The New Yorker had a great idea late last week: mapping the rise of craft beer.
Wisconsin ranked 9th in the number of craft breweries with a hefty 83. California took first place with 316. Washington state was second with 158. We were just one craft brewery shy of tying Texas.
Wisconsin ranked 9th in overall production with 398,811 barrels. California again took first place with a whopping 2,453,793 barrels.
The shocker came in the overall change in production. Alabama took the crown with a 672.19 percent increase in craft beer production from 2011 to 2012. Wisconsin came in 48th with a measly growth of 2.78 percent. Only two states (Vermont and North Dakota) saw a decrease in production.
In the category of “Breweries per 500,000 people,” Wisconsin came in 10th with 7.3. Vermont was No. 1 with an incredible 20 craft breweries for every 500,000 people – that translates to one craft brewery for every 20,000 people. Nice.
Wisconsin is also home to two of the fifty largest craft breweries: New Glarus and Stevens Point. Lakefront Brewery got a nod in the fastest-growing craft brewers and showed 45 percent growth in production from 2011 to 2012. And last but not least, Wisconsin was home to eight breweries that opened in 2012.
Check out the map here.
