Visual Capitalist